Canadian Brass: Canadiana
Linus Entertainment

While Canadian Brass has existed for over fifty years and boasts a catalogue of more than 130 recordings, the quintet has never issued an all-Canadian album—until now. With Canadiana, the group opts for inspired makeovers of popular songs, and not just early classics either. In addition to those made famous by Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Cockburn, and k.d. lang, ones by Drake, Shawn Mendes, Deadmau5, and others appear. The project is the latest accomplishment in a career filled with them, from six concerts at Carnegie Hall and performances around the world (Russia and China included) to multiple TV appearances, including ones on The Tonight Show and Sesame Street.

The performances are consistently rewarding, and Canadian Brass smartly built on its core sound with guests such as jazz trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, guitarist Sean Kelly, and Cockburn himself. Over the years personnel changes have occurred, but the brass quintet's renowned sound hasn't, thankfully, though its repertoire has. In a generous gesture, the current iteration—trumpeters Caleb Hudson and Brandon Ridenour, trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos, hornist Jeff Nelsen, and founding member, tubaist Chuck Daellenbach—pays tribute to its legacy by featuring present and past members on the Cohen cover that ends the album. Ridenour also merits singling out for arranging the album's material.

Terrific interpretations abound, beginning, appropriately enough, with a treatment of Lara Fabian's “Je me souviens” (the official Quebec motto means, literally, I remember) that exudes nostalgia and dignity in equal measure. Lang's “Constant craving” soars in Canadian Brass's hands, especially when the performance receives an added boost from the participation of accordionist Cordeone. Mitchell's “Both Sides Now” is given a majestic, ethereal reading that makes the performance feel, suitably, as if it's floating above the clouds. The arrangement's fleshed out by a number of guests, among them drummer Tim Timleck, guitarist Sean Kelly, trumpeter Riley Mulherkar (The Westerlies), and, elevating the track with a lovely solo, Ingrid Jensen. One might think a track by Deadmau5 (Joel Thomas Zimmerman) would suffer for coming after Mitchell's classic, but “I Remember” holds up fine; it doesn't hurt that the brass outfit breathes magnificent life into the song's regal themes, so much so that the track stands out as one of the most towering. Speaking of majestic, a stellar rendering of Cohen's “Hallelujah” features, by my count, fourteen horn players, though loses none of its grace in the process.

Shawn Mendes scored a hit with “Señorita” in 2019 with Camila Cabello, and the version by Canadian Brass retains all of the qualities that made the original so memorable, its irresistible earworm melody for starters. It's the kind of song that's tailor-made for the ensemble, given how seamlessly it lends itself to a brass arrangement. “Best Part,” written by Canadian singer Daniel Caesar and H.E.R. (Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson), stands out for a sultry and bluesy reading that again seems a superb fit for the group (percussionist Gabriel Globus-Hoenich even manages to sneak a dub pulse into the performance). The group's Rush tribute “Overture 2112” gallops furiously, its roar buttressed by drummer Timleck and guitarist Kelly. Speaking of guests, Attacca string quartet member Nathan Schram contributes to Drake's “Laugh Now, Cry Later” though not as a violist but as beatmaker, and not ineffectually either: his bottom end gives the performance added thrust.

An instrumental rendering of Cockburn's “13th Mountain” features Daellenbach's tuba in a lead role, after which the composer joins the group for a beautiful treatment of “Thoughts on a rainy afternoon.” Strings and Cockburn's acoustic guitar add gravitas to the performance, but it's his unmistakeable voice that makes the song, written more than fifty years ago, an album highlight. Don't be surprised if the line “Jesus, don't let Toronto take my love away” stays with you long after the album's finished.

Of course no one could reasonably argue that the songs by Deadmau5 and Drake will have the staying power of “Both Sides Now” and “Hallelujah”; even so, young and old sit comfortably together on this splendid recording, and to Canadian Brass's credit every piece on the album is handled with the same level of care. One of the best things about the release is that how unlimited the future possibilities are when Canadian music, then and now, is so rich. That makes it easy to visualize follow-up volumes, with “Snowbird” and “Four Strong Winds” as natural candidates, for example, and imagine set-lists presenting works by Canadian jazz and classical artists too.

December 2021