Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra: Tidal Currents: East Meets West
Chronograph Records

The capital of Manitoba, Winnipeg has much of which to be proud, from the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Royal Winnipeg Ballet to its Esplanade Riel pedestrian bridge and Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Definitely deserving a place on that list is the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra (WJO), a terrific ensemble whose seventh release maintains the high standard set by its predecessors. After inaugurating its recording run with 2004's Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra and continuing it with Steppin' Out (2008) and Suite Messiah (2014), the 1997-founded group received Western Canadian Music Awards nominations for Suite 150: A Big Band Portrait (2019), Twisting Ways (2022), and Voices: A Musical Heritage (2023).

Over the years, the WJO has commissioned many original compositions for jazz orchestra and upholds that trend with Tidal Currents: East Meets West, which features two commissions apiece from Jill Townsend and Christine Jensen. As its title implies, the material draws for inspiration from Canada's coasts, with Townsend's pair referencing the ruggedness of the west coast and its majestic ocean waves and Jensen's both the St. Lawrence River and her Sechelt, British Columbia birthplace. The four pieces form a half-hour suite whose rewards are plentiful, thanks to the playing of the ensemble as well as the quality of the material the composers provided to them. It also doesn't hurt that Townsend conducts the WJO and Jensen guests as a saxophone soloist on two of the four parts.

The two receive fabulous support from saxophonists Neil Watson (alto), Niall Cade (tenor), Monica Jones (tenor), and Kyle Wedlake (baritone); trumpeters Shane Hicks, Jenny Taylor, Richard Gillis, and Matthew Walden; trombonists Joel Green, Jeremy Duggleby, Francois Godere, and Isabelle Lavoie; and a powerful rhythm section comprising guitarist Larry Roy, pianist Will Bonness, bassist Karl Kohut, and drummer Fabio Ragnelli. Every big band needs a great drummer and Ragnelli fits the bill, his crisp and precise soloing on Jensen's Crossing Lachine clear proof of that. The sumptuous blend of the WJO's horns and woodwinds is also one of the group's key selling points.

Ushering in the release like the warmest of breezes is Townsend's driving Inside the Wave, inspired by the coastal area around Sooke, British Columbia. A programmatic dimension is present in the way the saxes are intended to suggest the curling and unfolding of waves on the shore, but the music totally engages on its own terms. With the ensemble sparkling and swinging alongside, Walden leads the soloing charge with a lithe statement, after which a sudden shift in metre and attack signifies the mercurial character of coastal weather. Jensen wrote Crossing Lachine with her love for paddle boarding across the St. Lawrence River in mind, and the WJO's essaying of the piece proves as gripping an experience. With Kohut and Ragnelli driving the band urgently, Cade steps forth with a voluble statement that sets the stage for the drummer's own compelling turn. After animated accents introduce Townsend's Tidal Currents, the piece rapidly takes flight with a soaring soprano sax contribution by Jensen and a high-velocity attack sprinkled with Latin flavour. While Jensen's Rock Skipping Under Half Moon recalls her days growing up in Sechelt and fond memories of rock skipping, the piece is primarily notable for its subtly nostalgic tone, sultry orchestral textures, and, again, the clarion call of her soprano sax soloing.

January 2024