Seascape is a most fitting title for this recording, for reasons both obvious and not so obvious. The music was recorded in St. John’s, Newfoundland, a city utterly dominated by the sea. Spend a few days there and you feel the ocean not only in your eyes and on your skin, but in your bones as well. Furthermore, the organizing force behind this project is the Atlantic Jazz Collective, consisting of St. John’s born- and- bred bassist Jim Vivian, Nova Scotia saxophonist Mike Murley, and pianist-composer Florian Hoefner, German-born but a St. John’s resident since 2014.
Beyond these details, and in a more poetic sense, the sea serves as a perfect metaphor for the music here. The sea represents a journey, a spirit of quest, a depth of unknowability. It roils with rhythm and power; mystery lurks beneath its pulsing surface. It carries risk, just as improvised music always does. And it conveys a sense of almost limitless possibilities, which the best jazz should always make us aware of. The music captured here certainly succeeds on this front and many others.
Recorded or played live, good jazz begins with good players, but those are just table stakes. Much more important is whether or not the players involved achieve what we might call consensus. Do they think and feel the same way about the music? About rhythm and time and space? Do they park their egos and listen to one another? Do they serve the music, or their personal agendas? These may seem like basic considerations, but trust me, this all-for-one, one- for-all is not always arrived at, even with the best players. This unity is particularly important, and harder to achieve, when the group is not a regular working band, as is the case here.
There are no worries on this front however, these five players achieve a clear consensus from the get-go, the music just seems to flow out of them collectively. In part this is because they all have big radar and sensitive ears, but also because of some past musical experience together. Mike Murley and Jim Vivian have played together for decades in many settings including several of Murley’s bands, so there’s a strong sympatico between them. They’ve both had considerable experience playing with Norma Winstone over the years, often involving Kenny Wheeler and his music. When Vivian moved back to St. John’s from Toronto in late 2020 he began playing with Florian Hoefner and the chemistry between them was immediate. They formed the Atlantic Jazz Collective in 2021 and began presenting the Atlantic Jazz Nights concert series at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. Murley moved back to Nova Scotia in 2022 and he eventually became the Halifax “affiliate” of the AJC. So was born the nucleus of this recording.
As for the featured guest artists, Norma Winstone and Joe LaBarbera, neither of whom needs an introduction, they played together on Norma’s superb 1995 album Well Kept Secret, with Jimmy Rowles and George Mraz. That’s almost 30 years ago, but their musical compatibility is well-established and each is celebrated for a strong sense of interplay with other musicians. Playing well with others is how Joe LaBarbera rolls, he’s been one of the best drummers in jazz since well before his celebrated time with Bill Evans. And Norma Winstone? Well, simply put, she’s been a jazz hero to many for decades now, renowned for her adventurousness, her clarity of voice and uncanny intonation, her range and ability to negotiate seemingly impossible interval leaps, her fearless scatting and her lyric writing, a special skill highlighted on this recording. It comes as something of a shock to realize that Norma is 82, but she’s lost nothing.
Along with a strong group dynamic, the key ingredient in any good jazz record is repertoire: a program of music that is interesting, varied, balanced and fresh, and which gives the players a dancefloor to move on. This record is very special in this regard and we largely have Norma Winstone to thank for this: with one exception, the songs are all modern jazz originals which Norma has written words for but never recorded. This happy organizing principle combines the compositional merits of Maria Schneider, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Steve Swallow, and Ralph Towner with the literary talents of Ms. Winstone to form a unique program which has the feeling of becoming, or of a voyage of discovery. By turn her lyrics are wry and wistful, wise and witty, sometimes playful, sometimes plaintive, but always interesting. In short, she sings like a poet and writes like a poet, so hearing her words delivered in her own voice is a moving experience, indeed.
There’s no need to go into too much detail about the individual tracks, which would only serve to bore the reader and spoil the musical surprises in store. However, a few program notes and some highlights might be in order:
Distant Star (Maria Schneider, originally entitled “A Potter’s Song”.) A rhapsodic song with an almost Chopinesque romanticism, perfectly delivered by Winstone’s clear voice. Florian’s thrumming piano and subtle use of accordion are lovely here, as are Murley’s obbligatos and solo on soprano.
Where Do We Go From Here (Kenny Wheeler) A moody piece in minor with Murley on tenor out front, then an exquisitely vulnerable vocal by Norma. Jim and Joe keep a sense of motion going without playing much at all, their use of space is really effective. A beautiful and nimble bass solo by Jim, followed by a musing and undulating piano solo. Then Norma takes it out, again with so- subtle backgrounds from Murley.
Turn Again (John Taylor, originally called “In February”.) A lively bossa nova with labyrinthine chord changes, which Norma navigates effortlessly in her solo. She’s followed by Florian in a tasty turn, then Murley in a typically acrobatic and lyrical solo. Joe LaBarbera is a marvel here, sensitive and always moving forward.
Always By Your Side (Ralph Towner.) A lovely song with the feeling of an old English ballad or a lullaby, enhanced by Norma’s stirring words. Florian’s crystalline piano sound sets the stage while Vivian and LaBarbera again keep a sense of tempo even where there isn’t one. Vivian plays one of the most moving bass solos one could hope to hear, wisely hewing close to the melody but still stretching out. What a melodic and precise player he is, with such a singing sound.
Trying To Recall (Steve Swallow.) A lilting waltz with lyrics about the evanescence of life, with some complex backgrounds from the band and shifting key centres. Some beautiful ride cymbal from Joe behind the piano and tenor solos. Like all great drummers, he understands sound and dynamics.
Running Through My Head (John Taylor.) Another example of this group’s uncanny ability to convey a sense of motion without an overtly-stated tempo. There’s a compositional unity here between the mystery-laden words, the melody and the improvised counterpart from Florian and Jim. Stunning.
This Is New (Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin.) This is the exception I mentioned earlier, the one older song in the program and the only one without lyrics by Norma. It was written in 1941 for the Broadway musical Lady In the Dark and has had a long life as a lesser-known jazz standard, particularly after Kenny Drew recorded it in 1957. Chick Corea’s celebrated 1968 version added the clever eight-bar vamp on A-flat minor, which this band wisely retains. Although older, this sounds very contemporary, as do many of Weill’s songs. It also sounds as though it could have been written for Norma; it teems with the complex and chromatic harmony she revels in. Fittingly, this is taken at a brisk and loose swing, with a broken two feel on brushes behind the melody then ride cymbal and walking bass behind Murley’s pithy tenor solo, which suggests Joe Henderson in the best sense. Florian’s piano solo is loose-limbed and lyrical; he has a generous technique and a sense of composition befitting his extensive training. The bass and drums engage in a nice pas-de-deux of trading eights, then fours, then Norma takes it out with a scat over the closing A-flat minor vamp. An exhilarating track, with the faster tempo providing some contrast to the slower ones.
The Widow In the Window (Kenny Wheeler.) The title may reflect Wheeler’s well-known fondness for wordplay, but the lyrics explore a kind of wistful mystery, the slim chance of ever being sure of anything in this life. This has a moody intro and is a slow, spacy straight eights feel with a far-ranging melody. The band transitions smoothly into ¾ for Murley’s passionate solo and a long-lined, melodic one from Vivian, with some stunning bell-like accompaniment from the piano. The closing line “What is it for?” summarizes the unsettled mood here.
Raffish (Ralph Towner.) Like the previous track, this was recorded in concert and the liveliness of this tune really benefits from the audience. This is loose, half-time fat-back funk with a somewhat ominous, noirish feel. The lyrics are witty and staccato, it’s a wonder that Norma can fit them in, but she always does. The band is very tight on some complex figures and vamps behind her, then they all embark on a collective improvisation with layered contributions from everyone before giving some to the drummer. Joe stretches out in a musical drum solo which never gets boring, then brings the band back in flawlessly for a rousing finish.
This record is a real accomplishment, it has depth, balance and smarts and one gets the feeling that the reputations of these wonderful musicians could rest on their performances here alone. There’s a lot to unpack here, but not one track stays up past its bedtime. It also has a global scope, combining contributions from two Canadians, a transplanted German, an American and an Englishwoman. Kudos to them for coming together to make such inspired and timeless music
Steve Wallace, Sept. 2024