Brad Turner Trio w/ Darren Radtke, Bernie Arai: North Star
All compositions, produced, mixed, & mastered by Brad: recorded at Monarch by Dave Sikula
The Brad Turner Trio, featuring Brad on piano with Darren Radtke on bass and Bernie Arai on drums, released their third album North Star digitally-only on May 12, 2023 via Cellar Music.
Let's go track-by-track:
"Seeing Blue": the opening track's floating ballad and medium swing arrangement matches the cover's colour and its midnight mood. It shifts along like some versions I've heard of the standard "I Thought About You" or even "Isfahan" as played Joe Henderson.
"McGill Street":
Sharing a name with the East Vancouver street that brings traffic between downtown and the Second Narrows, it's a strikingly upbeat melody, going to far places a couple times and then ending abruptly as if it was improvised.
"Ma Belle": a heavier, more cinematic number that doesn't swing, it gives the first use of the one compositional thing I always associate with Brad's groups: memorable riffs of left-hand piano and bass together. Darren's favourite solo of mine on the record is here.
"Polyglot": the fierce and metallic sound brings back the mood of the trio's first album, Question the Answer (2004, on the Maximum Jazz label). Bernie's drum solo here is a highlight.
"Murphy Jets": it's the most expectation-defying cut, with plenty of different composed sections swirling around en route to a distinctive outro. It resembles the second album by the trio, Here Now (2015).
"Hinterland Hula Hoop": the title is in line with Brad's weirder titles that crop up once in a while. It's just as freewheeling of a recipe as the previous cut, though it holds forth with the Chick Corea Now He Sings, Now He Sobs feeling as well as a triple time feel, like a jig.
"North Star": the title track is a more focused moment that brings out some carefully-chosen colours in the harmony. Darren's solo is brief but well-suited to both this composition and his personal, lyrical style.
"Optimistic": there are ten seconds of silence before this track hits, making it a quasi-bonus piece considering how abruptly many of the other tracks end. As a hybrid of many things heard earlier on the track list, it's a fitting closer. My favourite Brad solo on the record, because it sounds most like how I know him to play live on club gigs, comes after Darren's longer solo.
Brad's most recent appearance on Cellar in general was Fire in the West, and as a leader it was Jump Up by his quartet plus Seamus Blake. (Most recent time playing keys on a Cellar album? Metalwood's Twenty.) North Star is a brighter, crisper production than Here Now though both relatively short albums have a similar concept; they depart from Question the Answer, which was a lot longer and more muscular.
With all compositions, produced, mixed, mastered by Brad – and recorded at Monarch by Dave Sikula – there's a calm to the record and a sense of being in control. It's depressurized. Here's to new Brad Turner music, the first collection of his work to hit the digital shelves in this current era of Cellar's online promotional fortitude.
North Star: Seeing Blue (for Charles S.); McGill Street; Ma Belle; Polyglot; Murphy Jets; Hinterland Hula Hoop; North Star; Optimistic. (40:04)
Personnel: Brad Turner on piano; Darren Radtke on bass; Bernie Arai on drums.
