Still Cookin' to the Sky | Across Canada, Fall 2025

In this third edition of Rhythm Changes Across Canada, a seasonal roundup of albums from the national scene:

• A legend holds court with our finest duos
• The Jensen sisters in a chordless quartet
• A harpist sits in a bathtub with $12,000
• Folkways from BC's interior meet Toronto's Elastic label
• John Korsrud plays with a young folk-jazz trio
• "Mack the Knife" like you've never heard it before
• The director of Bruno's Blues assembles a wrecking crew
• Solo electric bass that sounds like a grooving band

Al Muirhead - Still Cookin' At 90: The Canada Sessions Volume II

Where can you hear Caity Gyorgy and Jocelyn Gould sing back-to-back tracks on the same album? At Al Muirhead's party. Like Muirhead's previous release, this record surrounds the trumpet legend with some of our nation's finest, mostly recorded at the National Music Centre. The four duos who join him – Gyorgy with pianist Mark Limacher, Gould with pianist Will Bonness, pianist Robi Botos with bassist Mike Downes, and another trumpeter Jens Lindemann with pianist Kristian Alexandrov – are each deeply accustomed to playing with one another and lend instant comfort and satisfaction to the sessions. Lindemann plays flugelhorn on the closing track, "What a Wonderful World", then welcomes Muirhead in for the second 'A' section; they later interact gently. In addition, pianist Hilario Durán forms a duo with Muirhead on "Corcovado". (Buy CD/Vinyl | Available on streaming)

Aretha Tillotson: Kinda Out West

A chordless quartet with Ingrid and Christine Jensen up-front is pretty sweet, and as bassist Aretha Tillotson's follow-up to her WCMA-winning debut Introducing, it packs a focused punch. The title track is the one that fulfills the strolling Rollins reference. Tillotson wrote all the music, from the saxophone-feature ballad "Lullaby to Those Before" to "35" with its Harmon-muted trumpet and snaking development. Her bass playing is dynamic and needs no tricks, like drones, double-stops, or strums, to be thoroughly engaging across several solos. Drummer Dave Laing is as expert as ever and responds in kind to Tillotson's joie de vivre. The two horns lead the arrangement that struck me the most, "Gauche Caviar". They, of course, are also a good match for their bandleader's confident force. (Buy (Bandcamp) | Available on streaming)

Elisa Thorn: xiik

Immediate and literate, harpist Elisa Thorn's music electrifies your expectations. Bassist James Meger and drummer Dan Gaucher are Thorn's longtime collaborators, opening exquisite spaces for her collection of songs, which she co-produced with Hey Ocean's David Vertesi. In just 33 minutes, she ranges beyond the already eclectic single we looked at earlier. My favourite song is "Idle Talk": Thorn duets with the flute of Anh Phung, unlocks a riff, and spins it into an art-pop banger that suits her sui generis promo videos of playing tennis and ball hockey with fall gourds. Reedist Ted Crosby plays saxophone way in the background of "Rowan" and adds bass clarinet later. There's also the folky instrumental "Lullaby for Fuckery" followed by "Paint By Memory" and its stacks of background vocals, both featuring Trent Freeman's fiddle. (Buy CD/Vinyl | Available on streaming)

Harrison Argatoff's Valley Voice: Stars, Engines

BC-raised saxophonist Harrison Argatoff's past work already sprawls: a duo with our own Noah Franche-Nolan, a quartet record with Mike Murley, a solo-horn concept album, and more. I first heard him in his high school years, and if you saw our names and thought we may have similar cultural roots, you'd be right. This ensemble called Valley Voice is highly suggestive of – never pedantically tied to – Argatoff's Doukhobor heritage. The new album finds him in his home base of Toronto alongside the Elastic Recordings duo of Michael Davidson and Dan Fortin, on vibraphone and bass respectively, and drummer Ian Wright. The first track "Wishlow" is among the highest-octane of his compositions; others saunter downtempo or nod toward free improv. "As Though I Knew" beckons with playful dissonance. (Buy (Bandcamp) | Available on streaming)

Jake Kostuchuk: Speaking Eyes

Manitoba-raised guitarist Jake Kostuchuk recently made his way here for studies at CapU via Selkirk. He has presented his regular trio, with bassist David Caballero and drummer Jordy McIntosh, at shows from Hot Deli to Frankie's After Dark and beyond; his release show for this debut album was at Tyrant on October 17. The trio recorded Kostuchuk's original music at Postal Audio downtown and added trumpeter John Korsrud for all but the first three tracks. Hearing Korsrud play heads and solo in a small group is a treat, and the same goes for Kostuchuk overdubbing acoustic guitars, which grounds the album's opener "Frame of Heart" in a folk space. Korsrud's entrance for "Annabelle" sort of reels the ensemble back to jazz, but the rest of the ride is rootsy and occasionally smooth. (Buy (Bandcamp) | Available on streaming)

Kate Wyatt Trio: Murmurations

It took me almost three years after taking in Montréal pianist Kate Wyatt's previous record to hear her live; Wyatt, bassist Adrian Vedady, and drummer Louis-Vincent Hamel played multiple dates back here in her province of origin this spring. (I missed them in 2023.) This CD's panels of artwork isolate each member of the trio: only the opening track, a barely-recognizable (until the end) "Mack the Knife", is not an original by one of them. Wyatt plays a solo piece, "Finding", and links it to the "Deluge"-like two-chord riff that opens her next composition, "Patience". For me she flies as high aloft in today's piano trio world as Vijay Iyer and Kris Davis. Vedady's bass is especially wonderful on the title track, and his solo on the otherwise patient "Bardo" is funky. Hamel's drumming feels as unbounded as ever and is so intense on "Sunrise" that the title feels ironic. (Buy CD | Available on streaming)

Motivation: Take It To The Sky

From the cover alone, you can see that executive producer Michael Simard has mobilized an all-star cast of local musicians. That's also what he did in a different sense as the director of our scene's own mockumentary: the 2011 film Bruno's Blues. The band Motivation, however, is an uncompromisingly joyful revival of the era of studio musician lifestyles and session hangs, right from the eight-and-a-half minute grooving of "T-Jam". (And yes, Bruno Hubert is here to play some keys.) The material is deep cuts of Earth, Wind, & Fire, George Duke, and more, arranged and produced by Bill Runge. Marcus Mosely's lead vocal on "Never Let Me Go" – plus the excellent background vocal work – and Rebecca Shoichet's vocal on the title track, an EWF tune, are highlights. I also just love to hear André Lachance crush electric bass parts. (Available on streaming)

Rich Brown: NYAEBA

Rich Brown wants you to know that he produced his solo electric bass record with overdubs, not loops. Indeed, it's a much more richly orchestrated affair than a busker-style looping project might've been. And merely calling it solo bass wouldn't do justice to the percussive sounds that elevate most tracks: yes, Brown created those sounds on bass guitars, but that's not the point. Kalimba tinkles on "The Sum of Our Tears", and the insistent dance on "Heart of a Lonely Woman" supports the synthy lead. Don't worry, the Ornette interpolation comes, and so does the voice of Alice Coltrane later. A hopeful spirit carries you through very tangible darker moments. Diasporic and spiritual musical elements unite as Brown sounds larger than life. (Buy CD/Vinyl | Available on streaming)