Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Ernesto Cervini: A Canadian Songbook

Ernesto Cervini: A Canadian Songbook

By Hrayr Attarian
April 21, 2024
View read count

Composer and drummer Ernesto Cervini is a stalwart of the Canadian creative music scene both as an artist and promoter. His ninth release as a leader, the captivating A Canadian Songbook, is a collection of seven intricate pieces, composed by him and other compatriots. Cervini, at the head of his sextet Turboprop, deftly balances collective harmony and individual expressions and delivers all with refreshing spontaneity.

The leader starts off his arrangement of pianist

James Hill

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">James Hill's "Skeletons" with sparse drumming. Then the whole band joins playing the catchy head. The front-line members engage in a moving, sometimes bluesy, three-way conversation over a percolating backdrop. Pianist

Adrean Farrugia

keyboards

" data-original-title="" title="">Adrean Farrugia's soulful and virtuoso improvisation emerges directly from the dynamic ensemble sound and seamlessly blends back into it.

Cervini's own "Stuck Inside" is a cinematic retro tune that swings hard and has the feel of a swanky evening at a hot night spot. Alto saxophonist

Tara Davidson

saxophone, alto
b.1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Tara Davidson states the main theme with a laid-back romanticism. Trombonist

William Carn

trombone
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">William Carn embellishes the melody with an easy-going swagger and engages Davidson in an effervescent conversation. Bassist

Dan Loomis

bass
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Dan Loomis takes a lithe and urbane solo leading up to the concluding refrains.

Another Cervini original,"If Then." opens with the composer's march-like cadence over which the three horns blow brief clusters of notes. Sandwiched between Farrugia's agile and lyrical pianism and Cervini's thundering polyrhythms is tenor saxophonist

Joel Frahm

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Joel Frahm's fiery and provocative extemporization.

Perhaps the most engaging track on this uniformly superb recording is Carn's "The Inertia of Complacency." It is elegant with passionate motifs laced with hints of melancholy. It also showcases the exemplary camaraderie within the group. This cohesiveness makes them sound like a much larger orchestra. Cervini drives the performance with his restless beats while Farrugia's block chords and Loomis' reverberating strings add to it a hypnotic element. Carn takes center stage with a warm and emotive trombone monologue before the entire ensemble reenters for the poignant finale.

With A Canadian Songbook Cervini proves himself an original and accomplished, multifaceted musician. The album also demonstrates Cervini's ability to mature and evolve with each new addition to his discography. A necessary skill for any creative mind to master.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Skeletons; When I Fall; If, Then; Stuck Inside; Clumsy; Aureole; The Inertia Of Complacency.

Personnel

Ernesto Cervini

drums

Tara Davidson

saxophone, alto

Joel Frahm

saxophone, tenor

Adrean Farrugia

keyboards

Dan Loomis

bass

William Carn

trombone

Album information

Title: A Canadian Songbook | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: TBR Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Albert Tootie Heath, Nick Finzer, No...
< Previous

Dickey Betts: Another Man Done Gone
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.