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Way North: Fearless And Kind

By Dan McClenaghan
November 14, 2018
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This roots jazz band is called Way North, presumably for their home base in Toronto. But a spin of their second recording, Fearless and Kind, says they could have tagged the quartet Way South, especially considering the opening tune, "Boll Weevil," and the two-part "Jelly Roll Morton Medley." Their music has a sort of

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman vibe, if that free jazz pioneer/alto saxophonist had come out of New Orleans instead of Fort Worth, Texas. Part of that comes from the "two horn quartet minus a chording instrument" line-up; part of it comes from the freewheeling, joie de vivre attitude of the group.

That said, Way North's trumpeter

Rebecca Hennessy

trumpet
b.1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Rebecca Hennessy and tenor saxophonist

Petr Cancura

saxophone
b.1977

" data-original-title="" title="">Petr Cancura sound nothing like trumpeter

Don Cherry

trumpet
1936 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Cherry and Coleman. They've got their own style of give and take going, their own exuberant unison work riding energetic rhythms.

"Boll Weevil," written by saxophonist Cancura, is a "let the good time roll" romp, with Hennessy and her horn mate weaving their lines around a vibrant "Mississippi beat." Hennessy's "Lagoon"—reprised from the outstanding 2017 outing, Rebecca Hennessy's Fog Brass Band's Two Calls (Self Produced)—pulls the sound back into a relaxed, southern summer groove.

"Act I: Billy Bolden's Blues," (Part 1 of the Jelly Roll Morton Suite), sounds funereal, leading into "Act II: King Porter Stomp," with its jubilant, devil-may-care attitude and "lean back and let it rip horn work."

Fearless and Kind is all about a celebration of sound, with a rapturous elasticity on the up-tempo tunes, and a hearteningly ruminative heft on the more languid moments. It's like a band standing on a street corner in the French Quarter, giving it their all.

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Track Listing

Boll Weevil; Lagoon; Airport To Knowhere; Buddy Bolden's Blues; King Porter Stomp; Inchworms; You Know A Song; Ready Or Not; Birds For Free; Fearless And Kind; The River's Flow.

Personnel

Way North

various

Rebecca Hennessy: trumpet; Petr Cancura: tenor saxophone; Michael Herring: bass; Richie Barshay: drums.

Album information

Title: Fearless And Kind | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Self Produced

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