" data-original-title="" title="">Phil Nimmons, you probably have not been paying close enough attention. Nimmons, who surpassed the century mark in June 2023, is often referred to as the "Dean of Canadian Jazz," and listing his many accomplishments and awards would require far more space than is ordinarily set aside for a complete review. Suffice to say that Nimmons has been active as a composer, arranger, performer and educator longer than most Canadians have been alive. He retired from teaching at the University of Toronto (whose Jazz Studies program is one of several he founded) in 2019, at age ninety-six.

Generational, the second in a series of warm tributes to Nimmons' legacy and music, is superbly performed, as was the first one, To the Nth (Self Produced, 2020), by a world-class octet whose pianist and arranger—none other than the elder Nimmons' talented grandson, Sean Nimmons—also wrote a pair of the album's eight charming numbers, "Generational" and "Bella Shores." As Phil Nimmons composed more than four hundred songs for his various ensembles, from big band to quartet, and others for film, radio, TV, theatre and special events, the group should have no trouble finding enough fresh material to piece together as many testimonials as it wishes. And given their pedigrees, its members should have no concern about reaching the same level of excellence as the first two.

That primacy begins with the buoyant opener, "Arf," and continues apace, as the octet revisits enchanting selections from the JUNO Award-winning Atlantic Suite (Acta Records, 1976) ("Islands," "Transformations") and three more treasures ("Under a Tree," "Carey Dance" and the dreamy closer, "Night Night Smiley," the last featuring a handsome vocal by