feature photo: JazzYYC
Ernesto Cervini’s wonderful sextet Turboprop hadn’t rested on their laurels since snagging Canada’s prestigious Juno award for Jazz Album of the Year with their 2019 release Abundance. They don’t have the follow-up ready yet but that doesn’t mean they stopped playing. Even during this pandemic.
The video debuting above is a quality take on a contemporary rock song, with the band playing like they’re in the same room. But thanks to the wonders of modern technology, they’re practicing safe social distancing. The musical interaction remains very close, though.
Ernesto Cervini chose to take on a Radiohead song — a recent one at that — and these indie-rock giants provide fertile ground for creative covers, though not nearly enough jazz musicians take advantage of their catalog. The chilling but beautiful “Present Tense” from A Moon Shaped Pool has that classic Radiohead chord pattern and a peaceful vibe that never feels too self-contented.
Cervini’s treatment calls for Adrean Farrugia to reveal the melody’s plain beauty on piano as he keeps the pace brisk but understated mainly with his cymbals alongside the precise bounce of bassist Dan Loomis. Tara Davidson’s alto saxophone conveys a tinge of sadness, and like Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, she expertly rides the mood of the song. William Carn comes along next on trombone and he brings his own flavor of smoke to the song, followed by the great tenorman, Joel Frahm.
There’s been a lot of Zoom meetings lately but I’ll bet none of them have ever sounded this good.
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