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the River - CD REVIEW by Roger Levesque

You've heard myself and other CKUA announcers rave over the gifts of our own musicians right here in Alberta. It's not just hyperbole. Rubim de Toledo's latest, The River is the latest convincing evidence.

Following his first solo release In Crimson And Charcoal, this is another set of tunes originally conceived to accompany a production by Calgary's Decidedly Jazz Dance, Tinge And Tone. While that previous disc took a more experimental direction, The River flows to the parameters of a '60s style acoustic jazz quintet, with tunes reminiscent of Horace Silver, the Blue Note school and - in his 10-minute suite The River - John Coltrane.

It knocks me out, first for how de Toledo's writing and arranging sets up tasty harmonies, then for the depth of intuitive playing and the excellent sound that captures it, and finally for some intangible element we'll just call soul.

The obvious familiarity between bassist de Toledo, trumpeter Bob Tildesley, reedman Jim Brennan, pianist Chris Andrew and drummer Tyler Hornby certainly adds to the effortless quality of the performances but I suspect the experience of playing for dancers also helped inspire their buoyant spirits. When he solos you can feel de Toledo tip-toeing or springing around on those strings and the exchanges between them all conjure up even more mental imagery.

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