D.D. Jackson – Poetry Project

There’s something of the Broadway musical or jazz opera about Poetry Project, the first studio album by Canadian D.D. Jackson since 2007! A long hiatus during which the pianist and composer has not been idle: he has composed scores for the screen, written a regular column in DownBeat magazine, taught, written ‘serious’ works, etc. Poetry Project is therefore a return to the recording world and a very nice return it is! The 13 pieces in the programme are closely linked by the use of texts by contemporary Canadian poets. While the resulting pieces are not all equal in interest or dramatic force, there are several moments of great beauty and emotional power, underpinned by refined writing that elegantly fuses jazz, classical and popular song. 

In the most gripping tracks, Jackson draws strongly lyrical melodic lines that seem to be drawn from some old folk tunes dressed up by a great 19th-century Romantic composer. I’m thinking here of Mavety Street, I Call and Deadalus Lament, which are superb. But, according to what subject is tackled by the corresponding text, Jackson also delves into blues (Fuller Terrace, On Silence, Coda the Blues), rock (Daylight Shooting in Little Italy), atonal music (Alternating Current) and free jazz (So, Say I, impressive with Yoon Sun Choi’s electric scat!). There are also Broadway-esque swings and Rufus Wainwright-style pop in Because You Squeezed Back and The Father’s Dream. As I said, not everything is equal. For example, while the chorus on Daylight Shooting in Little Italy is catchy, the rest of the development doesn’t attract the same interest. Then, even if the Broadway-style songs are well done, the treatment and vocal style used are a bit Disney musical-ish. Nothing wrong with that in principle, but many will find the result cheezy.

Fortunately, this does little to detract from the overall quality of the whole, which is assured by Jackson’s tight writing. In the end, the less convincing incongruities are subordinated to the dramatic and theatrical aspect of the emotions on display, which remain at the heart of the expression.  In truth, Poetry Project resembles a jazz opera/musical that doesn’t say its name. Jackson is no stranger to the exercise, that being said, having already composed two works in the genre, Québécité and Trudeau: Long March/Shining Path. 

The composer has surrounded himself with a wide range of seasoned, polished performers, mostly Canadian, including Larnell Lewis (Snarky Puppy) on drums, George Koller on double bass, Jane Bunnett on soprano sax, Laila Biali on vocals, and a host of others. 

A classy comeback for a great Canadian artist we’d lost touch with for a while.