Drummer Ernesto Cervini’s Joy is no ordinary jazz album. It is first and foremost a warm tribute to the Eastern Townships region of Quebec, the geographical center of Louise Penny’s detective novels. Each piece on the album is a soundscape inspired by a character, a place or a striking element of the Quebec novelist’s universe.
From the quiet and inspiring lyricism of Three Pines, like a cinematographic overview of the eponymous fictional village where most of the plots unfold, to the peaceful romanticism of Sandalwood and Rosewater (the respective perfumes of the couple constituted by detective Armand Gamache and his wife), via the springy neo-bop of Surprised By Joy (a sort of village identity slogan) and a multitude of other tasty, truculent, respectful or ironic portraits, etc. (depending), all pittoresque portraits of many recurring characters from the books in the series, Ernesto Cervini weaves a vast psycho-musical web that is sure to satisfy fans of Louise Penny’s investigations. Hillary Clinton (a great lover of Penny’s universe!) will be delighted.
