Tryptique

Three solid artists from Toronto’s jazz scene come together to explore ‘chamber music with a jazz spirit’. Fern Lindzon on piano, Colleen Allen on flute and saxophones, and George Koller on double bass tease out genres by transforming them into highly personal music. Blues, romantic or baroque classical, easy listening, bossa, Indian music – everything is distilled in an approach that is both learned and intuitive. The listening experience is ultra-pleasant, with no academic harmonic rough edges. Having said that, there’s no soothing simplicity either. Jobim, Fauré, Mozart (via Moe Kaufman), Ellington, then Koller and Lindzon come together without sounding mismatched in a cheerful 12-track programme. The only apparent weakness is Fauré’s Après un rêve, which is frighteningly difficult to get right, in terms of intonation, for a bowed double bass. Koller has not entirely avoided the pitfalls.

Nevertheless, this is generally beautiful, well-crafted, unpretentious music.