Michael Farquharson (various basses); Matthew Nicholl (pno/keys/perc.); Greg Badolato (ten); Tim Miller (gtr); Stebe Langone (dms)(Review by Lance).
Some lovely music here whether it be the jazz quintet tracks or the infusion of the woodwind quintet on Farquharson's City Suite. This latter item is a portrait of three cities the composer has lived in - Boston, Halifax (Nova Scotia), Istanbul - is a delightful mix of what might have happened had, say Mozart replaced Gil Evans as arranger for Miles Davis or Claude Thornhill.
Nicholl's Choro Suite re-works the Choro - a pre-cursor to the Brazilian Samba.
Throughout, Badolato's tenor weaves lyrical patters easily ingested by the neo-classical arrangements. The title track, Della by Moonlight is Mingus with an extra magical ingredient - don't ask me what - but it works and every arranger should have at least a spare one!
The two Canadian leaders have produced an album that's very listenable. You won't play it on New Year's Eve but you might want to the morning after - it is that relaxing without being in the least cheesy.
Nicholl & Farquharson - Della by Moonlight. Available at street level from Nov. 27 on Empty Loo Records (I kid you not!).
Lance.
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