Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop

A Canadian Songbook

TPR

Toronto drummer and composer Ernesto Cervini leads his Canadian sextet Turboprop on their fifth album, A Canadian Songbook. While Cervini also leads other projects, notably Tetrahedron and Tune Town, Turboprop earned a JUNO Award nomination for their 2022 Joy, for which this is their follow-up. The band features a three-horn front line that delivers engaging melodies and harmonies, often playing contrapuntally.  Instrumentally the group is shaped like Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers of the early sixties except for two saxophones instead of a trumpet. Members are altoist Tara Davidson, tenorist Joel Frahm, and trombonist William Carn.  Joining Cervini in the rhythm section are pianist Adrean Farrugia and bassist Dan Loomis. Cervini and Loomis are also members of the Joel Frahm Trio. Frahm, a well-established tenor player, shows up as a sideman on many projects but his trio outing, with these two, 2021’s The Bright Side, shows his at most formidable best.

A Canadian Songbook features two originals from Cervini, his friends Allison Au (“Aurele”) and James Hill (“Skeletons”), the trombonist Carn (“The Inertia of Complacency”) and Cervini’s arrangements of two pop/rock tunes – “When I Fall by The Barenaked Ladies and “Clumsy” by Toronto’s Our Lady of Peace. We should also mention that Cervini is a tireless publicist for Canadian artists as the founder of Orange Grove Publicity, and those is a major mover in the Canadian jazz scene. With his deep network of connections, he’s able to source material from many. (He is the connection for several reviews you’ve seen on these pages too, but we’ll leave that alone for now).

Cervini’s “If Then” is inspired by the high school computer science classes he took 20 years ago. Originally written for a piano trio he co-leads, Myriad3, with Chris Donnelly and Dan Fortin, it’s spread across several meters especially on the bridge but mostly in bright stop time of 5/4 for the improvising, which features aggressive turns from Farrugia and Frahm following the ensemble and alto statement from Davidson. The sextet locks in and kicks up a storm. His “Stuck Inside” was penned during the pandemic and thus begins frenetically, only to slow down remarkably with Davidson stating a lilting, simple melody. As the tune evolves, it bears a vintage big band sound a la Basie, down to the bluesy trombone turn from Carn, the three horn choruses, and a concluding robust bass solo. One can tell that Cervini has some big band arrangement experience. Similarly, these wonderful three horn arrangements color Carn’s “The Inertia of Complacency,” originally recorded on Carn’s own 2022 release, Choices. The piece moves through a few sections, with varying shifts in dynamics and colors as Cervini’s kinetic kit work inspires two solos from Farrugia, declarative turns by Carn and Frahm, but most vividly sparkling three-horn ensemble blowing.

James Hill’s opening “Skeletons” is a single and can be viewed on YouTube to gain a view of Turboprop recording in the studio. Hill is the pianist in the jazz/hip-hop group BadBadNotGood and this is one of their songs. Cervini’s arrangement centers on the trading of horn parts, nonexistent in Hill’s original which instead features synths. The drummer stays in a rock-like pocket, allowing Davidson, Frahm, and Carn to roam freely but pianist Farrugia doesn’t want to be left out of the rambunctious fun, completely breaking down the tune’s chord progression in his swinging solo. Allison Au is an altoist and thus her “Aureole” is fertile ground for Davidson and Frahm, the latter charging like a bull, just shredding any possible obstacle in his path.

The slowly drifting “When I Fall” was originally an acoustic tune from The Barenaked Ladies, with an expressive intro from Carn, backed by just bass and drums, leading to a fine extensive Loomis solo and lush waves of the three horns with Frahm stepping forward before the ensemble builds to a crescendo, only to exit quietly. “Clumsy” is a 1997 rocker, a favorite from Cervini’s teenage years from post grange rockers Our Lady of Peace who are still active. The pensive beginning defies any pre-conceived notions of grunge rock and Cervini sneaks in a brief angular three-horn sequence before the main melody, expressed mostly by Frahm, ensues. Cervini adds an anecdotal fact in his liners that Elvin Jones recorded on a Lady of Peace album, Happiness…Is Not a Fish You Can Catch. Perhaps that also plays into his attraction to the band.

Maybe one doesn’t necessarily expect such terrific arrangement skills from drummer, but Cervini’s classical training on piano and clarinet as well as his four years in New York probably also shaped his skillset. These are some of the most intricate, yet colorful horn charts heard anywhere, Canada or elsehere. This should lead new listeners to further exploration of his catalog.

• Jim Hynes

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