CARN DAVIDSON 9

REVERENCE

Independent Label

William Carn, trombone/vocals; Tara Davidson, alto saxophone/flute/vocals; Kelly Jefferson, tenor saxophone/clarinet; Shirantha Beddage, baritone saxophone/bass clarinet; Jason Logue & Kevin Turcotte, trumpets; Christian Overton, bass trombone; Andrew Downing, acoustic bass; Ernesto Cervini, drums; SPECIAL GUESTS: Dick Oatts, alto saxophone; Mark Kelso, percussion.

The first thing I notice about this album collaborative is the absence of chordal instruments like guitar or piano.  Instead, the harmonics are left to the warm hands of the horn section.  The Carn Davidson 9 was formed in 2010, a project spurred by Juno Award winning artists like trombonist William Carn with saxophonist Tara Davidson. It’s a co-led ensemble that showcases the Davidson and Carn original compositions.  To do this, they use seven wind instruments, an acoustic bass and drums.

The first song was written for Dick Oatts who is a special guest on this project.  He solos on the opening tune called, “Fire” featured on alto saxophone. The song is boisterous and melodic, with the horns locking tones tightly, like lovers holding hands. Track #2 is a song called “Groove” and features Kelly Jefferson on tenor saxophone, driven by the drums of Ernesto Cervini.  As the horn section punches harmonics in the background, Jefferson flies at the helm of this arrangement, singing a mad solo. Cervini is also featured, a percussive sponge soaking up the spotlight.

This album is divided into suites.  The first is a saxophonist suite made up of  two compositions by Tara Davidson and one by Carn.  Davidson has been inspired by Dick Oatts, Joshua Redman, Christine Jensen and Kenny Garrett.  “Fire” is one of my favorite tunes on this project.

William Carn leans heavily towards his Latin heritage during this production. He Celebrates his love of Brazilian music, with many of his compositions reflecting the influence of Sergio Mendes, Hermeto Pascoal and Antonio Carlos Jobim.  Carn endeavors to capture their sense of rhythm, melody and the joy that South American music can radiate.  He offers the listeners his Pan-American Suite.

I was disappointed on Track #5 when the engineer did not lift the percussion sound to the proper level, consequently in various places during this arrangement, the music entirely disappears unless you turn the volume up. This happens about a third of the way into the song, before Carn’s trombone solo. I found that quite annoying. It should have been fixed in the mixing and mastering.

I enjoyed what sounded like a triangle on Track six, “Just Because” that was composed by Carn. It added brightness and sparkle to the arrangement.

This is a tight group of horn players, given smart arrangements to interpret.  Their talent spreads across my listening room with great enthusiasm.  Davidson and Carn offer their compositions and arranging skills for interpretation by the nine members of their musical community.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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