YOW Jazz, April 16: upcoming jazz shows

The Carn Davidson 9; Kevin Goss; and Kenji Omae

On this show, I preview upcoming performances in Ottawa, including an interview with William Carn of the Carn Davidson 9 (CD9), who are performing at the National Arts Centre on Friday, April 19. In our interview, Carn talks about the influence of John Scofield’s 1996 release, Quiet, on the sound of CD9. I play a track from Scofield’s album on the show and here’s a different track from that same album:

I also play two tracks from CD9’s most recent album, History of Us. This video produced by the group gives a good overview of the themes of family and history contained in the two suites on that album. The two tracks I play, one from each suite, are about mothers.

William Carn also gives us some insight into their next album, with recording starting sometime in May.

Kevin Goss, a saxophonist from Toronto, will be playing in town on April 18 with the Peter Turner Quartet (Peter Turner on trombone, Peter Hum, on piano, and Keith Hartshorn-Walton, on bass). I play one track (R.C. Cooler) from Kevin Goss’s 2020 release, Gratitude, that he said would give us a flavour of what to expect at the performance. He also told me that this track might get played:

One constant thread between Kevin Goss’ performance and the upcoming performance of Kenji Omae, is Peter Hum, who will be playing piano at both gigs. On the show I play a track from Peter Hum’s 2019 release, Ordinary Heroes. Kenji Omae plays tenor saxophone on this album. On “Crises and Reckonings”, the track played on the show, David Smith is on trumpet, Mike Rud is on guitar, Alec Walkington is on bass and Ted Warren is on drums.

Kenji Omae used to be based in Ottawa, but is now living in Nova Scotia. He will be playing in Ottawa on Friday, April 26, with Peter Hum on piano, Alec Walkington on bass and Valeriy Nehovora, on drums. Kenji Omae released a new album in September 2023, called Ten Thousand Steps. On the show, the track “Don’t Forget” will be played. He told me that “Online Blues” would also give people a flavour of what to expect at the performance.

The show ends with three new releases, including the show’s first request (if you have a new release request, send me a direct message, and I’ll see what I can do).

The last set starts with the song, “Your Love” from Lizz Wright’s new album, Shadow. This track features Meshell Ndegeocello on bass and Brandee Younger on harp. I received a request to play another track from Kandace Springs’ new album, Run Your Race, so I chose “Wild is the Wind”. The show ends with the debut recording of Alliance and the track “La Tristeza”. The group also tackles some jazz standards on the new anlbum, including this Herbie Hancock classic.

What I’m Reading

• When do we stop finding new music? A statistical analysis.

• Ancient Greek ideas of attunement and modern music.

• Why are so many Canadian festivals struggling or cancelling?

• Brain scans of jazz musicians reveal secrets to reaching creative flow.

Listen

You can listen to the show live on Tuesday at 11 a.m. (EST) on 93.1 9n your FM dial, or online. Shortly after broadcast, the show will be available for streaming on demand.

Next show: Tuesday, April 30. More upcoming jazz performances and some Record Store Day discoveries