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 | Free TradeFree TradeLabel: Justin Time | Jazz | September 9, 1994Format UPC Order # Unit Price |
Credits Ralph Bowen flute and saxophone Terry Clarke drums Peter Leitch guitar Renee Rosnes piano Neil Swainson bass Production Credits | TracksNo Title Duration Excerpts 04 Milestones 00:08:25 05 Melancholia 00:04:37 06 Guess Again 00:06:44 07 Is That So? 00:06:30 08 Gargoyles 00:09:44 09 Bleeker Street Theme 00:03:35 Liner NotesMy family claims kinship - in a manner far too convoluted for me to go into, or even truly understand - to Nelson Eddy. The reason I bring this up is that I've been asked to write the liner notes to this fine recording, and ruminations about Canadian spirit and identity would seem to be in order. A descendant of the great musical Mountie, no matter how tenuously related, would seem the perfect fellow to address such matters.For you see, Free Trade is a Canadian entity, five frosty souls who found each other in New York, New York. They come from the length of the land, some born on the west coast, some on the east. The pianist is from Regina, more or less in the middle. The name of the band, as all Canadians know, has become kind of a cruel joke. The North American Free Trade Agreement has none of the good things the politicians said it would. But what of the evil that the artists warned against? Is Canadian culture going to hell in a handbasket? That's the kind of rumination I've been doing, because I've been asked to write these liner notes. Is there a Canadian culture? Well, as my Great-Uncle Thrice-Removed Nelson used to say, damn betchas. It has to do with such things as hockey rinks, pickerel and beer. That's a fairly easy answer, although it might be a little hard to connect all that with the jazz ensemble Free Trade. The music on this recording seems very far removed from the little rinks, lakes and taverns that blossom across the nation. After all, I don't think Duke Ellington wrote “Melancholia" because the Sudbury Wolves lost the Memorial Cup Final. I'm tempted not to connect any of it. After all, the point is that these five musicians have made splendid splashes in the U.S. of A. Collectively, the members of Free Trade have played with some of jazz’s great names: JJ.Johnson, Wayne Shorter, Woody Shaw, George Shearing, Milt Jackson, James Moody, Joe Henderson, Hank Jones, Jim Hall, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Dizzy Gillespie, Rob McConnell, Slide Hampton, Jay McShann, John Handy and Herbie Hancock. And Oscar Peterson, although I'm loathe to mention him, being as he is, um, Canadian. This morning I had a very Canadian experience: I was driving back from cottage country (which is what we call the northland when all the rinks have melted) and I got caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I sat there and cursed and fumed. In a sort of desperation, I threw my cassette of Free Trade into the tape machine, still searching for the thing that would make a complete circle of Canada and these five musicians. At first the music seemed rather out of place. It is thoughtful, graceful jag, not the best thing for a still morning full of furious sunshine and horn blaring. I did notice, though, that I started to feel considerably better, despite the fact that I was stuck in traffic I looked around and noticed how pretty everything was. That was one way to connect Canada and the music of Free Trade, I reasoned, they're both beautiful. I began to tap my feet. This is not the best thing to do, especially if one foot is on the accelerator and the other on the brake, but I tapped my feet and listened harder and I believe I caught the essential Canadian spirit in the music. For while it is subtle and intelligent -some might even call it reserved - I detect a joyful exuberance. The players were having fun. And I think that it is this combination of beauty and intelligence and spirit that makes Free Trade truly Canadian, and if not truly Canadian, then truly enjoyable. Paul Quarrington, July 1994 Paul Quarrington is the author of several books, including Whale Music (Doubleday) and the forthcoming Civilization (Random House). |
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