Nick Fraser, Tony Malaby & Kris Davis - Too Many Continents (2015)

Little by little (we would prefer otherwise, but that’s how things go), all that the Canadian scene has to offer comes to light. Drummer and composer Nick Fraser is a fundamental figure of the progressive jazz circuit established in Toronto, due to his «feeling for economical gestures and innate sense of form», as critic Mark Miller wrote. And indeed, he’s out in the open: after playing with the likes of Anthony Braxton, Dave Liebman, Marilyn Crispell and David Binney, in this new opus he has the company of two other notable musicians with international reputations: Tony Malaby and Kris Davis. They enable him to give some groove to the music (wrong: lots of it!) and to be a colorist whenever needed, going to avant-garde land without losing sight of the jazz tradition. If you’ve already heard him with the bands Drumheller, Ugly Beauties, Peripheral Vision and Titanium Riot, “Too Many Continents” is something else. Between Malaby’s tenor sax harshness and Davis’ refined piano constructions, Fraser has enough room to surprise us. And he does. They all do, over and over and over.

Tracklist

1 Too Many Continents 9:56
2 Recovered as Granted (Sketches 28 & 27) 3:46
3 I Needed It Yesterday 6:04
4 Also 4:23
5 Nostalgia for the Recent Past 9:51
6 Sketch #25 4:28
7 There'll Be More Dreams to Come 8:18

Personnel :

Nick Fraser - drums
Tony Malaby - tenor and soprano saxophones
Kris Davis - piano