Toronto quintet finding its own sound

VISIONS OF COLLISIONS Tesseract (Independent) ★★★

Tesseract, a young Toronto-based quintet, is already well on its way in terms of developing its own sound.

On the best tracks of its sophomore album, Visions Of Collisions, the group successfully blends the beyond-jazz esthetics and guitar work of Bill Frisell with a harmonizing, two-saxophone front line, à la The Fellowship Band.

The disc’s first three tracks — the gentle, dreamy opener Apsidal Procession, the more involved Sand Piper, the folky but urgent Lay Of The Land — are cut from similar cloth, even if each came from a different composer. Slow, moody and more minor-key than major, they constitute the CD’s pastoral first act.

Guitarist Patrick O’Reilly, tenor saxophonist Leland Whitty, alto player Edwin Sheard, bassist Julian Anderson-Bowes and drummer Derek Gray — musicians who range in age from 22 to 24 — demonstrate some strong simpatico. If anyone casts the strongest spell, it’s O’Reilly. The 24-year-old guitarist has a fine feel for orchestrating and giving heft and feeling to the music. His astute timbral choices and evocative use of electronics are crucial elements for the band.

Anderson-Bowes’ brisk tune Winter Spring and Sheard’s Shorteresque piece Atone(mo)ment see the group setting aside straight-eighths grooves in favour of swinging, more jazz-based playing. The performances are less persuasive.

With the disc’s last three tunes — O’Reilly’s trance-y, rocky piece Sharon, Gray’s plaintive, swirling For J.L. and Whitty’s slow, unfolding C.L.P. — the group returns to doing what it does best.

Tesseract plays Saturday, Nov. 16, from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Options Jazz Lounge in the Brookstreet Hotel.

Peter Hum

FABLES Bryn Roberts (Nineteen-Eight Records) ★★★★

When he backs singer-songwriters Serena Ryder and Dar Williams, you might never know that pianist Bryn Roberts is an accomplished jazz musician.

But his latest CD, Fables, leaves no doubt of that. Roberts, a 36-yearold Winnipeg native now based in Brooklyn, has crafted a set of six finely detailed but accessible originals and two classily interpreted standards. As modern mainstream jazz goes, it doesn’t get much better.

Joining Roberts are saxophonist Seamus Blake, bassist Orlando LeFleming and drummer Johnathan Blake. They bring Roberts’ music to life, making it vivid with equal parts fire and finesse.

The opener, Corlear’s Hook, is a marvel of interlocking parts that’s both intricate and rugged, strong and lyrical. Canadian Tuxedo is an urbane swinger with an irrepressibly catchy second act. The Invention Of Writing is an austere but feelingful duet for Roberts and Blake’s soprano saxophone. The title track is a tense, dramatic 5/4 tune.

As good as the reliable, powerful Blake is, he’s not missed at all on the disc’s two trio tracks. Roberts romps through Cole Porter’s In The Still Of The Night and concludes his disc with a touching take of Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry.

The Bryn Roberts Group featuring Seamus Blake plays Thursday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. at GigSpace (953 Gladstone Ave.). Tickets: $20 at the door or call 613-729-0693

Peter Hum