chris wong in sync

May 22 was a momentous day for Metalwood. That’s when the Canadian quartet’s first major label album, The Recline, came out.

The CD release, on Universal Music’s Blue Thumb/Verve imprint, is a big deal for a number of reasons. For the band members – two Vancouverites (electric bassist Chris Tarry and keyboardist/trumpeter Brad Turner), a Torontonian (saxophonist Mike Murley) and an Ottawa native living in New York City (drummer Ian Froman) – it’s affirmation of their vigorous individual musicality and engaging group sound. It’s also significant for Canadian jazz as a whole because very few jazz musicians get an opportunity like this for widespread exposure. If The Recline does decently, Universal (and maybe other major labels) could sign more Canadian jazz artists.

Not many players get an opportunity to record with high-calibre guest musicians like guitarist John Scofield, percussionist Mino Cinelu and turntablist DJ Logic either. Their presence in the two-day session for The Recline, recorded in January at Vancouver’s Blue Wave Studios, has added to anticipation about the album.

Given the buzz about Metalwood’s record deal, I’ve been anxious to hear the actual music on the album, produced by Scott Morin and Shawn Pierce. I knew Cellar co-owner Cory Weeds had an advance listen of The Recline, so a while ago I asked him for his impressions. Weeds said it’s a “great” album, but not what he would have predicted from Metalwood.

I didn’t understand what that curious answer meant until I finally received my own copy of The Recline. The first three tracks–“Strollin’”, “Steeplejack” and “Bumpus”– set the tone. While Metalwood has always come up with potent grooves, these tunes and others point to an even deeper emphasis on a groove-based sound. As far as groove-jazz goes, the music compares favourably with other recent recordings in the style, such as Scofield’s Bump.

How does The Recline compare to Metalwood’s first three studio albums on Vancouver-based Maximum? Aside from the funky groove thing, there are some key differences. As quoted by Down Beat editor Jason Koransky in his liner notes for the new album, Tarry points out one development. “This is the most mature record we’ve recorded,” he says. “There are more tunes on this album. A lot of the material on the first three albums was improvised. Here, we’ve tried to capture that spontaneous vibe, but with more thoroughly written tunes.”

Maturity doesn’t necessarily lead to progress. The thing that attracted me to Metalwood’s music right from the band’s debut album was what Weeds describes as a “fly by the seat-of-your-pants” approach to electric jazz. The Recline, with its more polished sound, has less of that raw impetuousness. I also miss the quirky interludes on the earlier albums, although the new recording has some unpredictable twists, like the acoustic, straight ahead jazz of “Mr. Mike”.

The best tracks are the ones where Metalwood ups the intensity level and, as a result, creates the album’s most vibrant solos. The group does exactly that on songs including “Mr. Mike”, “U.B. The Monster”, “Lemming” and “Pressure”. As for those more laid-back, groove-heavy tunes, they’re not the most riveting pieces the quartet has ever recorded. Overall The Recline is a solid, if somewhat safe expression of the band’s abundant talents.

Regardless of what directions they pursued on the album, Metalwood consistently delivers powerfully intense live performances. That was certainly the case in March when the group played at the Commodore as part of New Groove .01. Metalwood will perform twice at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival: June 25 at the Commodore on a strong triple-bill with Scofield’s band and the Bloomdaddies (led by ex-Vancouverite Seamus Blake), and a June 27 show at Performance Works. Those gigs will likely be festival highlights.

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Carol Welsman will sing May 27 at Rossini’s Gastown. Call 408-1300 for reservations. At the opposite end of the jazz spectrum, School Days will play June 4 at the Anza Club. Inspired by 1960s free jazz and contemporary improvised music, the quintet includes clarinetist/saxophonist Ken Vandermark. Call 879-4990 for information.

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I took a chance and bought a CD titled Call of the Valley partially because of the cover photo showing an idyllic scene in India. It turned out that the disc contains beguiling Indian classical music. Shivkumar Sharma’s playing on the santoor (hammered dulcimer with more than 100 strings) has a lot to do with the album’s allure. In fact Sharma is India’s premier santoor player, who almost single-handedly brought about the instrument’s relatively recent acceptance in Indian classical music. With accompaniment from tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, Sharma will perform May 28 (7:30 p.m.) at the Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver. Call 879-8319 for tickets.

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Caravan World Rhythms will present Indian music and dance June 6-7 (7:30 p.m.) at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. Sacred Rhythms, Divine Melodies will feature local artists performing dance styles such as Kathak, along with northern Hindustani and southern Karnatic music. Call 734-7907 for information.