Downing, Turcotte, Zubot and Dawson

A meeting of roots duo Zubot and Dawson, with veteran jazz trumpeter Kevin Turcotte and crossover bassist Andrew Downing has resulted in an adventurous recording. Great Uncles... connects many traditionally opposite musical ideas: free-jazz and folk, atonality and tonality, improvisation and tightly arranged composition. The music of Andrew Downing, whose compositions are primarily featured on the disc, echoes the quartet work of guitarist Bill Frisell, or Toronto combo the Henrys, as these songs can be quirky or beautiful, but at their heart is an open-minded spirit. The sublime opening track, "Stockholm," features slides guitar, trumpet and violin circling about a gorgeous melody. As the record continues, the quartet sounds, at time, whimsical ("Fairy Tales"), swinging ("Ride 'Em High") and heady. Despite a certain sameness to some of the material, this sets a high standard for like-minded Canadian collaborative recordings in the future.