Heyday
Bent River, 2022
9/10
The bassist and keyboardist RJ LeBlanc has been a prominent member of the Montreal jazz scene for well over a decade now, and this 4th album as leader might be his most ambitious to date, where a handful of players help flesh out the very diverse affair.
“Flamme” starts the listen with plenty of melody and grooves, as Nicolas Ferron’s swirling guitar and Kevin Warren’s complicated drums complement LeBlanc’s bass acrobatics, and “Casa Perdida” follows with a warm haze, where Erika Angell’s soaring voice radiates alongside Francois Jalbert’s agile guitar and Louis-Vincent Hamel’s precise drumming.
The halfway spot belongs to “Into The Sun”, where a dense climate emits some rock influences amid the chugging guitar, spacey synth and thick drums, while “Saturnales” enlists Eli Miller Maboungu's playful percussion, Elizabeth Shepherd’s mesmerizing voice and Rafael Zaldivar’s frisky key’s for the prog-friendly delivery that’s quite festive, too.
The title track lands near the end, and places Tommy Crane on drums and brings back Angell’s soft voice for the intimate album highlight, and “Childlike (pour Roland)” exits with Jérome Beaulieu’s swift keys and Ferron’s animated guitar for the busy, textured ‘90s nods.
An extremely eclectic body of work that’s as likely to remind you of Patti Smith as it is Weather Report or Nirvana, LeBlanc and company embrace rock, jazz, dubstep and even R&B into this fantastic listen.
Travels well with: Noah Lemish- Twelve; Ernesto Cervini- Joy