5 things to know about Frankenhorn by Audrey Ochoa

January 3, 2020 admin concerts, music, music reviews, vancouver music

Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Fri, 03 Jan 2020 19:00:22 +0000

Edmonton trombonist Audrey Ochoa is both a bandleader and a hired horn for everything from ska-punk acts to rock, pop and Latin combos. Her debut album Trombone and Other Delights (2013) hit #1 on the Earshot jazz charts, and the followup Afterthought (2017) broke into the Top 20 in the U.S. jazz charts.

Now she’s back with the amusingly named Frankenhorn.

Originally intended to be a duo session with Ochoa and pianist Chris Andrew which would get a heady remix courtesy of DJ Battery Poacher, Ochoa rethought the project during production. Adding in strings and a rhythm section, the eight tune recording moves and shifts all over the map.

Throughout it all, her clean, strong and melodic trombone cuts through. It’s not surprising that she has numerous awards for her playing. Here are five things to know about Frankenhorn:

1. Great strings. Throughout the whole album, the string trio arrangements lend Ochoa’s compositions a kind of cool chamber jazz vibe with a pretty strong serving of cinematic soundtrack. It’s easy to picture Postcards playing behind some key melancholic moment in a Canadian indie film. As the strings rise and the horns follow harmonically, the camera pans across the bleak, oil-stained prairie as the sky turns black, Sauron smiles and the heroine flies off on the back of a giant eagle, or something.

2. Swamp Castles. The opening tune oozes in on Ochoa’s swinging trombone line and then the booming bass and skittering percussion comes in. As the song builds, strings bow in, some more beats drop and it’s just lovely. Frequent collaborator Mike Lent deserves special recommendation for his consistently strong playing throughout.

3. Battery Poacher remixes. Huggy Dance and Groundhog Day are both Battery Poacher remixes on the album. The former is a slow, trip-hoppy groove with some nicely treated horn burping in the background. It doesn’t go anywhere. Groundhog Day fares far better with a more moving arrangement. When the electric pops and glitches start coming in, it makes sense. OK, it does sound a tad like the record is skipping.

4. Bunganga. This Latin-tinged track is the most moving on the album. In terms of getting you out of your seat and dancing, this is it. A few more of these would have been cool. Or some club remixes where Chris Andrew’s tight piano and organ gets looped a lot and messed up.

5. My Reward. The growling bit Ochoa plays at the start of this set-closing song is the best horn on the album. Just backed by bass at first, she references Dixieland classics, the blues and more in brassy blasts that just resonate. This is six minutes of pure playing joy. It must kick live.

Also reviewed this week:

Common Creation

Psychedelic Bass EP | Lowtemp

Producer Common Creation drops four new tracks on this EP that range from space rock/dub (Electro Rhapsody) to the robotic glitch drops in Candlelight. Toss in some straight-up big bass dubstep and hip-hop (Conflicted Computer) and the shimmering stoner grooves of Late Summer Night and you have some great music for a cold winter’s eve. Blunted fun.

Jeff Denson, Brian Blade, Romain Pilon

Between Two Worlds | Ridgeway Records

Chiming in on the mellow, atmospheric cool of Sucre, the 11 songs that jazz bigwigs Jeff Denson (bass), Brian Blade (drums) and Romain Pilon (guitar) lay down here are pristine examples of each player’s skills. At a time when so many releases seem hell-bent on blasting off in your face, this trio is cool with loping improvisations that aren’t in a rush. It’s not that it’s soft, check some of the complex snare rolls in Generation or Pilon’s feedback in Song of a Solitary Crow for ferocity. They just aren’t in a hurry.

Kevin Finseth

Opium Hymns | kevinfinseth.highlifeworld.com

A nine song set of pensive singer/songwriter originals and covers from Bob Marley (Concrete Jungle), Lennon/McCartney (I’m Only Sleeping), Jagger/Richards (No Use in Crying), and Tom Waits (Take It With Me) from local performer Kevin Finseth. With an ace backing crew that includes Chris Blades (electric guitar), Peggy Lee (cello), Geoff Hicks (drums) and sound from A-Dub, songs such as Once Was True are very Waitsish in their drama. The highlight is Forsaken, an orchestral declaration of not being able to “find the time.” Clearly, the artist found the time to construct a nice record.

Madison McFerrin

You + I EP | MadisonMcFerrin.bandcamp.com

Brooklyn-based singer McFerrin makes music that falls into the future soul genre. Songs such as No Room are full of everything from tinkling keyboards with a Seventies soft-rock sound, to dubby echoes of Bristol trip hop and totally modern multi-tracked vocals. The six songs are varied, but the best of the bunch just might be Know You Better. It’s just piano and her untreated voice in a jazzy arrangement that just works.