A very pretty tribute to Steve Lacy — but there are so many of them lately! Still, this one is worth mentioning, if only for the fact that it also tackles Lacy’s Songs, with an actual singer: Susanna Hood, who does a great job, especially on the Blues for Aïda suite. I must also point out Kyle Brenders’ soprano sax solo on The Rent. The other musicians and Scott Thomson on trombone, Wes Neal on doublebass and drummer Nick Fraser. Now, why didn’t Ambiances Magnétiques release this in its “Jazz” series? This record is almost light and quite enjoyable.

Ambiances Magnétiques launches three discs: Récits de neige by Joane Hétu, Bréviaire d’épuisements by Isaiah Ceccarelli, and Pinta, Niña & Maria by Danielle Palardy Roger.

Second album from this Canadian superposse led by Michel F Côté (notice the initials). Heard some things in the debut that were pretty nice but this raises the bar, allowing for a greater level of participation from the players/performers themselves. So who joins Côté at the helms? We’re told it’s Jean René, Diane Labrosse, Jean Derome, and Pierre-Yves Martel, all of whom were previously involved with Ambiances Magnétiques in one way or another; but in listening to the album, these fellers could’ve been around forever, and from anywhere. Perfectly restrained, non-idiomatic music, really best heard on a moonlit night…

The holiday season is back and to celebrate, DAME offers you its yearly Christmas sale! From December 2, 2010, to January 2, 2011, look for the red tags to find 75 titles at a 25% to 40% discount. Here’s your chance to discover what’s new in the DAME catalogue.

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