LET GO
jerry granelli trio + mary jane lamond
composer, arranger, performer
Jazz Recording of the Year ECMA nomination 2011
- Bones 04:43 composed by J. Granelli
- Dango 05:35 composed by D. Oore
- Solaria 09:23 composed by S. Fisk
- Letter To Bjork 02:45 composed by S. Fisk
- Leaving 1313 03:36 composed by J. Granelli
- Underneath the Chinese Saloon 03:09 composed by S. Fisk
- Chinese Saloon 05:14 composed by S. Fisk
- A Woman Who Wants to Waltz 06:13 composed by J. Granelli
- Vulnerable 02:50 composed by D. Oore
It is a tenet of good writing that you don’t use a five-dollar word where a 50-cent word will do. Drummer Jerry Granelli’s trio subscribes to a similar philosophy on Let Go. The album is nothing if not economical. (The five-letter title alone conveys that.) There are nine songs here, four of which run less than four minutes apiece.
Simon Fisk switches between bass and cello, and Danny Oore plays tenor, soprano and baritone saxophones. Granelli, who’ll always be known as the rhythm-keeper on the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas, drums sublimely, rarely playing the same pattern for two consecutive measures. Fisk, the most understated of the bunch, plucks a funky, slithering vamp that gets “Bones” going. Oore’s sax sneaks in, serpent-like, and Granelli hits the ride-dryly, coolly-with fresh fills every two bars. On “Dango,” he enters like a ticking clock with a military drum corps bringing up the rear; Oore’s soprano, pretty at first, grows ever more daring and aggressive. Fisk, on cello, underpins the aptly titled “Letter to Björk” with an unchanging 10/8 line so Granelli can play freely; the last 46 seconds of this 2:46 song (interlude, really) is a fade-out.
Mary Jane Lamond, singing in Gaelic, provides vocals on two tunes: the closing dirge, “Vulnerable”; and “Solaria,” by far the longest piece on the album. Running more than nine minutes, it begins as a sweet duet of soprano sax and cello before Lamond’s wispy vocals flutter in. Granelli makes intermittent pronouncements with a malleted tom, and abruptly there is rhythm and groove. Still, even when there’s a long tune to make hay with, the guiding principle remains intact: Keep it concise and unencumbered.
—Steve Greenlee
Originally published
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Released 31 mai 2011
Jerry Granelli-Drums, Simon Fisk-Bass, Danny Oore-Sax, Mary Jane Lamond-Voice
Recorded at the Sonic Temple in Halifax, Nova Scotia in January 2011.
Produced by Jerry Granelli & Colin MacKenzie.
Engineered by Darren Van Neikerk, assisted by Carl Little.
Final mix and mastering by John Raham at Ogre Studio in Vancouver, BC.
Paintings by Jerry Granelli, photography by Geoffrey Creighton, Design by Gritmedia.com.
Thanks to FACTOR & Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture and Heritage.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters.