Jazz/Classical Fusion
James McGowan Ensemble: Reaching Out
Independent / 24 May 2024)
Ottawa-based James McGowan and his big band released the successful fusion album Reaching In in 2023. Reaching Out is the follow-up for the 13-piece ensemble that blends elements of jazz and Western classical music into an eminently listenable mix.
The album consists of instrumental tracks, along with spoken word by Ottawa-based English Poet Laureate Jamaal Amir Akbari that artfully weaves in and out of the music. Stylistically, it veers from jazzy to progrockish to contemporary classical moments.
James McGowan is a pianist, composer, producer, and award-winning faculty member in Carleton University's Music program.
The Ensemble comes together as three quartets, McGowan and Ottawa-based Modasaurus, Quatuor Despax from Gatineau, Quebec, and four of horn players that include Ottawa Jazz Festival Artistic Director Petr Cancura, Mike Tremblay on tenor and soprano saxes, Mark Ferguson on trombone, and JUNO-award winning Ed Lister on trumpet.
Modasaurus jazz-fusion quartet is McGowan on piano, Alex Moxon on guitar, JP Lapensée on bass, and Jamie Holmes on drums, with Quatuor Despax, violinists Cendrine Despax and Jean Despax, violist Maxime Despax and cellist Valérie Despax.
It's a 17-track mega-album that you can put on to enjoy the seamless changes of pace that each track offers. The musicianship is top tier, with standout guitar work from Alex Moxon. The spoken word tracks, titled Imagine (Part 4, 5 & 6) chart the journey from despair to hope.
"Reaching Out tells my story through words and music of moving past grief to find strength in community. I truly think that everyone will be able to relate to it and find personal resonance in this journey," McGowan says in a statement.
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