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Freelon brings out the funk: Quintet shows a harder edge without losing ability to swing. It's impossible to overstate the role saxophonist Jane Fair has played for women in Canadian jazz. Without the emergence of the Guelph native in the early '70s as the first Canadian-born female instrumentalist of consequence, there would likely be no Jane Bunnett -- an early student of Fair's -- or Ingrid Jensen. Bassist Rosemary Galloway has been another strong role model for Canadian women in jazz over the past 30 years. The quintet they co-led yesterday is the latest of three bands that have carried their names since 1981. With Terry Clarke on drums, Lina Allemano on trumpet and Nancy Walker on piano, this is their best unit yet, and their program of post-bop originals bristled with energy. It is difficult to do anything but bristle with Clarke propelling a rhythm section. An economical, precise percussionist, he provided subtle support, stepping forward only briefly in T's Vamp -- a song Galloway wrote in his honour. Along with Jensen, Allemano is one of the generation of younger female instrumentalists to follow on the heels of Fair and Galloway, and like Jensen she is exploding the stereotype that the trumpet is a male instrument. Echoes of Kenny Wheeler can be heard in her tart tone and artfully cracked notes, but Allemano also has a nicely burnished sound that's all her own. Ottawa International Jazz Festival | |||
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