Maple Heat: Canada Deep Volume 3 returns to the often-overlooked world of Canadian jazz. Like its predecessors, this latest volume of Canada Deep covers a range of styles in the genre, performed by some of Canada’s finest musicians, including Brian Browne, the late Nick Ayoub (whose sax playing features on Lacombe’s Plateau Mambo, a tune written by Ayoub), and Joe Sealy. Few, if any, of the songs featured in this podcast have been reissued.

Again, like its predecessors, this volume of Canada Deep is heavily reliant on recordings made by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). These recordings were generally limited to distribution for radio play on CBC radio. As a result, these records are relatively rare, meaning that few people outside of collector’s circles have heard what amounts to a significant share of Canadian jazz recordings from the 1950s through the 1980s. That being said, the two Ready or Not compilations (Do Right!) released in the early 2000s, delve pretty deeply into the CBC archives, whilst the widely-respected Psyquébélique music blog is, amongst things, an excellent source of information about jazz recordings from Québec.

Of the 14 tracks featured in this podcast, I’d like to highlight two in particular. The first, Bad Burn in Poteau, is taken from ‘Celebration’ an lp released by the Saskatchewan Arts board in 1980 to celebrate the province’s 75th anniversary. According to the liner notes, the two touring bands included on the lp were comprised of music students aged 15 to 21. Band 1 are responsible for the slightly bonkers jazz-funk big band sound on this track. Highlights include a trumpet section who almost seem to gallop away from the sax section at several points and an unexpected drum break from Barry Weafer.

The second track I’d like to highlight is perhaps equally bonkers to the first, but for a different reason. Pacific Salt alumni Ron Johnston takes a downtempo soulful approach on Hey Joe –until the last two minutes or so when he starts applying an Echolette effects unit, transforming this polite little number into a psych-jazz freak out. Or something.

Enjoy.

Tracklisting:

  1. The Brian Browne Trio – Happy Little Mothers
  2. The Carol Britto Trio – Karenetta
  3. Jean Cousineau (arr. Francois Cousineau) – Ronde Numero Deux
  4. Buck Lacombe Jazz Ensemble –Plateau Mambo
  5. Jerry De Villiers Trio – Sunday Morning
  6. Emile Normand – Senor Blues
  7. Jane Fair Jazz Quintet – Il s’en vient le spectacle
  8. Kathyrn Moses – Touch Me
  9. Vic Angelillo (Henri Hamel) – Complicité
  10. ‘Celebration’ (Band 1) – Bad Burn in Poteau
  11. Doug Wilde –Our Man In Havana
  12. Joe Sealy – Espresso
  13. Pacific Salt – North Bluff Stomp
  14. The Ron Johnson Trio – Hey Joe

See All 4 Episodes of "Maple Heat"