Ardeshir – Introducing Ardeshir

Jazz releases are much like the autumn literary season: there is a great deal to choose from, and among it all, a few gems that somehow slip under the radar.

Here is one such example: the debut album by a Vancouver saxophonist whose attention to sound is anything but incidental.

Working firmly within the hard-bop tradition, Ardeshir leads a tightly knit quintet featuring trumpeter Julian Borkowski, already known for his recordings with saxophonist Cory Weeds, who also makes a guest appearance on one of the album’s tracks.

Ardeshir is one of the rising figures on the Canadian jazz scene. He cut his teeth alongside Brad Turner, Cory Weeds and Steve Kaldestad, among others, after studying with Bob Mintzer and Vince Mendoza, as well as Ralph Moore and Eric Reed.

The opening notes immediately establish the ensemble’s impeccable sense of placement and its fluent precision (Sketches of Cedar). The leader’s powerful, assured tone gives the music a deep melodic dimension, perfectly matched by the sharp-edged sound of Julian Borkowski, whose phrasing occasionally recalls the intonations of Valery Ponomarev. The Jazz Messengers strain of hard bop is never far away.

Then comes a well-balanced chase with Cory Weeds sitting in on Blues Up and Down, followed by a highly respectful revival of the Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt tradition. The pace turns fast and almost loping on Just One of Those Things, before the band offers its reading of Darn That Dream, opening with a solo that winds its way through turnaround figures around the main theme before returning to a decidedly academic statement of the melody.

Every saxophonist is, of course, forever searching for his own sound. In that respect, Ardeshir can safely be said to be heading in the right direction, combining strength in the middle register with a measured roughness in the tenor’s lower spectrum.

The rhythm section provides solid support while constantly pushing the music forward, with a particularly alert pianist who knows how to anticipate the leader’s improvisations (Midnight Paradox). All these musicians hail from Vancouver, which, on this occasion, reveals itself as something of a jazz hotbed. A stint with Maria Schneider would perhaps be all that is needed to polish the edges…

Fast-moving hard bop from a band brimming with inspiration, equally at ease with standards and original compositions. One of the summer releases that deserves far more than a place left gathering dust on the record-store shelf.