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SHANNON GUNN On a Mountain
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CELLAR MUSIC CM052001 [47:09]
Shannon Gunn (vocals): Renee Rosnes (piano): Neil Swainson (bass): Billy Drummond (drums): Brad Turner (trumpet): Pat Labarbera (tenor saxophone): Rick Lazar (percussion)
Recorded May 2001, Lydian Studios, Toronto
From You
Carla’s Blues
In the Moment
Wild is Love
I’ve Grown Accustomed to His Face
On a Mountain
A Felicidade
Mean Joe
Everything I Love
Canadian singer and composer Shannon Gunn died in July 2020. The Vancouver-born musician initially studied classical piano and later worked as a teacher, pursuing opportunities for concerts and composition. As a kind of in memoriam, but one that functions as a celebration of her life and her musical achievements, this disc, recorded back in 2001 but only mixed recently, is her first album. It seems a shame that it must be released postmortem but it’s clear that she thrived in the milieu of Canadian jazz clubs and that making records was a less pressing concern.
She has on board some quality colleagues, as a quick perusal of the personnel will show. Three of the songs are her own and stylistically she situates herself firmly in the Great American Songbook. She sounds as confident and relaxed with her trio backing as when guests join. Pianist Renee Rosnes is the proverbial tower of strength, a really articulate stylist and supportive accompanist, and of bassist Neil Swainson not much else need be said, given he has worked with Herb Ellis, Barney Kessell, Mel Tormé and a host of others – I first heard him with George Shearing. Billy Drummond is the drummer, a world class performer but one whose association with Carla Bley is relevant here given that Gunn sings Carla’s Blues, otherwise better known as Bley’s famous instrumental Sing Me Softly of the Blues. For her version Gunn employs the words supplied by another great singer, Britain’s Norma Winstone. The result is captivating, irradiated by the contributions of trumpeter Brad Turner and tenor sax player Pat Labarbera.
Gunn is a poised and focused vocalist, utterly tasteful throughout, profoundly musical, and not given to extraneous gestures. Rosnes co-composed In the Moment and her deftness and pianistic amplitude gives it a real chordal richness. The Gunn-Swainson duo take on I’ve Grown Accustomed to His Face is a tricky thing to pull off, but they do so with seemingly effortless warmth, each taking over from the other in a rippling and imaginative take on things; slow, romantic and maybe with just touches of Sarah Vaughan in her delivery . On a Mountain is an open-hearted and delightful Gunn original and her singing and the solos accompanying vest it with zest and liveliness. Given this, it’s not a surprise that she was drawn to Jobim, and she sings A Felicidade delightfully. The added percussion supplied by Rick Lazar does just enough to insinuate Latin elements without subverting the mood. The last of the Gunn originals is Mean Joe, an easy-going mid-tempo swinger complete with nice arrangement. The horns dredge up quotes from Mean to Me – if you’re going to quote make it a play on words – in a genial and witty way. She does essay very light scat ŕ la Ella on the final number, Cole Porter’s Everything I Love – earlier on in the programme there’s brief vocalise too –and this piece also features a flowing and splendid Rosnes solo.
The band is tight as a drum, the arrangements are varied and clever, and once or twice quite complex. Shannon Gunn proves an admirable singer and it’s some compensation that this disc will alert those who never heard her as to just how good she was.
Jonathan Woolf