Baron Tymas (guitar) – Montréal [TrackList follows] – Self, 50:30 (Avail. as MP-3 from Amazon) ***:
They should be encouraged to continue on their creative journey.
(Baron Tymas – guitar; Joshua Rager – piano; Sage Reynolds – acoustic bass & bass guitar; Jim Doxas – drums; Guests: Jeri Brown – vocal on track 5; Charles Ellison – trumpet on track 1)
Baron Tymas is an American guitarist, who as a Fulbright Fellow spent a year studying at Concordia University, Montréal Canada. During that year of 2015, he composed most of the music in this session, which explores the people, places, and situations that he encountered during his time in that special city.
Recorded at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, Concordia University on November 5, 2015, the session starts out with “The Laval Syndicate”. Although Tymas indicates that most of this composition was written before his arrival in Montréal, he renamed it for his cohorts pianist Joshua Rager and trumpeter Charles Ellison. Since Tymas was new to the area he can be forgiven for this unfortunate title, since back in 2013, the Province of Québec had a judicial inquiry that “sifts through the town ( Laval) likened to a crime syndicate”. Despite this unfortunate association, the band swings though the number in a breezy fashion.
“Orange et Vert” (Orange and Green) refers to the Métro (subway) line that Tymas used daily. It has a swinging melody that moves along smartly with Tymas filling most of the solo space with long single-note playing and pianist Joshua Rager acquitting himself neatly in his solo spot. The only vocal track is “And Oui” (En. And Yes) and features the voice of Jeri Brown (a Concordia music professor). The wordless vocalizing is hauntingly offered by Brown, and fits well with the musical background.
Clearly Tymas and his colleagues are committed to their work and exhibit an unambiguous musical expression. There is, however, no WOW factor to either the compositions or their interpretation. Nevertheless they should be encouraged to continue on their creative journey.
TrackList: The Laval Syndicate; Chasing Its Tail; Orange et Vert; Do Right; And Oui; Wishbone; Chicken On The Beach; Take The 24
—Pierre Giroux