JEAN MARTIN AND JUSTIN HAYNES ****
Freedman
Barnyard
Usually Myk Freedman’s music can be best enjoyed when played by his large band, St. Dirt Elementary School, at the Tranzac, preferably accompanied by pints of Oatmeal Stout. Here, Justin Haynes and Jean Martin distill Freedman’s compositions to ukulele and suitcase. Haynes plays a surprisingly pretty ukulele, which suits these sweet-tempered songs well — his playing segues effortlessly from delicate and melodic to free and fractious. For his part, Martin derives a huge range of muted sounds from his cheap plastic suitcase, making it sometimes sound like a drum machine smothered by a blanket. Together they create an intimacy reminiscent of Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto’s collaborations, while still keeping things unpredictable. DAVID DACKS

JEAN MARTIN AND JUSTIN HAYNES PLAY THE BARNYARD RECORDS 3 CD LAUNCH PARTY WITH NICOLE RAMPERSAUD & KYLE BRENDERS, MORE AT LULA LOUNGE (1585 DUNDAS W) DEC 2.
 
QUINSIN NACHOFF - BRUNO TOCANNE PROJECT ***
5 New Dreams
Cristal
Call this a brass band, but it sure isn’t about New Orleans. With the absence of a bassist, the two brass players, two reed players (one of whom is co-leader and Torontonian Quinsin Nachoff) and a drummer all take turns plumbing the low end. This is highly composed music, and the overabundance of self-conscious edginess and daffy humour can be overpowering. On slower-paced numbers, though, the richness of the brass shines. Bruno Tocanne’s drums are too busy on certain cuts like “Duality,” but he strikes a better balance on “Cascade” (which resembles Peter Brötzmann’s famously noisy “Machine Gun”), where fluttery saxophones are well complemented by his kit. Throughout, Nachoff’s sax and clarinet work soars over the group’s consistently left-field melodic choices. DD

THE PEGGY LEE BAND ***
New Code
Drip Audio
Jazz cellist Peggy Lee infuses her octet with the best explorative qualities of the west-coast scene on her fourth release New Code. Whether roughing up a drifting waltz (“All I Really Want to Do”) with intentionally imprecise backgrounds and not-quite outside soloing or plodding through murky free textures (“Preparations” and “Shifting Tide”), she and her band members rarely overreach their collective expression, yet there are enough distinctive lead lines to give everyone voice. The exception to this rule comes with the guitarist’s Nels Cline–wannabe action on “Not a Wake Up Call.” It doesn’t matter; Lee’s acute sense of musical direction prevails with the captivating balance of freak-outs and float-aways. CHRIS BILTON

ALAIN BEDARD AUGUSTE QUINTET ***
Bluesy Lunedi
Effendi
As both a bassist and co-founder of the prolific Effendi Records label, Alain Bedard is a fixture on the Quebec jazz scene. His second release under the Auguste Quintet moniker, Bluesy Lunedi feels measured out with an air of cautiousness befitting his executive role. The solos throughout the disc are all fluid and inventive, especially the sax solos on “Monky” and the brushes-and-sax duet after the opening melody of “Simplement,” but sometimes the players seem to struggle against the imposition of the arrangements. The album strives for progressiveness and modernity, but it often becomes mired in traditionalism and, other than the solid rhythm section communication between Bedard and drummer Pierre Tanguay and the shape-shifting “Necessite,” shows an inability to arrive at an organic group dynamic. CB

JIM MCAULEY ****
The Ultimate Frog
Drip Audio
This two-disc monstrosity compiles acoustic improvised duets between the somewhat-obscure LA-based acoustic guitarist Jim McAuley and a cast of collaborators including violinist Leroy Jenkins, Wilco’s Nels Cline (my personal choice for “greatest living guitarist”), Cline’s twin brother Alex on percussion and bassist Ken Filiano. Dramatically flailing guitar dogfights, pensive explorations of their instruments’ sonic extremities and explosions of downright mindblowing virtuosity, The Ultimate Frog finds these players pushing each other into intense new orbits. Listening to how McAuley plays with these different collaborators provides insight into his many adaptive talents, as well as his knack for choosing sparring partners. Non-abrasive free jazz at its finest. CB