Jocelyn Gould: Portrait of Right Now

Jocelyn Gould released her fourth album Portrait of Right Now this past Friday and will play a two-nighter at Frankie's this weekend, Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2.

The quartet album features Gould's partner and longtime collaborator Will Bonness on piano; during the pandemic they went back-to-back winning the Juno Awards' Jazz Album of the Year - Solo category in 2021 and 2022.

Though Gould's star has risen steadily through her past three albums and her high level of touring, she is a loyal bandleader. She and Bonness are both Manitobans from the University of Manitoba jazz community, and they're joined by another one for this album: Curtis Nowosad on drums. Rodney Whitaker, who teaches at Michigan State University, played bass on Gould's last album after she studied there. But on Portrait of Right Now, on bass is Jared Beckstead-Craan, who is nearly a decade younger than the other members but also happened to study at both U of M and Michigan State.

That last album was Gould's third, Sonic Bouquet, which saw her share arrangement and guitar duties with her Michigan State guitar teacher Randy Napoleon. The two guitarists were together in Gould's previous appearance at Frankie's on October 22, 2023. It's interesting how removed Sonic Bouquet is from the publicity for Portrait of Right Now; most of the press materials reference the success of her second album Golden Hour and of course Elegant Traveler, her debut which won that 2021 Juno. How high is the internal bar for disappointment within such a recording artist's team?

On-point references to swinging bop and post-bop undergird the whole tracklist as the melodies generally share a bluesy, upbeat mood. The quartet plays Wes Montgomery's "Jingles", one of two pieces not written by Gould, to Wes' groove with love. I also feel references to Thelonious Monk (the leadoff title track and "Early Bird") and Herbie Hancock of the late 60s ("You're In There Somewhere", like "Tell Me A Bedtime Story" or "Maiden Voyage"). "You're No Fun At All" is kind of like the standard "Out of Nowhere"; "Io's Orbit" reminds me a bit of "Nica's Dream".

"Can I Tell You a Secret" is a track I come back to. It swings slowly and straightforwardly, much like I tried to do in my own little way on one of my albums. That guitar tone: it's resonant and immense. Unaccompanied, it'd be a little like Joe Pass. Dig into Bonness' tasteful comping, Nowosad's brush playing, and Beckstead-Craan's active but well-placed walking fills.

Gould has now been a vocalist as well for most of her discography. Here, she sings on four tracks. She sings the only standard, "Bewitched", and the original ballad "I Haven't Managed to Forget You". To me her singing is still very clear-toned like Chet Baker, as I enjoyed on Golden Hour.

On "You're In There Somewhere", she deploys wordless vocals. Then there's "Spring It Seems" where Bonness is the sole accompanist to her voice. "Months of bad decisions mistaken for good ones," she sings in an artist's lament of sorts. I know from Gould's Rhythm Changes Podcast appearance that she cares deeply about her physical wellbeing as a touring performer; is that what's happening here, or is it emotional too? And it has that spring evocation that you see across the songbook history, like "You Must Believe in Spring" or "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most". It's intriguing to see a happy, swinging project still leaving poignant questions.

Every musician with serious designs to play jazz in a small group and upload it to YouTube now needs to answer how they're different from Emmet's Place. On The Jocelyn Gould Show, now at ten episodes since the first week of 2024, Gould's answer is to add in question-and-answer segments while singing and playing with her quartet from Winnipeg's No Fun Club studio.

One last thing, Canadians: don't be alarmed that Gould priced her new CDs at $28 each – it's merely a conversion from 20 American dollars, a signpost of Gould shooting for the stars by default.

At Frankie's, Gould will perform with BC-based musicians like David Restivo and Nick Bracewell.

released Oct. 25, 2024 | Buy CD | available on streaming