Tom Wakeling releases: The CBC Tapes & Cotton Club Live

Tom Wakeling & Brad Turner co-lead a chordless quartet on two early-2000s live albums, released for the first time this past fall. They are Cotton Club Live, recorded at the former Vancouver-Fairview venue; and The CBC Tapes, recorded for CBC's Jazz Beat at the broadcaster's studios.

I became aware of these releases when the bassist Wakeling shared The CBC Tapes to Facebook on October 31 of last year, posting in a Facebook Group that was a major presence in our local scene for years. He posted news of Cotton Club Live to the same group on December 9.

Wakeling crosses the border often to play the Vancouver jazzfest, usually under the band name North by Northwest. He's done it at Frankie's for the last two festivals and even played the Tangent Cafe in 2019; I remember him being in town years before then, too, when I was a student.

The quartet on these two records includes Turner on trumpet, John Gross on tenor saxophone, and Portland drummer William Thomas on drums. Gross hadn't moved across the border to Vancouver yet at the time of these recordings; the occasion was for three American players to join Turner up here. It's a similar concept to the late-2000s Bridge Quartet, led by drummer Alan Jones and featuring Wakeling with Phil Dwyer, recorded in Portland for Origin Records on the albums Day and Night. Gross and Wakeling later played together on Thomas' 2012 album for the same label, Notes from a Drummer.

Turner was in a remarkable career position back then. His band Metalwood won back-to-back Juno Awards for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year to close out the 90s and signed a major-label deal with Universal Music. He played often at the brand-new Cory Weeds' Cellar Jazz Club; he was in the band for the famous post-9/11 Joe Lovano concert at Capilano University. He continued to lead his quartet, and he was about to become a father. He's as seen in this BCIT student documentary that I watched before I showed up at CapU. (He was also a couple years away from another chordless group I wrote about.)

But my purchase of both digital releases came down to the John Gross of it all: if you enjoy hearing Gross play live today, here's a great made-in-Vancouver document of him. And now I'm also looking ahead for Wakeling's next record, which I'll mention at the end of this piece.

The CBC Tapes' destined radio program was Katie Malloch's Jazz Beat, which was before my time but rather important to the national jazz scene; when the show ended in 2007, outcry filled the vancouverjazz.com forums.

The CBC Tapes

Buy digital (Bandcamp) | Available on streaming

"Close Your Eyes": Turner's melody meets a riffing bassline in a straight-eighths groove, then Gross enters as swing starts to disrupt. Thomas' drum feature before the head out is brief and energetic.

"Only Trust Your Heart": Turner sounds like he switches to flugelhorn and takes his turn as the first soloist on a medium bossa. Wakeling takes an even-keeled bass solo, then Turner and Gross co-improvise before returning to the head with harmony.

"Beatrice": breaking down a couple times to just saxophone and bass, it's a Gross signature tune to play. Wakeling gets the first solo and mixes fresh leaps with home-base licks. Turner stays on flugel for this darker number.

"A Time For Love": a tenor ballad draped in bass where Turner sits out and Wakeling's solo has only the sparsest accompaniment. I love Gross' journey to the last note and how it lingers.

"A Blues Mood": a medium-swinging blues by saxophonist Walter Benton – appearing on his only record as a leader, 1960's Out Of This World – that opens up into a great trumpet solo. The melody has a bit of the essence of "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", which we'll get to on the other record. Wakeling's bass solo gets after it, too, including some high notes and bluesy phrases.

"Voyage": another Gross signature; I must have heard it almost every time I've heard Gross play live. The saxophonist's blowing with only drums up front is one of the only bouts of chordless freedom from this straight-ahead group. He doesn't take another full solo other than that, leaving Turner to crush it and then coming back to trade eights.

Cotton Club Live has a different mix that leaves you feeling a bit closer to the live stage, as opposed to the CBC radio studio. The lengthier tracks remind you that it's from a venue.

Cotton Club Live

Buy digital (Bandcamp) | Available on streaming

"Isfahan" (misspelled as "Ishfahan"): deconstruction of a tune in vogue at the time thanks to Joe Henderson and Christian McBride's version a decade prior. Gross moves delicately; Thomas comps for him with imagination in his feet. Turner once again sounds like he's on the flugel and owns the changes.

"Only Trust Your Heart": they played it on both sessions. This extra-long take is my preferred of the two, with some drums for an intro and a graceful solo by Turner that flies around everywhere. Gross solos with drums only and fills the space with an especially reverberant tone.

"The Touch Of Your Lips": Thomas' brush playing is propulsive. Though Gross is the main melody player, I wonder if Turner chose this tune; I've certainly heard him play it a handful of times.

"Goodbye Porkpie Hat": with a deep groove across only six-and-a-half minutes that feel just as substantive as the other extended numbers, the ensemble builds around Turner and finishes defiantly.

"Love Is A Many Splendored Thing": uptempo swing party to round out the set. The drums get a bit hot in the crest of Turner's solo. A voice at the end sounds like it says, "'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat', then we're done," suggesting that the live setlist for the Cotton Club wasn't quite the final tracklist of this release.

"Teef": a blues by saxophonist Sonny Red that plays the role of "A Blues Mood" from the other set, except for 15 minutes here. Wakeling's bass solo strips things down to the harmonic bone and produces laughter after a double-time exchange between him and Thomas.

Wakeling has a new album as a leader, West by Northwest, coming out on Cellar (who are my client at Chernoff Music) on February 7. The first single "Swingin' at the Haven" will release this Friday, January 10th. Here's the quartet from the upcoming album, playing that tune which Ellis Marsalis wrote: