Evensong - Songs From The Bridge (2019)

EvenSong creates music from the heart, to the heart. These are songs about trial, hope, sadness, joy, wisdom—songs of our spirit that span a bridge between you and me, between here and there, between urban jazz and folk traditions, between sound and silence, between our sorrows and our joy, between the secular and sacred, between where we’ve been and where we’ll go.

The songs on this album capture the spontaneity of live performance collectively created in the moment. EvenSong is a quintet drawn from the deep well of the Ottawa music scene. JP Lapensee (bass) and Jamie Holmes (drums) are anchors for many of the finest jazz projects in the nation’s capital. Pianist and composer Dr. James McGowan is on the music faculty at Carleton University. Saxophonist Peter Woods is a congregational minister at MacKay United of the United Church of Canada. Leah Cogan emerged out of the national theatre scene as a singer/actor who touches our emotional souls. We’ve been gigging in and out of concert halls and churches, clubs and festival stages for years, grounding their music in the ebbs and flows of interactive music.

EvenSong happily says “yes” to the beauty of the world. They hear songs and share songs out of a commitment to say that “yes” over and over. From Leah’s infectious passion (lullabying?) of “God Bless the Child” to JP’s imaginative soundscape he creates throughout “Both Sides Now”; from James’ pianistic spiritual reflection on “Lament” to Peter’s tuneful grit on Wayfaring Stranger and Jamie’s life-sustaining heartbeat throughout, this music says “yes” over and over. It’s happy music, but make no mistake, it’s also resistance music. Pulsing with hope and affirmation, it is meant to defy the temptation of apathy and irony. Listen to the band as it roars through “Nature Boy” confidently exclaiming “The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return!”

Meanwhile, EvenSong’s whole project is meant as a giant invitation for us all to say that sacred “yes” to the stories of own lives. Here. Now.

This album is the soundtrack to our journeys that span the bridges in our lives.