Ingrid Jensen - At Sea (2005) Lossless

While many other trumpeters of her generation have basked in the limelight, Canadian Ingrid Jensen has built an impressive body of work as a leader. At Sea is destined to become one of the major landmarks of her career. The core band includes keyboardist Geoff Keezer, bassist Matt Clohesy, and drummer Jon Wikan. The first three songs were inspired by an Alaskan boat adventure. Jensen's "At Sea" consisted only of a few lines and chords, without a complete arrangement or time signature; the band improvised around her sketch to produce a stunning finished work, incorporating the leader's overdubbed horns and Keezer's subtle synthesizer embellishments. Wikan's brief, rather subdued cymbal improvisation "Storm" segues into Keezer's "Captain Jon," a powerful post-bop vehicle that showcases the composer, Jensen, and Wikan to good effect. Many jazz musicians seem to tackle "There Is No Greater Love" at breakneck tempos, but Jensen chooses a deliberate ballad setting, utilizing a mute and incorporating a very bluesy, late-night feeling into this standard. Cole Porter's "Everything I Love" is dramatically reshaped, blending in an Afro-Peruvian groove, adding Peruvian percussionist Hugo Alcázar on Cajons, with Keezer switching to electric piano and only fleeting references to its theme by Jensen. Her "KD Lang" features her warm flügelhorn in a subdued yet jubilant tribute to one of her favorite singers. Released as a limited-edition CD through Artistshare, this recording is destined to become a collector's item.