Chromology

Reg Schwager - guitar Michel Lambert - drums Jon Maharaj - bass recorded August 10, 2010 in Toronto at The Magnolia recorded and mixed by Jesse Capon mastered by Jeff Elliott design by Kim Chua ------------------------------------ a review by Peter Hum from Jazzblog. Ca: Chromology (Rant Records) Reg Schwager Trio I can't think of another Canadian jazz player who deserves more recognition abroad than Toronto guitarist Reg Schwager. If jazz lovers elsewhere know the boyish 49-year-old, the explanation would most likely be his performing credits with George Shearing and Diana Krall. In Toronto, Schwager's been a sideman of choice for decades, playing, for starters, in the groups of Don Thompson (his fellow Shearing bandmate), the singer Emilie-Claire Barlow and trombonist Darren Sigesmund. But then, he's been an old-soul player since his late teens. By the early 1980s, he had enough together to have performed with Pepper Adams, Jon Hendricks, Hank Jones, Junior Mance, Jimmy McGriff, Zoot Sims, J.R. Monterose and Chet Baker. Discs under Schwager's own name are not so easy to come by -- most are on his own label -- but I recently received his latest trio CD, Chromology. It's a pleasing, substantial disc that reveals more with every listen and is a testament to Schwager's diverse interests and mature artistry. Chromology consists of 11 concise and well-defined tracks, most of which are Schwager compositions. Some tracks -- the versions of Wayfaring Stranger and Indian Summer that bookend the CD, for starters, Schwager's tunes Yesterday's News and the onomatopoeic Tickety-Boo -- are lean swinging tunes in a standard vein. They're what you might expect from a Shearing/Krall colleague. But Schwager also writes tunes with more modern harmonic content such as the pretty waltz May Days, the plaintive straight-eighth tunes Lowlands and Nocturne, and the upbeat, contemporary pieces Crop Cycle and Chromology. More evidence of Schwager's broad musical passions: Blue Baiao nods to folkloric Brazilian music (as does the now dormant Brazilian Music Treasure Hunt blog, which he maintained for many years), and Beautiful Dreamer unfolds as a sweet rubato piece reminiscent of Montreal guitar icon Sonny Greenwich. Regardless of the material, Schwager's a forthright, melodic improviser, a pure player who never seeks to impress with flashiness but is all the more impressive as a result. With strong and sensitive support from bassist Jon Maharaj and drummer Michel Lambert, another distinctive Canadian original deserving wider recognition, Schwager's simpily shining on Chromology. ------------------------------- Reg Schwager bio: Reg Schwager was born in the Netherlands in 1962. When he was three his family moved to New Zealand where he studied Suzuki violin. When he was six his family moved again, this time to Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. There he took music lessons in recorder, flute and piano before settling on the guitar as his main instrument. By age fifteen he was playing jazz gigs in big band and small group settings and in duet with his sister Jeannette. It was at two jazz workshops conducted by Phil Nimmons - at the University of Toronto (1978) and the Banff Centre (1979) that Reg met some of the musicians he would begin working soon after he moved to Toronto in 1979. These included fellow students Renee Rosnes and Ralph Bowen and faculty members including Nimmons, Dave McMurdo, Herbie Spanier and Pat Labarbera. Since then he has been working steadily on the Toronto jazz scene and in other musical areas including new music (New Music Concerts, Hemispheres and Sound Pressure, among others) and improvised music (with musicians such as Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink). Reg has toured across Canada and worldwide with George Shearing, Diana Krall, Peter Appleyard, Rob McConnell and many others. He appears on over 80 commercially released recordings with such artists as Junior Mance, Gary Burton, George Shearing and Mel Torm. CDs released under his own name include 'Resonance', 'Border Town', 'Live at Mezzetta'and 'Chromology' Recently he has be