Diane Roblin & Life Force

Diane Roblin isn’t afraid of creating beauty. That’s why no matter how intense the compositions and improvisations of the Toronto-based pianist may be, they still contain logical evolutions, upfront rhythms and unpretentious theme elaborations. On this brief – about 33½ minute – disc she manages to pack six tracks into a disc that expresses varied moods and considerations while only slightly upsetting the logical flow.

Performances are facilitated by Kevin Turcotte’s trumpet and flugelhorn; John Johnson’s soprano and alto saxophones; Jeff LaRochelle’s tenor saxophone and bass clarinet; George Koller, who also produced playing bass and electric bass, and Tim Shia’s drums. Though he doesn’t play Bruce Cassidy made the horn arrangements. On the title track the reed/brass set up matches layered fragile simplicity with the pianist’s representative harmonies. Then on “Renewed on Thanksgiving Day”, Turcotte’s gentling portamento breaths are bookended by a languid bass clarinet intro that evolves into squeaks and tongue stops and a later intersection with Johnson and LaRochelle which stick to a linear form.

Other tracks allow the rhythm section to anchor tunes with Latin-like or funk beats or introduce hard bop snarls from the saxes. Meanwhile the concluding “Cadenza (solo piano)” shows how Roblin subtly wraps scattershot note pressure and blues inferences into a steadying pianism consistent in its horizontal evolution.

Regardless of its LP length the breath of fresh air preserved here gives the pianist and her associates amble space for consistent expression of her original music.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Ladyfinger 2. Breath of Fresh Air 3.  Now 4. Drifting Into Dreamland 5. Renewed on Thanksgiving Day 6. Cadenza (solo piano)

Personnel: Kevin Turcotte (trumpet, flugelhorn); John Johnson (soprano, alto saxophones); Jeff LaRochelle (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet); Diane Roblin (piano and electric piano); George Koller (bass, electric bass) and Tim Shia (drums)

–for MusicWorks Summer 2025