Stephen Faulkner / Halo Shards - CD
Album tracks:
1. The Wandering Star
2. The rare pearl
3. Project Captain
4. Alias alias
5. Lighters
6. Anatole
7.Daddy
8. I already saw myself
9. Troubadour
10. East of Eden
11. We have wings (but we're not angels)
12. Gypsy funeral
Let's make one thing clear right away: Faulkner's new album, his first since 1992's Caboose , has nothing to do with country. Instead, the author of Si j'avais un char stretches out on tunes that are reminiscent of Django and Grappelli's Jazz Hot Club de France, notably on Daddy and Les briquets . And there is song ( Je m'voyais déjà , by Aznavour), rock ( A l'est d'Éden ), swing with a self-deprecating text ( La perle rare ), etc. The pianist has of course invited a few friends: Jean Cyr on double bass, Gilles Schetagne on drums, Rick Haworth and Buck Lacombe on guitars, Kenny Pearson on B-3, and so on. Here is a joyful disc, of very simple songs, well put together, which you keep close to you like a bedside book. – Claude Côté (See.ca)