(Post-Bop) The Oliver Gannon Quartet - Easy Sailing - 2014, MP3, 320 kbps

My colleague Guy MacPherson, the Georgia Straight’s comedy correspondent, wrote the liner notes, so I’d better not say anything rude about this one—and, fortunately, I don’t have to. In fact, Easy Sailing almost writes its own review, as its title tells you most of what you need to know about the latest offering from Cory Weeds’s prolific Cellar Live label. It’s a breezy, buoyant affair, bluesy enough to have a little bite but otherwise marked by the comfortable rapport between guitarist Oliver Gannon, pianist Miles Black, bassist Jodi Proznick, and drummer Blaine Wikjord.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Easy Sailing is that it’s only the 71-year-old Gannon’s third as a leader, despite his substantial presence on the local scene since he moved to Vancouver circa 1970. Maybe he’s just more comfortable as an accompanist; on this release he definitely has no problem sharing the spotlight with Black, who came up with most of the arrangement ideas. When he does step forward, though, the guitarist plants himself somewhere between the fiery single-note lines of his early idol Barney Kessel and the mellower, octave-based approach made popular by Wes Montgomery—and that’s not a bad place to be.