(Modern Creative) Simon Millerd - Lessons And Fairytales - 2017, MP3, 320 kbps

Montreal-based composer and trumpet player Simon Millerd presents his first release under his own name, Lessons and Fairytales. This deeply personal record features guest artists that are longtime friends and collaborators of Millerd, including vocalist Emma Frank, with her Luciana Souza-inspired tone and improvisation and Nomad co-founder Jacob Wiens on guitar.
Young Montreal trumpeter-composer Simon Millerd has been performing with Germany's acclaimed Pablo Held Trio and this is the first documentation of their evocative music-making. Also featured on some tracks are the mostly wordless vocals of Montreal folk-jazz singer Emma Frank (her new album features Jim Black and Aaron Parks), as well as some of Millerd's bandmates from Nomad. Millerd's trumpet style is smoky and delicate, somewhat reminiscent of Arve Henriksen. His compositions foreground a sensuous beauty while offering plenty of opportunities for engaged improvisation. The record is also a kind of spiritual autobiography. Millerd cites Coltrane and Wayne Shorter as his biggest influences: Trane inspires the lessons part (spiritual evolution/learning) and Wayne the fairytales (adventure/imagination). Millerd met Pablo Held and his trio when they were all touring in the European Jazz Orchestra in 2011, and a performance with Held's trio greatly inspired the direction of Millerd's own music going forward, but it was not until 2016 that they had the opportunity to play together again. The results are full of feeling and an authenticity that comes straight from the heart.