Dan Fortin: 'Cannon'

One of my last albums of 2024 has only just made it to the top of my listening pile and I'm glad it reached me. Bass player Dan Fortin has released 'Cannon' on Elastic Recordings. A collection of short explorations into jazz and electronica, all these tracks feature Fortin's bass alongside the fruit of his wider musical influences.

Almost mesmeric in quality, Cannon focuses on the bass, but includes contributions from a spectrum of guests that add to the eclecticism. This album is not for the faint-hearted, but start with Minty featuring Toronto's Karen Ng (sax). Ng's sax and Fortin's bass come together until she closes with a harmonic sense of unison with Fortin, leaving him to explore the echoes she has left behind.

There is a sparseness about this album in other tracks, too. Sometimes, using electronic sounds can be too much of a draw and they become over-used, but Cannon is, throughout, built around the bass.

Reviewing an album often seems superfluous and taking each track individually doesn't do justice to the whole: give it a listen here: https://danfortin.bandcamp.com/album/cannon-elastic-recordings

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Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

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