Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop: “A Canadian Songbook” (2024) CD Review

Turboprop, led by drummer and composer Ernesto Cervini, released its first album nearly a decade ago, and followed it with Rev in 2017,  Abundance in 2018, a holiday EP titled A Very Turboprop Christmas in 2020, and another holiday single in 2023 (and yes, that last single is “Little Drummer Boy,” a natural choice for Ernesto Cervini, and the group’s rendition is fantastic). Some of the musicians from Turboprop also played on Ernesto Cervini’s wonderful 2022 release, Joy. Now Turboprop is putting out a new full-length album. Titled A Canadian Songbook, it features material written by Canadian songwriters, including James Hill, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Raine Maida, Arnold Lanni, Allison Au, William Carn, and of course Ernesto Cervini himself. The band is made up of Ernesto Cervini on drums, Tara Davidson on alto saxophone, Joel Frahm on tenor saxophone, Willian Carn on trombone, Adrean Farrugia on piano, and Dan Loomis on bass.

The album opens with “Skeletons,” a piece composed by keyboardist James Hill and included on Local Talent’s 2019 album Higien​ó​polis. This version by Turboprop begins with some cool work on drums, and soon gets into that familiar theme. These guys do a great job with the tune, and the track features some strong work on saxophone in addition to drums, becoming quite lively partway through. There is also some great stuff on piano. Apparently, this is a piece the band has performed in concert fairly regularly. It gets quite exciting in the second half. I actually think Turboprop’s version is better than the original recording. The band turns more toward the pop world with a rendition of The Barenaked Ladies’ “When I Fall,” a song from that band’s Born On A Pirate Ship album. It was written by Steven Page and Ed Robertson. This version has a kind of cool, loose sound at the start, featuring an excellent bass line and some wonderful work by William Carn on trombone. I hadn’t thought about Barenaked Ladies in a while, but this track develops an undeniable beauty, and it is making me want to revisit that band’s work. Check out that extraordinary work on tenor saxophone on this track.

Then we get into the original material. This disc contains two compositions by Ernesto Cervini. The first is “If, Then,” a track that grabs us with that dramatic opening, which feels like it could be heard in a military-themed film or some other type of thriller. Interestingly, the section led by piano has a much warmer vibe. There is some fantastic drumming throughout the track’s different sections, including a great solo in the second half, which is my favorite part. That is followed by the second of the original tracks, “Stuck Inside.” I’ve said it before, but I really do hope someone writes a comprehensive book about music that has come out of the pandemic. As you can guess from the title, this composition addresses that time when suddenly everything shut down and it felt dangerous to even go to a grocery store. And while it was a scary situation, it did give people the opportunity to re-evaluate their priorities and to spend more time with their loved ones (at least those they happened to be residing with), and so it wasn’t all bad. The music here reflects that. It begins with the brass section rushing about, with much to say, much to do, but the track soon relaxes and develops a romantic vibe, a classic vibe. And, yes, there was a sort of return to earlier times in a sense. Being stuck inside with the love of your life is certainly not a bad thing, so long as you could enjoy that time and not get too caught up in the news. The horns are really at the heart of this piece, delivering some wonderful stuff. This track also features a good lead on bass.

Our Lady Peace is a rock band that became quite popular in Canada. On this album Turboprop covers “Clumsy,” the title track to the group’s 1997 album. It’s a song that was also included on the soundtrack to I Know What You Did Last Summer. I love this instrumental approach to the song. I’m not all that fond of the vocal work of the original recording, though I do like a lot of the song’s lyrics, such as these lines: “I’ll be waving my hand/Watching you drown/Watching you scream.” Anyway, I’d much rather listen to the saxophone here than that band’s vocalist, and the instrumental rendition takes us on a different journey, developing its own power. That’s followed by “Aureole,” written by Allison Au, who is a talented saxophone player and composer. “Aureole” was included on the Allison Au Quartet 2016 release Forest Grove. Being a rather exciting jazz composition, it might seem a more obvious choice for Turbroprop to perform, and these guys do a great job with it. I love the way it moves, often with a quick pulse. As you might guess, there is a whole lot of delicious stuff on saxophone. And the rhythm section cuts loose, keeping things pumping, driving things close to the edge, where the magic often happens.

William Carn’s 2022 album Choices is another that came out of the experience of the pandemic, and from that release Ernesto Cervini has chosen “The Inertia Of Complacency” to wrap up this disc. Cervini played drums on that original version as well, and as William Carn is a member of Turboprop, the two have another go at what is one of the best tracks on Choices. This one has different sections, like pieces of a story, all keeping us engaged and excited about the overall direction the track is taking.

CD Track List

1. Skeletons
2. When I Fall
3. If, Then
4. Stuck Inside
5. Clumsy
6. Aureole
7. The Inertia Of Complacency

A Canadian Songbook is scheduled to be released on March 8, 2024.