Recording: The Clearing

Artist: The Clearing

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at Annette Studios (Sonomadic Improv presents), April 12, 2026.

The Clearing - [excerpt, part 1]

The Clearing - [excerpt, part 2]

Sonomadic Music is an initiative from Kayla Milmine and Jonathan Kay to support artists and audiences with chances for joyful, focused listening. Their live series has had several shows in Annette Studios, which allows for some pro-level documentation. This group was originally conceived as a vehicle for Sam Newsome to perform with some local improvisers, but has evolved into its own standalone unit for thoise acolytes. Like Newsome, Kayle Milmine is a deep student of the soprano sax, which is a featured instrument here, for both herself and Jonathan Kay. The latter also deployed the baritone as well as some flute; Milmine continued her explorations of the sopranino sax, while both also shared a selection of bells, shells and other percussive implements. Providing a structure to the whole thing was Marilyn Lerner on piano and Nick Fraser on drumkit.

[You can keep an eye out for further Sonomadic Improv events at their instagram — and hear some past sessions over on bandcamp.]

Recording: Queen Mab

Artist: Queen Mab

Song: [1st set, 1st piece, excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac' Southern Cross Lounge (Marilyn Lerner Special Appearances Residency), December 19, 2023.

Queen Mab - [1st set, 1st piece, excerpt]

What is the sound of a quarter-century of collaboration? What is the sound of a quarter-century of friendship? Closing out her "special appearances" residency series, Marilyn Lerner, alongside longtime collaborator (and friend) Lori Freedman, investigated these queries. Attuned to each's other's pulses from the get-go, the pair offered two sets of deep interactions and lively conversations — eyes sparkling, as if to say, O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.

This was a too-rare appearance from this duo, so for posterity's sake, the whole evening's music is over on youtube:

Recording: Abbott/Cole/Fraser/Lerner

Artist: Titus Abbott/Josh Cole/Nick Fraser/Marilyn Lerner

Song: [1st set, 2nd piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Josh Cole Presents), June 15, 2022.

Titus Abbott/Josh Cole/Nick Fraser/Marilyn Lerner - [1st set, 2nd piece]

This special one-off in Josh Cole's regular Kind Mind timeslot saw reeds player Titus Abbott (visiting from Maine) joined by Cole, Nick Fraser, and Marilyn Lerner. Abbott, moving from soprano and tenor sax to bass clarinet, brought one loosely-structured scored piece, but otherwise the group fell into place with some sweet improvisations.

Recording: Marilyn Lerner

Artist: Marilyn Lerner

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Women From Space Festival 2022 – Night 4), May 1, 2022.

Marilyn Lerner - [excerpt]

For the past three years, the Women From Space Festival has been an excellent encapsulation of its moment. Coming on the cusp of the First Big Lockdown, the 2020 Festival is remembered by many as the last event of the beforetimes, while last year's "hologram edition" was an elegant solution to the flatness of livestreams. And now, this year's Festival had to bear all the relief and angst of "returning to live" at this uncertain mid-point of the pandemic. Presented with joy and community spirit over four nights, the Festival was a chance to run into seldom-seen familiar faces and to hear a dizzying variety of sounds.

Another festival standout, Marilyn Lerner sat down at the piano and let loose a steady torrent of ideas, with themes and timbres developing and shifting in a natural flow that never once felt forced or rushed.

Recording: See Through 4

Artist: See Through 4

Songs: Not a Half-Stepper + Sometimes, Once is Enough [part 1]

Recorded at Array Space (Rat-drifting 4), January 11, 2019.

See Through 4 - Not a Half-Stepper

See Through 4 - Sometimes, Once is Enough [part 1]

Although this was the first gig for this particular recombination, bassist Pete Johnston's See Through Music has emerged in ensembles of variable sizes in the past. To explore some compositions that are "halfway between fully-composed and mostly-improvised" he brought a set of nimble compatriots, including Marilyn Lerner on piano, Karen Ng on alto sax and Nick Fraser on percussion. Mostly presenting some galactic premieres, these new pieces were presented with Johnston's typically-witty titles (I earnestly hope that the first one here was inspired by the Tribe Called Quest lyric that immediately popped into my head) and adventurous progressions.

[Pete Johnston will be playing some "improvised street funk" tonight (Sunday, March 16th) in a trio named Yeah You're Right alongside Jessie Levine and Jake Oelrichs. See Through 4 will be playing The Tranzac on Thursday, March 28th.]

Recording: BREM

Artist: BREM

Song: Body and Soul [composer: Johnny Green]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), September 12, 2018.

BREM - Body and Soul

This group (which derives its name from the first initials of performers Brodie West, Reg Schwager, Evan Cartwright and Marilyn Lerner) takes a casual approach to playing standards — before the set began, Brodie West could be seen surveying the members for pieces that everyone knew enough to get together on. From there, it was a close-yr-eyes-and-take-flight sort of affair as the parallel explorations unfolded.

Recording: West-Cartwright-Lerner-Schwager

Artist: Brodie West/Reg Schwager/Marilyn Lerner/Evan Cartwright

Songs: You And The Night And The Music [excerpt] [composers: Arthur Schwartz/Howard Dietz] + If I Should Lose You [composer: Ralph Rainger/Leo Robin]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), August 9, 2017.

Brodie West/Reg Schwager/Marilyn Lerner/Evan Cartwright - You And The Night And The Music [excerpt]

Brodie West/Reg Schwager/Marilyn Lerner/Evan Cartwright - If I Should Lose You

A set of standards from this quartet assembled by Brodie West didn't require any fakebooks or charts — if someone could hum the tune and recommend a key, that was enough to initiate a sprawling excavation. Sometimes that meant it took a little while for everyone to settle into the same groove, but it was intriguing to watch them pull together before letting the songs unwind and arrive at some unlikely/remarkable places.

[Brodie West will be playing with Alex Lukashevsky and others in his monthly timeslot next week (Wednesday, September 13th) at The Tranzac.]

Recording: Marilyn Lerner & Nicole Rampersaud

Artist: Marilyn Lerner & Nicole Rampersaud

Song: [second piece]

Recorded at Array Space (TONE Festival – Show #4), June 20, 2017.

Marilyn Lerner & Nicole Rampersaud - [second piece]

Although the local "jazz" festival is anticipated in some quarters, it seemed that too often there was no home there for adventurous and experimental creators. Thus, out of necessity, the TONE Festival was born to give these touring musicians a chance to connect with local audiences and artists. A collaboration between Burn Down the Capital's Tad Michalak, Ron Gaskin (a.k.a. Rough Idea) and Karen Ng and Daniel Pencer, the goal was to create shows that were rewarding for players and listeners alike. Local pianist Marilyn Lerner has had a lengthy working relationship with Dutch violist Ig Henneman, so it made sense for Lerner to provide the musical welcome for the visiting quartet. Accompanied by trumpeter Nicole Rampersaud, the pair ranged from clonk-notes and purp-toots to whisper-sputters and harplike plucks, each exploring the possibilities to be found on the inside and outside of their instruments.

Recording: Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra

Artist: Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra

Songs: They Rode For Them + Nonaah + [piece for solo sopranino saxophone]

Recorded at The Music Gallery (X Avant XI – Night 4), October 15, 2016.

Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra - They Rode For Them

Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra - Nonaah

Roscoe Mitchell - [solo sopranino saxophone]

The X Avant Festival concluded with this extra-special event, bringing the legendary Roscoe Mitchell to town at the head of a nineteen-piece orchestra made up of top names from the Montréal and Toronto scenes.¹ The pieces that they played were derived from Mitchell's improvisations, primarily from his Conversations I + Conversations II albums — boiling down dense and compact abstractions to their essence and then blowing them up to widescreen size for the large ensemble. After a while, getting attuned to the method you could sometimes "hear" the original gestures behind the sweeping orchestrations. This was complex stuff that pushed the musicians, but it was quite often rather beautiful as well. There were a few places that lead into full-on big band free-honking, but just as striking were the moments that pulled back, including a quartet arrangement of "Nonaah" (performed by Nicolas Caloia, Yves Charuest, Lori Freedman, and Craig Pedersen) as well as a solo segment from Mitchell that opened the second set — an intense piece that spiralled outward from a drone into pure exploration that put a full lifetime's experience and technique on display. After presenting this music live in Montréal and Toronto, the ensemble also headed into the studio on the day after this show, so we can expect some formal documentation of this grand sommet to emerge in time.

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¹ For the record, the members of the orchestra were:

• Roscoe Mitchell – woodwinds, composition, direction
• Marilyn Lerner – piano
• Lori Freedman, Yves Charuest, Kyle Brenders, Jean Derome, Peter Lutek, Jason Sharp – woodwinds
• Nicole Rampersaud, Craig Pedersen – trumpets
• Tom Richards, Scott Thomson – trombones
• Julie Houle – tuba
• Jean René, James Annett – violas
• Rob Clutton, Nicolas Caloia – double-basses
• Isaiah Ceccarelli, Nick Fraser – drums
• Michael Davidson – vibraphone
• Greg Oh - conducting

Recording: Ugly Beauties

Artist: Ugly Beauties

Song: Strange Attractors

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Somewhere There Creative Music Festival – Show 3), February 27, 2016.

Ugly Beauties - Strange Attractors

I'd actually heard about cellist Matt Brubeck more in the context of his work teaching at York University than as a performer, so this was the first time I'd ever caught him in action. In this trio, Brubeck could sometimes pull the tone from "jazzy" to "compositional" depending on whether he was plucking or bowing his cello's strings, but there was generally an even-handed exchange with pianist Marilyn Lerner and drummer Nick Fraser. Word is there's a new album coming soon to follow up on their first disc from a few years ago.

Recording: Brass Knuckle Sandwich

Artist: Brass Knuckle Sandwich

Songs: [second piece, in three parts]

Recorded at Array Space ("Somewhere There's Slow Burning Torch Series"), July 21, 2015.

Brass Knuckle Sandwich - [second piece, part 1]

Brass Knuckle Sandwich - [second piece, part 2]

Brass Knuckle Sandwich - [second piece, part 3]

This occasional series from Somewhere There gives younger musicians a chance to share their work while sharing the stage with longstanding members of the community, creating opportunities for interaction and inspiration. Marilyn Lerner (piano) and Nicole Rampersaud (trumpet) made a favourable impression when they teamed up earlier this year at the Somewhere There Festival. But with Lerner playing on Array's grand piano (instead of the Tranzac's console model) there were entirely new soundworlds opened up, including whole continents of subtle reverberations and opportunities for extended technique interventions. This recording is hardly adequate to capture the nuances of this quieter piece, but I'm presenting it here regardless as it was one of my favourite improvisations I've heard in the past while.

Recording: Brass Knuckle Sandwich

Artist: Brass Knuckle Sandwich

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac – Main Hall ("Somewhere There Creative Music Festival" – Show 3), February 21, 2015.

Brass Knuckle Sandwich - [excerpt from first piece]

The duo name that Marilyn Lerner (piano) and Nicole Rampersaud (trumpet) chose indicates that subtlety wasn't the primary goal here, and indeed, the set started with some undifferentiated busy-ness as the pair took some sonic jabs at each other. But as Lerner settled into a rolling cavalcade of notes things became a bit more choreographed, with one player often in attack mode and the other attempting to dodge and parry as much as possible — and in the end there even were some quieter, more reflective passages as well.

Recording: Marilyn Lerner/Nicole Rampersaud

Artist: Marilyn Lerner/Nicole Rampersaud

Song: First Improvization for Bass Piano

Recorded at Creatures Creating Gallery ("Wavelength 583: The Bass Piano"), December 1, 2013.

Marilyn Lerner/Nicole Rampersaud - First Improvization for Bass Piano

Full review to follow. Tuning an entire piano down an octave (a process that I learned some more about here) does some cool things, with the slackened tension causing all sort of buzzing overtones and bell-like sounds. Lerner tackled the Bass Piano with full-on gusto, not only playing dense percussive clusters of notes, but also plucking at the exposed strings in the piano's open upper chamber. Rampersaud's trumpet work sputtered and clattered along sympathetically, making for the night's most fully-satisfying set.