Gratitude: CD

Juno Nominated CD "Gratitude"

Brandi Disterheft -bass/vocals
Vincent Herring - alto sax
Anne Drummond - flute
Sean Jones - trumpet
Renee Rosnes - piano
Greg Hutchinson - drums

If legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson ever likened you to bassist Ray Brown, you’re obviously doing something right. That’s just the case for Brandi Disterheft, whose new album Gratitude is available now on Justin Time Records. The 27-year-old Canadian bassist, who has studied with Rufus Reid, Don Thompson, Niels-Henning Orsed Pederson and Ron Carter is well versed in the jazz bass tradition.

“I really do like that low end,” she says, “whether it’s from Mingus playing so raw and passionately or the beautiful walking solos from Monk’s bass player Larry Gales or Jimmy Blanton with Ellington and Sam Woodyard. I just love all that stuff. It feels good to listen to and feels good to play.”

It’s with this holistic understanding of the instrument’s role in the genre that Disterheft approached the album. Gratitude is filled with her swinging walking lines, melodic solos, and thoughtful arco work. She also sings on the tracks “But Beautiful” and her own “Le Regarder La Rencontrer Encore (Rendez-vous Indésirable).”

“I love singing in French,” she adds. “It’s almost like a different persona or different character when I’m singing. And for some reason, it feels very free. You can get as dramatic as you want when you sing in another language. Sometimes in English, maybe I would be quite bashful, but it seems like French is quite a romantic language and you have a lot of artistic freedom in that language.”

Written by Kevin Johnson - No Treble