Canadian, Toronto-based (and Berlin-based) trumpeter-composer Lina Allemano celebrates the 20th anniversary of her Canadian acoustic, chamber jazz quartet, Four, with its eighth album, The Diptychs. The album was recorded at Union Sound Company in Toronto in August 2024 and was released by Allemano label, Lumo.
Allemano composed six serial compositions as a series of three sonic ‘diptych’ pairs: «Positive» and «Negative»; «Resist» and «Coalesce»; and «Scrambled» and «Over Easy» (tracks 5 & 6). These sonic ‘diptych’ pairs, just like in the visual arts, complement each other and are meant to ‘go together’, to be listened to and considered as a complementary unit. Allemano structured each pair with similar, and easily recognizable fundamental compositional themes, and other intervallic and rhythmic materials, but always playing with the music’s perspective, and all allow enough freedom. The cover artwork by Edmonton-based feminist printmaker, drawer, and painter Mary Joyce, whose creative work influenced Alleman, reinforces this compositional approach.
Allemano’s unique aesthetic contributed to the album’s cohesive, collective spirit, as the new compositions lack traditional solos and no single voice dominates. Still, this approach highlights the brilliant performance of the Four band – Allemano on trumpeter, alto sax player Brodie West, double bass player Andrew Downing, and drummer Nick Fraser, the same lineup since Four’s debut album, Pinkeye (Lumo, 2006). The profound four-way conversational, layered dynamics are organic and faithfully correspond with Allemano’s intriguing aesthetic, as well as his shifting, multilinear themes, encounters, and exchanges.
The performances of these sonic ‘diptych’ pairs suggest clever, well-crafted, and engaging musical games, as well as surprising, bold free-associations that seep into the subconscious of both the listener and the musician. The last ‘diptych’ pair, «Scrambled» and «Over Easy», brings this aesthetic to a brilliant climax and an infectious groove.
Eyal Hareuveni
Lina Allemano (trumpet), Brodie West (alto saxophone), Andrew Downing (double bass), Nick Fraser (drums)
