Got A Light?

The Jeremy Ledbetter Trio’s debut album, “Got a Light?”, is a controlled explosion of big musical ideas, stylistic variety, vivid colours, and compelling musical storytelling. This new project features three Canadian virtuosos – pianist and bandleader Jeremy Ledbetter (CaneFire), drummer Larnell Lewis of Snarky Puppy fame, and bassist Rich Brown (rinsethealgorithm, Steve Coleman, Dapp Theory) – at the absolute top of their game. Between them the trio’s members boast multiple Juno nominations, National Jazz awards, Independent Music Awards, and a pair of Grammy awards. Ledbetter has made a fine career so far out of travelling to remote corners of the globe from Venezuela to Myanmar in search of musical inspiration. As the leader of acclaimed Caribbean jazz ensemble CaneFire and calypso legend David Rudder’s producer and musical director, Ledbetter is used to working with large bands and rigorous definition. So it was a welcome change of pace not to have to leave his home city to create his first jazz trio record. “Working in the trio format with musicians like Larnell and Rich really inspired me to work without a net, compositionally,” says Ledbetter. “This album is about painting pictures and creating a cinematic kind of atmosphere. It’s a contemporary jazz album that’s telling stories I hope anyonewould be able to understand and relate to.” Eight of the songs are Ledbetter’s original compositions, plus a cover of “Gift Shop” by The Tragically Hip as a tribute to the great Gord Downie, recorded a week after his passing. Venezuelan world-jazz diva Eliana Cuevas makes a guest appearance on “Her New Wings”, and the exquisite “Suspirito” features a duet between Ledbetter’s piano and Reimundo Sosa on Afro-Cuban batá drums.