Aretha Tillotson: Sad Junie (to Highway Jake)

By John Chacona
December 11, 2025
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If the average fan living south of the 49th Parallel knows anything about jazz in Canada, it might begin and end with Oscar Peterson and Diana Krall. Yes, Toronto is emerging as a great jazz city and there are all those players from Nanaimo, but in between, nothing, right? Bassist Aretha Tillotson is here to explode that notion (politely, of course; she's Canadian). Her second release, wryly entitled Kinda Out West, is a valentine to the prairie provinces by way of Sonny Rollins. It's no surprise that Nanaimo-born sisters saxophonist Christine Jensen and Ingrid Jensen on trumpet conduct a lively conversation on the front line, but the revelation is in the rhythm section. Drummer Dave Laing keeps the music airborne with quick reflexes and a Billy Higgins-like sense of lift while the leader's bass is as strong and steady as the Rockies.

Contact John Chacona on All About Jazz.
John Chacona is a freelance journalist, content writer and producer in Cleveland.

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