Great review in whole note came out today:
Julia Cleveland, who studied jazz at Mohawk College after classical percussion at U of T is Hogtown’s heir to a new-ish tradition of female driving drummers such as Cindy Blackman and Suzie Ibarra. Her debut jazz record is the melodious Julia Cleveland 5uintet – Tumble, Stumble (JC52011 www.juliacleveland.com), which also headlines saxist Kelly Jefferson, bass Ross MacIntyre, pianist Adrean Farrugia and Mike Malone on trumpet and flugelhorn. It’s 11 tunes and charts are by Cleveland, who more than holds her own in this well integrated group. Farrugia often steals the limelight with smart, sometimes lavish statements, particularly effective on electric piano, but Cleveland defines the pulse, which underpins everything from the chirpy title tune to the elegiac Obbink. Malone is cool and clever, Jefferson powerfully inventive. Going Back is a tribute to the late bandleader Dave McMurdo, who taught at Mohawk.
Geoff Chapman
Check out the review at thewholenote.com
