'Heyday' by RJ LeBlanc
On his fourth album as a bandleader, Montreal jazz bassist RJ LeBlanc expresses the fullness of his musical experience. The plodding rhythms and soft-loud-soft dynamics of the grunge LeBlanc loved as a teen can be heard, as can the percussive flutters of drum & bass, even retro-futuristic blasts of a synthesizer that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in a ‘70s science fiction movie (or, alternately, an ‘80'\s Mannheim Steamroller deep cut). LeBlanc leads his players through the kind of sonic smorgasbord that has resided on the peripheries of jazz since Frank Zappa, Tony Williams and Jeff Beck blurred boundaries once thought inviolate by more uptight souls.
