Steve Haines and the Third Floor Orchestra: Steve Haines and the Third Floor Orchestra
Justin Time Records

Many albums impress; a scant few dazzle. This extraordinary set by Steve Haines is one such instance, a recording so special one hardly knows where to begin. A few details first: he's a Canadian-born double bassist, composer, and arranger who teaches in the Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). For this genre-transcending collection, he convened a number of exceptional talents, including vocalist Becca Stevens, soprano saxophonist Chad Eby, and pianist Joey Calderazzo. She's a Brooklyn-based solo artist and recent DownBeat honouree (in 2017 as a ‘Rising Star Female Vocalist'); praised by the likes of Branford Marsalis, Eby teaches alongside Haines at UNCG; and Calderazzo's made a name for himself playing with Arturo Sandoval, Bob Mitzner, and others. Augmenting them are the leader, guitarist Greg Hyslop, and drummer Kobie Watkins, but it's Stevens, Eby, and the Third Floor Orchestra that dominate. As a bassist, Haines is sterling, but on this album, his fourth, it's his role as midwife that proves most crucial.

His orchestration of the material is one of the greatest things about it, but the material's as noteworthy. Besides two Haines originals and two by Stevens, there are classical and traditional folk settings, plus inspired covers of Neil Young's “Harvest Moon,” Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah,” Gordon Lightfoot's “If You Could Read My Mind,” and Kim Mitchell and Pye Dubois' “Patio Lanterns.” In backing the two front-liners with a full orchestra, Haines allows the listener to experience these Canadian classics anew. With vocals featured on all but one of the eleven pieces, a great deal rides on Stevens' effectiveness as a vocalist. On that count, there's no cause for concern: whether singing dramatically or playfully, she brings a warmth, humanity, and versatility to the project that plays no small part in making it as wonderful as it is. Eby proves a superb foil, with his saxophone registering less as accompaniment and more dialogue partner.

With a declarative outpouring of emotion, the stirring overture “Here Are Our Hearts” signals immediately that the recording will be special, and the ten productions that follow bear it out. Taken at a slow lilt, Stevens' waltz “No More” makes good on the intro's promise and even works an energized jazz ensemble episode into its arrangement. An early peak is reached with a stunning rendition of the folk traditional “Fair and Tender Ladies,” the combination of Stevens and the orchestra's strings lending the sorrowful ballad a poignancy of incredible power.

With music and lyrics both penned by Haines, “You” is distinguished by Hyslop's classical guitar playing, a terrific piano solo by Calderazzo, and breezy, Brazilian-styled rhythms. Haines' other composition, “What I've Seen,” is heartbreaking by comparison, given its PTSD focus and lyrics about the suicide of a military vet. In a daring move, Haines structures the song so that the initial verses are told from the wife's forlorn perspective and the concluding ones by her husband from the grave (in an imaginative flourish, the transition is signaled by snare accents). The respective talents of Calderazzo, Haines, and Eby are highlighted in the alternately bluesy and stately treatment of Chopin's “Mazurka Opus 17 No. 4,” while the saxophonist adds a rousing solo to “Canyon Dust” that bolsters the funkiness of Stevens' effervescent, syncopation-rich song.

The four Canadian songs are handled memorably. With the orchestra wrapping itself around Stevens' sultry voice, “Harvest Moon” is given a warm, sensual treatment reminiscent of the ones Ella Fitzgerald brought to her songbook recordings (something on the order of “I Wish I Were in Love Again” or “Begin the Beguine”). “Hallelujah,” performed so much a few years ago that Cohen himself suggested a moratorium on performances wouldn't be out of order, is given a graceful treatment by Haines and company that's thankfully less overwrought than some, a rather grandiose ending notwithstanding. With Stevens emoting tremulously and a muted trumpeter adding Mark Isham-like flavour, Lightfoot's “If You Could Read My Mind” receives a particularly sensitive handling rich in majesty. It's “Patio Lanterns,” however, that perhaps most benefits most from Haines' treatment. A staple of ‘80s Canadian radio, the sweetly nostalgic song about carefree summer days and youthful innocence regains a great deal of charm when recast in this vocals-and-orchestra version.

April 2019