Music Choices

Page 21

Artist-Burnt

Album-

Project 1-The Avenue

Song-Message

Label-Sunshine Records

Producer-

Danny Schur

Burnt is one group that is hard to pigeonhole, something that is reflected in their nomination for Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards in both the Best Rock Album and Best Blues Album categories. Even their record company, Sunshine Records, is at a loss to label them, settling with the 'world beat' category because of their fusion of jazz, blues, funk, folk, contemporary and Aboriginal sounds. There are surprises around every corner of this 14-song recording, starting with the first track, Intertribal, a marriage of powwow and 70s style funk which features a rocking horn section and heavy percussion accompanied by chanting.

The surprises continue throughout the album, in songs like Blue Skies, which is actually divided into two separate tracks with the first, a minute of sitar music, jumping headfirst into a jazzy, horn-imbued offering featuring lead singer David Boulanger, then fading out as the sitar makes its return. Boulanger is backed up on the CD by eight other band members. They are joined by a handful of additional musicians and performers, playing an assortment of instruments not usually thrown together on one album. Drums, keyboard and guitars are joined by trumpet and sax, along with the viola, violin, didgeridoo, metal Tibetan bowls, tabla and djembe-drums from India and Africa respectively.