(Independent, 2008)

I love it when a great album seemingly comes out of nowhere. Of course, with an ever growing onslaught of PR emails, recommendations from other blogs and the general wheel of hype, being caught off guard by a release is an all too rare experience. In the end though, it’s those random acts of musical invigoration that keep me jazzed about writing a blog in the first place.

This time around it was Jason Kenemy’s UpSideDown Town that got the drop on me—one listen and I was left chomping at the bit to post about it. Basically, this solo debut from the Ontario ivory-tickler is an uplifting and unpretentious jazzy romp that will put a spring in your mental step.

From the delicate and eerie lead-in of the title track to the overt swagger of “The Turning,” UpSideDown Town starts strong and never lets up. In fact, “Joyful and Knowing” is simply a must listen—The Peanuts theme on drugs is the only description I can come up with to do it justice. Follow that up with the bouncy fun of “DB’s Blues” and there are some definite attention grabbers to be heard here.

Of course, being a piano driven jazz album (albeit with pop leanings), it isn’t always an upbeat affair, but that’s not to say that it isn’t uplifting. “Slow Red Building,” for instance, crescendos beautifully into a graceful and captivating number that is vastly becoming my favourite song on the album. In fact, while the aforementioned heavy hitting songs like “Joyful and Knowing” definitely drew me in, it’s the more subtle tracks that are delivering the knockout punch.

As I said at the outset, it’s albums like UpSideDown Town that fuel my blogging fire. Powerful from start to finish, Jason Kenemy is a name that a hell of a lot more people ought to be familiar with.

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Jason Kenemy - The Turning

Jason Kenemy - Joyful and Knowing

Hear more at Jason Kenemy’s Myspace page or grab a digital copy of UpSideDown Town from Zunior.