Album Review: Northbound to Finch, by Maria Kaushansky (2025)

Northbound to Finch is the debut album from talented jazz pianist Maria Kaushansky. Released in October of 2025, the album features 9 of Kaushansky’s original compositions, along with 6 alternate takes of the songs. Kaushansky performs the songs with her trio of Paul Gill on bass and Anthony Pinciotti on drums. 

Kaushansky’s compositions highlight her range and versatility as both a piano player and a composer. Her piano playing is melodic and graceful, and her improvisations are always brimming with creative energy. Many of the song titles refer to places in Toronto, where Kaushansky grew up. All of the songs on the album are excellent. Here are my thoughts and impressions of the songs.

The song “Northbound to Finch” has the easy, understated grace of a ballet dancer about it, but also a propulsive energy and sense of swing that moves you forward. The song's title is a nod to Finch station, a major stop on the Toronto subway, and the song gives you the feel of a busy city during rush hour. 

“Windchill -30” is one of my favorite songs on the album. As someone who lives in Minnesota, where we actually had –30 windchills in mid-January, the title of this song appealed to me. The song opens with a long bass solo by Gill, before Pinciotti joins in, and Kaushansky states the melody line. Flurries of notes become evocative of falling snow, as the winter cold deepens. But the groove of the song is anything but chilly. The song highlights the tight interplay among the three musicians, and the easy give and take they have. This song reminds me of Dave Brubeck, and “Windchill -30” feels like it could easily join the lineup of classic Brubeck albums like Jazz Impressions of Eurasia. Pinciotti has an excellent drum solo at the end of the song.

“So Long Centerpoint Mall” is a wistful, poignant song. It strikes me as a very autumnal song. Gill has an excellent bass solo, and Kaushansky’s solo is great as well, alternatively laid-back and driving. 

“Last Call at the Green Room,” named after a favorite watering hole, has a quick and lively melody that is a good representation of the frenetic energy at a bar when last call is announced and it’s time to head home. Since the green room is also where performers hang out before and after the show, you can also imagine the nervous energy of the song coming from that tense moment of expectation just before a live performance begins. The ending features a terrific drum solo from Pinciotti. 

“Tangreen Court” has a beautiful, hypnotic melody that keeps coming back to a three-note motif that to me suggests a voice singing “Tangreen Court.” The song is a great showcase for Pinciotti’s drumming, as he keeps laying down tasty fills over Kaushansky’s repetition of the three-note motif. 

“512 St. Clair” opens with a drum solo, and features an insistent melody from Kaushansky. There’s some lovely arco bass playing by Gill on this track. 

“Prelude” is a short piece, just over two minutes long, highlighting Kaushansky’s classical piano training. 

“Newtonbrook” is a song with a lovely melody. It’s not quite a ballad and not quite a swing tune, rather it inhabits an in-between place that is a very nice place to visit. 

“Four One Six” is a groovy boogaloo, and this song will have you tapping your feet and bopping along. I’ve always been a fan of the boogaloo tunes from the 1960’s that Ramsey Lewis, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley and others had hits with. “Four One Six” is a groovy delight, and the title is a reference to Toronto’s area code. Kaushansky’s trills and riffs here are a treat for the ear, as she swings with gusto to close out the album. 

Sadly, drummer Anthony Pinciotti passed away just weeks after the recording session for Northbound to Finch, making this his last recorded appearance. As a tribute, Kaushansky decided to release all six of the alternate takes from the session as well. The alternate takes are well worth the listeners’ time, and they show how great jazz musicians create something different every time they play a song.

Piano trios are one of my favorite jazz group formations. It seems there’s no end to creativity when talented pianists, bassists, and drummers get together. I was quite delighted to discover Kaushansky’s music and this excellent album. There have been many classic piano trios throughout jazz history: Nat King Cole, Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Ramsey Lewis, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, and Keith Jarrett, to name just a few of my own personal favorites. 

Some of Kaushansky’s favorite pianists are Bill Evans, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Chick Corea, Brad Mehldau, and Keith Jarrett. Another favorite of hers is Harvey Diamond, who is based in Boston and studied with the great Lennie Tristano. It’s an interesting list of pianists, and something many of them have in common is stylistic flexibility, the ability to move between different genres with easy fluidity. While there are shades of those pianists evident in Kaushansky’s work, she clearly has her own style on the keyboard. 

In addition to having residencies at restaurants in New York City, Kaushansky also plays piano for ballet rehearsals. When she recorded the album Northbound to Finch, she also recorded versions of her songs for ballet exercises. It’s a masterful feat of re-arrangement, to listen to the ballet album after the jazz album and hear these familiar melodies transposed into a new setting. The ballet album is titled Northbound to Finch (Music for Ballet Class). It’s a pretty remarkable feat for Kaushansky’s trio to record the jazz album and the ballet album on the same day. Along with the alternate takes on the jazz album, that comes out to about 97 minutes of music, a very good day’s work indeed!  

If you’re a fan of jazz music and piano trios, you should check out Maria Kaushansky’s music. You can find her website here, and she also has a Bandcamp page where you can purchase the digital version of Northbound to Finch. Northbound to Finch is a strong debut album, and it heralds the arrival of a singular new talent in jazz piano.

Album Review: Joe Farrell Quartet (1970)

CD cover of Joe Farrell Quartet, originally released in 1970, complete with Cheapo Records price sticker. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Jazz saxophonist Joe Farrell in concert, 1985.

I bought the 1970 album Joe Farrell Quartet on a whim. It was in the “recent arrivals” section at Cheapo Records a couple of weeks ago. I looked at it, saw the striking cover art that was a trademark of Creed Taylor’s CTI Records, and decided to take a chance on it for $4.95. I couldn’t even tell you what instrument Joe Farrell played or see who was playing on the album with him. 

When I opened the CD up, I discovered that Joe Farrell played the tenor and soprano saxophones, the flute and the oboe. Playing on this album with him was a lineup of great jazz musicians: John McLaughlin on guitar on two tracks, Chick Corea on piano, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. All of these musicians except for Farrell had recently spent time with Miles Davis’ bands. 

Looking up Farrell, I learned that he recorded two albums with Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison for Blue Note, and that he was in the group Return to Forever with Chick Corea. (I’ve never really gotten into fusion, so that explains some of my ignorance about Joe Farrell.) I also discovered that I knew one album of Farrell’s, the 1976 album he made with guitarist George Benson, titled Benson & Farrell. That album features a great cover, which is made up to look like a pack of cigarettes. 

I’ve always loved the covers of the albums that Creed Taylor produced on A&M and CTI. One of the first jazz albums that I ever listened to was Wes Montgomery’s 1967 album A Day in the Life, which featured an ugly/beautiful cover of cigarette butts stamped out. My Mom had that LP in her collection, and I was just drawn to it. The album also had a gatefold sleeve, which was fairly rare for 1960’s albums. I wanted to know, what did this album sound like? Turns out, it sounded great. Creed Taylor knew how to catch your eye with an album cover, and he still caught my eye with Joe Farrell Quartet, even if it’s on the diminutive CD rather than the LP. I still can’t really tell what the red object on the album cover is. A stoplight?

Joe Farrell Quartet was Farrell’s first album as a leader. Recorded on July 1^st and 2^nd, 1970, the album featured all original compositions—one by McLaughlin, two by Corea, and four by Farrell. Sonically, the album is a mixed bag, ranging from relatively straight-ahead songs to quiet gentleness to a free jazz freak out. 

The opening song, McLaughlin’s “Follow Your Heart” is my favorite song on the album. It sounds somewhat melancholy, as though it’s the theme song for some 1970’s TV show about a gritty, hard-drinking private detective. Features excellent solos by Farrell and McLaughlin. 

“Collage for Polly” is a brief assemblage of sounds that never quite coalesces into a song. You have to listen to it on headphones to really hear all the sonic details. 

“Circle in the Square” is a galloping excursion that finds Farrell on the soprano saxophone, entering John Coltrane territory as he wails. Features some simpatico comping by Corea under Farrell’s first solo. DeJohnette never solos, but he’s drumming up a storm in the background, pushing the soloists on. 

“Molten Glass” features Farrell on flute, and it’s a pretty, jaunty song. I feel like a song called “Molten Glass” should sound more like a 1960’s Blue Note groover, but that’s just me. Corea’s solo is all tinkling sparkles, full of effervescence. 

“Alter Ego” is another brief song, just under a minute and a half. It’s inconsequential and doesn’t add much to the album.

“Song of the Wind” is a duet between Farrell on flute and Corea on piano. This wind is gentle as a spring breeze, softly ruffling the hair of a woman sitting on a hill, overlooking a meadow on a sunny day. She exhales, sighing audibly. Her thoughts remain an enigma to us. 

“Motion” is the free jazz freak out. DeJohnette pounds the beat, rushing Corea’s solo along at the beginning. McLaughlin does some dive-bombing runs on his guitar. It doesn’t do a lot for me, other than rattle my nerves and force me to listen to something melodic. 

Joe Farrell Quartet is an interesting album, and it shows the promise of Farrell’s multi-instrumental approach. Thankfully Farrell appeared on many records before his death from leukemia in 1986 at age 48.