Album Notes

The Bestseller
Ron Davis - piano
Sasha Boychouk - clarinet
(Minerva Road / Davinor Records 233377)

Ron’s 6th recording, 2008’s The Bestseller, has been generating lots of buzz. “Splendid new
recording... killer playing!" – The Toronto Sun. Best of 2008: JAZZ.FM,
Soundproofmagazine.com.

Real bestsellers are always love stories. Ron Davis' The Bestseller (Minerva Road / Davinor Records 233377) is no different. It's a musical story. The story of the romance between a Canadian piano (played by composer Ron Davis,) that meets a Ukrainian clarinet (played by Sasha Boychouk.) In 12 songs and 9 unique Interludes, Ron and Sasha display the sizzling chemistry of their music-making partnership.

Ron Davis is "One of Canada's A-list pianists" (CFRB Radio.) Sasha Boychouk came to Canada from his native Ukraine a few years ago. Within days of moving to Toronto, he and Ron were playing together. Magic. Instant bond. Love at first sound. Like a novel. The Bestseller is the culmination of their musical relationship.

Ron's other recordings enjoyed international critical acclaim, including 2007's Subarashii Live (Davinor 89144 - #1 - ChartAttack National Jazz radio Chart)., and 2005's Shimmering Rhythm (Davinor 3455 -Best of 2005 - Jazz.FM, Coda Magazine, Zeitgeist, l'Express). Both feature Sasha prominently.

On The Bestseller, the duo produces an original spectrum of sounds and ideas, performing mostly Ron's original compositions. In The Climb (track 2; bass clarinet remix: tr. 20), the music floats over a recurring bass line with cumulative intensity. Rhythmaron (tr. 3) flies at startling virtuoso velocities, with Sasha on the fiendish bass clarinet. Allelujah (tr. 5) is a gorgeous gospel waltz.

In Street Stomp (tr. 6), stride piano meets klezmer meets the Ukrainian Tropak dance. Wild. Ron and Sasha play Dror Yikrah (tr. 8), a Sephardic tune, with a drive Stravinsky would have loved, balancing it with the drop-dead beauty of Brahms 3 (tr. 18). Two cover songs go from the sublime to the ridiculous: By Myself (tr. 16), a soft ballad, and Mahna Mahna (tr. 14)-- sheer Muppet madness. Billy Strayhorn's classic Lush Life (tr. 9) and the transcendent A Quiet Place (tr. 12) get solo piano makeovers from Ron.

Already unique, what really sets The Bestseller apart are the Interludes. There are nine of them. One is at the beginning, another at the end, while the others are interspersed. The Interludes are bursts of improvised musical creation. They're all based on a single theme: Sashagraha, a song Ron wrote especially for Sasha.

Attached to each Interlude is an epigraph, a short narrative sentence, written by Canadian playwright and opera librettist Val Brandt. "Just when you've heard everything," reads the first one, and "A clarinet strolls in speaking volumes in Ukrainian," the second. Together, the nine epigraphs narrate the story of The Bestseller: The romance in music between a Canadian piano that meets a Ukrainian clarinet. Everyone loves a love story.

We're sure everyone will love the lovely music Ron and Sasha make on The Bestseller.