Metalwood

by Charlotte DillonThe jazz foursome known as Metalwood is made up of saxophonist Mike Murley, bassist Chris Tarry, keyboardist/trumpeter Brad Turner, and drummer Ian Froman. The group formed in 1997, and released a self-titled debut album that same year; an album that was completed only days after the talented members performed together for the first time. Between that formation and 2002, the group completed one album a year. They also drew lots of earnest acclaim from both jazz reviewers and fans. The debut album from Metalwood earned the band a Juno Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1998. The sophomore album, Metalwood 2, brought a second Juno for the band.
The history of Metalwood really started in 1996, when Murley and Turner met while teaching at a jazz camp that summer. Tarry and Froman met in Boston, and then the pair ran into Murley while performing at a jazz festival. Though members lived in separate countries, things fell into place almost as if fate had planned it so. When the Canadian and American artists teamed up, the music world got Metalwood.
The very day the group formed, the guys spent some time rehearsing together and then went and performed that night. By the next day, Metalwood entered a recording studio to begin work on a self-titled debut album. That first offering, finished in a matter of days, won the jazz group its first Juno award.
In 1999, the band recorded its third album, Metalwood Live. It was followed the next year by Metalwood 3, and in the spring of 2001 by the Recline, released under the Blue Thumb Records label. A few of the tracks from these albums are "Pressure," "New Pants," "U.B. the Monster," "Steeplejack," "New Congregation," "Five Minute Margin," and "Not Disappointed."