Projects/Bands

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“Moving from zones of quietude to shaking clatter, there were intriguing destabilizations all around here, held together as always with Cole in the calm centre.” - Mechanical Forrest Sound

Formed in 2023, Josh Cole’s ‘quartet plus strings’ is an improvising chamber music ensemble featuring some of Canada’s most endearing improvisers. Lina Allemano on trumpet, John Oswald on alto saxophone, Aline Homzy on violin, Nick Storring on cello, Blake Howard on percussion and Josh Cole on the double bass. Rooted in the spirit of Toronto’s experimental music scene, the Josh Cole Quartet + Strings blends shades of contemporary classical and free jazz into a unique language of instant composition. Over the past two years, the ensemble has honed a sound defined by deep listening, collective intuition, and a commitment to beauty in the moment.

“A fabulous blend of techniques and technology, with Josh Cole's double bass operating in acoustic space and triggering samplesplosions from Mira Martin-Gray's reactive laptop manipulations, resulting in some truly futuristic jazz.” - Mechanical Forrest Sound

Formed in 2024, the new duo of Josh Cole and celebrated electronic musician Mira Martin-Gray  create dynamic interactive electro-acoustic systems between the double bass and laptop.

"The effect is both lyric and timeless, almost ambient, made by instrumental sounds as engaging as you might hear, all apparent in Cole’s opening The Subway with Ng largely reconfiguring melodic content... In two tracks, totalling just 6’30” Kind Mind has constructed two different musical worlds, with several more to come.

    With some variations that pattern repeats, but with some looping and extensive field recordings enriching the experience, becoming increasingly hypnotic. The Dilemma for the reviewer? I found I could listen to it forever.” - Stuart Broomer, The Whole Note

"I like the trio's unique musical vision, its tender and determined  sound and the way it is delivered: with quality and precision. To create  your own voice in the crowded musical environment of today is a feat." -  Stef Gijssels, freejazzblog.org

"The third track "the bar" is a quiet and  fine chamber music affair, where Ng picks out the clarinet and Davidson  the marimba. Which creates another soundscape, and I think of something  Jimmy Giuffre might have done in his most free moments. But it's not free jazz. It is high-quality chamber jazz, and it is both original and exciting, where they slowly move forward at a calm pace." - Jan Granlie,  salt-peanuts.eu

"If you’re a fan of this instrumental palette, Kind Mind is a  uniformly gorgeous collection of compositions speckled with field  recordings, electronics, and passages of improvisation. “The Bar” sets  the bar high with Ng’s shimmering clarinet complementing Cole’s bowed  strings, while “Inside” leaves space around its deconstructed melodies  to create a taut feeling of tension. Though it’s only two minutes long,  “Red Deer” (named for the small Albertan city where the bassist briefly  lived) is one of the album’s most beguiling songs. Be kind to your mind  and listen posthaste." - Jesse Locke, Aquarium Drunkard

    Bassist and composer Josh Cole’s band Kind Mind is an electro-acoustic chamber ensemble featuring two of Toronto’s finest improvisers - Karen Ng on alto saxophone, and Michael Davidson on vibraphone. Rooted in an approach to improvisation that has been brewing in the Toronto creative music hub “The Tranzac” for decades, the trio explores a fractured, sparse, and timbral approach reinforced by brief compositions and a long history of collective music making.

“The layering of opposing rhythmic patterns — dense and spare, tight and  free — and Arntzen’s patience in building beguiling melodies from a  simple starting point all contribute to the October Trio’s charm.”- The  Boston Phoenix

“Not only is the improvisation more fully collective, but the music  moves beyond predictable modality to some truly free and inventive  playing”  - DownBeat Magazine

    Formed in late 2004 while attending  the Capilano College Jazz Studies the chemistry between Evan Arntzen on saxophones, bassist Josh Cole, and drummer Dan Gaucher was hard to miss. Opportunity presented itself when the trio was offered a regular gig at rime, at that time an east Vancouver creative music hub. The band recorded their first album, live at rime, using a minidisc player and two microphones. Their critically acclaimed sophomore album, Day In (Cellar  Live), followed in July 2006. Riding on the success of Day In, The October Trio went on to  perform at the 2007 editions of the Portland, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton International Jazz Festivals.

    After a stint at the Banff Center in 2008, 2009 saw the trio release Looks like it’s going to Snow (Songlines, 2009) with Brad Turner. 

“Looks Like Its Going To Snow has no shortage of strengths, from intriguing compositions to extraordinarily inventive players, but at its core it really is all about the ensemble.” – Jazz Times. 

    The October Trio plus Brad Turner  played the 2007 Seattle Earshot Jazz Festival and the 2008 and 2009 editions of the Vancouver International Jazz  Festival. June 2010 saw the trio head to the east coast to  perform in New York (Cornelia St Café, w/ Ingrid Jensen on trumpet) and Boston for the first time, as well as performing at the Montreal and Vancouver International Jazz Festivals. 2012 saw the trio release New Dream (Songlines), following that up with a tour of Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and Halifax.

“The trio of Kieran Adams, Josh Cole, and Colin Fisher burns through the  unwarped mind, leaving a scorched trail of smooth havoc.” - Weird Canada

Improvised psych jazz from Colin Fisher, Josh Cole and Kieran Adams with a special appearance from Daniel Pencer. 

    Say Spirit co-operative trio of Colin Fisher, James Annett and Josh Cole. Primarily based in Toronto and Montreal, each musician is vital  contributor to the improvised and creative music community. They are  individually known as flexible and stylistically-eclectic collaborators in the music world at large. The music they make together is at times lyrical, at times fiery and passionate. It is is guided by an openness of spirit, a sensitivity to listen as one unit and the desire to move beyond individual  capabilities.