Alyssa Giammaria – In Time

In Time is Toronto vocalist and composer Alyssa Giammaria’s first full length album of original music. Half of these pieces (Conversations, Dream Life, For Now) were written in 2016, when Giammaria was first beginning to seriously explore her interest in writing music, while the other half were written in the months leading up to the  album’s summer 2022 recording session (The Only Part, In Time, What Are the Words, Mend). The end result is a potent mix of old and new: a lively sonic blend of fresh, energetic songs alongside a selection of more thoughtful and patient pieces. In Time is a beautiful portrait of an up and coming young artist’s creative process in action. 

Recorded live off the floor at Toronto’s storied Canterbury Music Company in August 2022, In Time features Giammaria’s quintet, with additional accompaniment from vocalists Aoife Louise-Doyle and Stephanie Sloss on three pieces. The band is also a contrast of old and new for Giammaria: she has been singing with Louise-Doyle and Sloss for ten years, while her band is a more recent creation, assembled while they were studying together at The University of Toronto. The band does so much more than simply accompany Giammaria’s singing – they deftly interact with the melodic shapes and harmonic moods of the songs as much as they interact with each other. 

While Giammaria has gone through different stages throughout her compositional process, there is a consistent thread that runs through the album: each piece was written  first and foremost to draw out the meaning behind the lyrics. The band effectively uses each song’s rich compositional material as a launching pad for their improvisations, with each member leaving their own distinct creative mark. The vocal melodies on In Time vary from airy and agile to bright and powerful, and are all delivered most memorably by one of the most exciting young singers on the Canadian jazz scene.