When Toronto guitarist and composer David Riddel, known artistically as Dr. Purgatory, began work on his second LP, The Consumption: A Tragic Folktale in Six Parts, he didn’t anticipate it evolving into a fully multidisciplinary endeavor.
“I wanted to make an album that was one part Reinier Baas, one part Maurice Ravel, and one part Björk,” says Riddel, citing his musical touchstones. While the latter’s influence might not be sonically obvious, Riddel insists that Vespertine, Björk’s 2001 opus, shaped the very essence of his writing. The result is a 10-track chamber jazz concept album—lush, angular, and entirely original.
The project assembles some of Canada’s most respected jazz artists: Colleen Allen (alto sax, flute), Andrew Downing (upright bass), Noam Lemish (piano), Aline Homzy (violin), Stefan Hegerat (drums), and Conrad Gluch (alto sax, bass clarinet). Together with Riddel on guitar, the ensemble breathes life into a suite that is both sonically adventurous and emotionally raw.
Yet The Consumption is more than music. Alongside the album comes a 40-page novella written by Riddel himself—a modern dark folktale populated by mythological archetypes and occult references. “Once the musical concept became clear, the story just started forming,” says Riddel, whose literary voice has been shaped by the likes of George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo, Ottessa Moshfegh’s Lapvona, and the mystical Lesser Key of Solomon attributed to Aleister Crowley.
The novella, illustrated by Toronto artist Sid Sharp, pairs with the music to form a unique, narrative-driven art object—both brooding and darkly humorous. Each enhances the other: the music giving pulse to the story, the prose deepening the sonic world.
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