Edmonton-based bassist and 2025 Discover Women in Jazz alumnus Aretha Tillotson has announced the release date of her sophomore album, Kinda Out West, out on November 7 via Bent River Records.
The album is the follow-up to Tillotson’s 2024 debut album, Introducing Aretha Tillotson, which garnered her the award for Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2024 Western Canadian Music Awards.
Kinda Out West pays tribute to the musicians of Tillotson’s home province of Alberta and neighbouring British Columbia, touching on themes of community and the natural landscape of the West, from the prairies to the mountains. The album pulls inspiration from jazz greats such as Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman, in which the album and title track was largely based on Rollins’s 1957 album Way Out West.
Joining Tillotson on this album features some of the best in Canadian jazz, including sisters Christine and Ingrid Jensen (alto sax and trumpet) and Dave Laing (drums). Tillotson teased some of the music from the new album during her Live to Air concert at jazz.fm91 during our Discover Women in Jazz season.
Kinda Out West comes out Friday, November 7 on all streaming platforms and will be available on CD via arethatillotson.com.
