The Joy Project

Welcome to the musical world of Three Pines! Born from the imagination of JUNO Award winning drummer and composer Ernesto Cervini, and inspired by the incredible village from Louise Penny’s “Gamache” detective series, this show features music inspired by the characters and emotions from the series, and endeavours to capture the spirit of the books; about goodness and decency, about integrity, courage and love. 

“Three Pines is a state of mind. When we choose tolerance over hate. Kindness over cruelty. Goodness over bullying. When we choose to be hopeful, not cynical. Then we live in Three Pines.” - Louise Penny 

The performance will showcase a collection of Canada’s finest musicians, and features 15 original compositions by Cervini which were written based on the characters and themes of Penny’s 17 novels (to date.) These songs will be interwoven with excerpts from the books describing the characters and stories to which they refer. From 

Ernesto Cervini: About 5 years ago, I was introduced to the world of Three Pines by my sister, Amy Cervini. I started reading Louise Penny’s books, and I completely fell in love. I was captured by the storytelling, and the incredible characters. Although they are detective novels, the books are filled with kindness and joy, and I was inspired to write music that reflects the themes and characters in the books. 

This project is a departure for me, as I’ve generally worked and written music for specific bands (Turboprop, TuneTown, Tetrahedron) based on disparate themes and inspirations, but this is the first time I’ve used a common theme to create a whole album’s worth of music. 

The new album, entitled Joy was released on Friday, October 7th, 2022 on TPR Records and was nominated for a 2023 Juno Award for Jazz Album of the Year: Solo. 

Touring Band: 

Ernesto Cervini: drums & compositions 

Tara Davidson: Saxophones 

Kelly Jefferson: saxophones 

William Carn: trombone 

Dan Fortin: bass 

Adrean Farrugia: piano 

Alex Samaras: vocals