Less jocular

The Reuben Lewis Quintet followed Zoe and the Buttercups at Street 2 and shared a bassist (Simon Milman was unavailable on the day and Zoe Hauptmann sat in) so there was some continuity although the results were worlds apart. The Buttercups were ironic and postmodern; Reuben’s band was serious and modern. The compositions were originals, mostly by the band: by Simon in his absence, Nick Combes, Reuben and Luke. The playing was purposeful and capable: these are amongst the best recent ANU jazz students and I’ve written frequently of them before. I was particularly taken by a complex composed by Reuben and dedicated to Tomasz Stanko that they played as a bass-less quartet. I also recognised the other tunes: A bouncy tune from Reuben about a cat, Luke’s Just a minute which I’m pretty sure I’ve heard orchestrated for one of the large ensembles, Nick Combes’ Moira and that one by Simon. I wonder if this says something about Jazz School training for music as business: developing students to compose, to have a repertoire of originals, to develop working ensembles. This is just a note because I write days after the gig and I’ve recently written up this band (with Simon). Suffice to say this was very satisfying, serious playing and valid compositions.

Reuben Lewis (trumpet) led a quintet with Max Williams (tenor), Luke Sweeting (piano), Aidan Lowe (drums) and Zoe Hauptmann (bass) sitting in for normal bassist Simon Milman.