Lights and scenes

As we read Canberra Times and Facebook of the history of ructions at our own Music School, it's interesting to have visitors from another place and another school. Jacob Neale and his trio is from Newcastle and they came to play at Hippo last night against a new, very light-sparkling backdrop. Very NYC or Binhuis: I like it. Jacob and the band played a mix of originals and standards. Standards like Have you met Miss Jones, Green Dolphin St: stock standard stock mostly played tonally and swinging, although Jarrod was want to break the swing and syncopate. No singing, jazz trio, so plenty of solos. Jacob liked the rapid, mostly harmonically true solo, fast and furious; Jarrod also played the chords, enjoyed the area up the neck, or sometimes down below E (he was playing a 5-string, pretty sure the Fender Marcus Miller), liked the occasional chordal colours and funky spaces. The originals brought this out, to my ear. Funky dotted rhythms, perhaps simple chord patterns. One was a dedication to Monk; another was a blues. Sam held all this and took a solo or two. I stayed for the first set only, after tipping candle wax. The lighting outside was a little more exciting (and functional) than the '60s basement candles inside, but I did notice how candles are generous to the visage and that goes down a treat. Beards and candles and streetlights through plate glass. A strangely modern scene.

Jacob Neale (piano) led a trio with Jarrod Gibson (e-bass) and Sam Evans (drums) at Hippo Co.