Mo' blues

Well I don't have pics of all the bands at the Canberra Blues Society jam session, a few because I had to leave early and another because I was playing in it.  It's fun to get out an e-Bass (my preference is a run-of-the-mill Fender MiM JB) but I never play it other than for the Blues jams, so it's a bit of a new experience, but it is light to play.  And fast... I can get carried away!  Otherwise, Key Grip was the host band for the session and they were great to hear, well informed on blues and related styles and capable players all round.  The jammers were consistently capable too which bodes well for the blues in town and perhaps is a function of the blues training offered, esp to next gen.  Still, the audience numbers were down, perhaps given Hendrix the previous night.  But a nice outing and friendly people and great stage gear to indulge in.  Much enjoyed.

Key Grip are Leo Joseph (piano), Angela Lount (vocals), Lauren Thurlow (tenor), Alec Coulson (bass) and Mitch Preston (drums).  Key Grip were the host band for the monthly Canberra Blues Society jam session at the Harmonie German Club.

History repeats

It just goes to show that my interests have long histories.  It's a Blues weekend for me and a guitar trio was playing Hendrix and heroes and I soon realised I'd seen this very trio in this very place only 18 months before.  Someone mentioned it was better this time.  That gig had the drummer playing a first or early gig.  This time someone specifically praised the drummer.  They were all good.  Drums in a rock band of the period is not central but what he did was solid and pushy and right.  Neither is bass, although his role was taken a bit further than Noel Redding on my LP with a several solos and a little slap and some front line singing.  First half was Hendrix with one SRV; second half was ZZTop, Canned Heat, Steely Dan, ACDC, Stones, even the Beatles, in a series of medleys.  I loved the takes on The Beatles, the best of the bunch in my estimation.  No Led Zep, Deep Purple.  There was even Zoot and an end with Stevie Wright Evie Pt.1.  Ah, I remember Stevie Wright singing Evie Pts 1,2,3 at the Irish Club years back playing with CBS members.  In a wheelchair, as I remember.  He died in 2015.  But good to hear the Aussie classics, too.  As for Hendrix, capable cloned lines at times or otherwise interesting takes on Watchtower, Hey Joe, Manic depression, Purple haze, Wind cried Mary, Foxy lady, Little wing, Voodoo chile and a string of others.  It's a stunning revelation of Hendrix' genius.  Wonderful night done by authentically interesting and respectful musos, primarily, of course, guitarist Steve Edmonds.  Great fun and given the grey hair all round, great memories!  And a pic of the slab of Berlin wall outside the Germo.  Bought when the Wall was being dismantled and now a significant piece of history right here in Canberra. 

Steve Edmonds (guitar, vocals) led his trio with Graham Burns (bass, vocals) and Ben Elliot (drums) at the Harmonie German Club under the auspices of the Canberra Blues Society.

Neighbours

It was a stunner that such a complex performance would be gathered by singer and pianist for a Wesley lunchtime concert, it being unpaid as a musical donation to the music centre.  The works were complex, demanding and the performance of great worth.  To be expected with Rachel Mink singing with Ian Le accompaniment.  I didn't know of Ian Le, but he's trained in both math(s) and music and a Senior Lecturer at ANU, in maths, but even more unlikely, Rachel and Ian were neighbours in their childhoods, growing up half and hour from each other in the USA.  Here's one we won.  The works were major: several movements of Faure Chanson d'Eve, singing of nature and God and death, Randall West Judith, a mad and lively musical description of Judith cutting off Holoferene's head (ref. Botticelli and more) and Lori Laitman This canopy of trees, an aria from The scarlet letter, ultimately derived from the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel of Puritan settler Hester Prynne's accusation of adultery in a Massachusetts settlement in the 1660s.  So the program had the title In the Garden of Good and Evil; apt.  It must have been a massive job to deliver very richly complex music, for piano and voice, for just this gig.  Wordy, in French and English, convoluted melody and responsive or explosive accompaniment.  And for one gig one afternoon in Canberra.  Stunning ... and a perfectly good way to recognise a neighbour!

Rachel Mink (soprano) and Ian Le (piano) performed at Wesley.

10+10=~14

It was only at the last minute that I noticed two dectets, from Melbourne and Sydney, coming together to play at Smiths.  After 10 Part Invention, this was a shoe-in.  I love a little big band and what it can achieve and these were young and adventurous and playing original music.  It a bit hard to get everyone to travel so the two dectets covered each other, mainly Melb covered by Syd and a few local Canberrans, and despite charts and and decent readers, it's always nice to have played the tunes a few times.  And there was a singer who was just asked days before by Syd to cover a song and did one for Melb as well.  Not surprisingly, Miro was a further sit-in with Syd, after a workshop with 10 Part Invention.  Syd leader Lee also mentioned several other players who were first timers.  I guess this is the way with any large ensemble: it's hard to gather them all together at specified times and harder for a tour.  The bands were Mosaic from Sydney and Woolgathering from Melbourne.  As an aside, Lee's surname is Orszaczky so links to a certain Sydney bassist came into several minds, but I met his Dad (in the loo!) and Jackie seems to be distant if a relative.   Whatever, these were two impressive bands.  Mosaic writing its own material and also commissioning from composers aged under 25, so seeking new sounds; Woolgathering mostly writing its own material.  M has a very successful first album under its belt and it was touring their new work, album no.2.  W has recorded an EP with Melb Con support and has a history of sellout shows at JazzLab.  So these are precocious players.  W was more sedate on the night given so many sit-ins but still lovely with brass colours and flute melodies and melded brass and wind solos and a few Canberra locals helping out on drums and guitar.  M was more vibrant although with variety including a contemporary ballad, again lovely horn fills and favours and some driving solos, notably a blow out from drums at the end, some intriguing floating piano at times and a very sturdy bass with nicely broken beats.  So some fabulous original Australian music with convincing complexity and colour and chops from a next gen.

Mosaic toured from Sydney and Woolgathering from Melbourne to play at Smiths.  Listed players for Mosaic were Lee Orszaczky and Cailey Soon (trombones), Braden Clarke (flugelhorn), Sarah Morrisson (trumpet), Ravi Trachenberg-Ray (piano), James Watt (bass), Noah Meija and Leo Marland (saxes) and Matt Simmonds (drums).  Listed players for Woolgathering were Ava McDermott (vocals), Adam Davidson (piano), Jack Smythe (double bass), Patty Walkter (drums), Yael Zamir (flute), Christopher Rozakeas (trombone), Brandon Bartholomeusz (alto), Elly Blackham  and Thomas Coleman Bell (woodwinds) and James Morrissey (bass clarinet).

Feel like a pro

Feel like a pro?  Nothing to do with money.  What I loved was a program that we could get together in a week, admittedly just for one half, but we had just one fairly short orchestral rehearsal, then a rehearsal with the choir, then a playthrough warmup on the day, on the mighty and very pro Llewellyn stage, then the gig.  We were a group of 19 strings from NCO invited to play with Qwire, our local LGBTQI+ choir, unauditioned but taking on significant complexity and very varied works with considerable competence.  The first half had Qwire on stage unaccompanied, singing a range of musics from 1100CE to today, a mix of renaissance, classical and well arranged pop.  Hildegard von Bingen and Jennifer Cook and John Tavener, through Arthur Sullivan to Dylan, Enya, Jake Runestad (there were some names I didn't know), Cyndi Lauper and kd lang, with an entrance song gifted from Aboriginal supporters.  You can feel the power and insinuousness of a great pop song: I'm singing some still.  The second half had us strings up on stage.  First with an intro of Elgar Serenade for strings mvt.2, very lovely and larghetto.  Then our major work, Ola Gjeilo Sunrise Mass, a modern work in four movements with latin text by the Norwegian composer.  Not difficult for the basses despite some powerful and driving lines and much counting but some very tricky string patterns working essentially as effects for strings down to cellos and some lovely solo violin from concertmaster Laura Lay.  It reminded me of The armed man that we played with CCS in 2025, modern and seemingly fairly simple while immensely powerful in the whole.   The concert was a pleasure, the choir members were inviting and thankful for our string presence and the audience response was resounding, so a very pleasureable outing of considerable artistic value.

Canberra Qwire performed at Llewellyn with strings from the National Capital Orchestra under Callum Tolhurst-Close (musical director).  Concertmaster was Laura Lay (violin 1) and the bottom end was Lizzy Collier, Mel Fung and Eric Pozza (basses).  

Eyeing the future

Wesley runs a music scholars program.  I don't know much about the services it offers, but I do see the scholars once or twice a year and when they perform and I record and it's always quite fascinating.  This time was five performers of various instruments playing a range of musics, even into musical theatre.  A Handel harp concerto from Alex and a Bach sonata played by traverso Harry (a baroque wooden flute) and viola.  Then piano Harmoniche backing Santrix who I had met setting up who was a bass, meaning bass vocals, singing a lovely rendition of a lovely musical theatre tune, If ever I would leave you from Camelot by Fredrick Loewe.   Not sure if the original was sung by a bass, but this was nicely done, and with a presence that singers usually have more than do instrumentalists, voice being such a human expression.  Then bass and soprano voices on Mendelssohn with piano, then soprano Angel singing Brahms with cello and piano, then swapping to (modern) flute still with cello Ben and piano and then finally swapping to piano behind Ben on cello playing La Folia.  So it's a whirlwind of different composers and instruments. A pleasure and an indication of our upcoming professionals.

Wesley Music Scholars performed at Wesley.  They were Alex Munro (harp, viola), Harry Howard (traverso), Santix Redston (bass), Harmoniche Deng (piano), Angel Zheng (soprano, flute, piano) and Ben Munro (cello).

Never wearied

It's their 45th anniversary concert tour and CD and these are masters and seasoned of our jazz craft so it's so surprise that this was such a deeply satisfying gig to attend.  Sure, we see them in smaller groups but to hear the compositions, the solos, the personalities, the arrangements of little big band colours is a special thing.  I'm still thrilling at the precision of those colours; of the contemporary classical crossover of Kevin Hunt's piano outings; of the touching depth of Sandy's introduction to the gig and Miro's Ornette-infused Nostalgia (isn't what it used to be) to end it all, of Steve Elphick's understated but ever correct Hadenesque presence.  And they fit a space like this, theatrical, spacious, respectful, nicely amplified.  It was casual, too, compered by Sandy and a space and casualness that we could see, experience the personality, musical and other, of each of these players.  I was amused by the cool pleasure of Warwick Alder and his chat with Miro; ever gregarious and friendly James Greening and his quips and then floored by his trombone responses to a Sandy solo; the as-one pairing of Sandy and Andrew and offsider Paul; Matt filling in for John Mackey, blowing in this own style and verve.  Rease Cameron was new to me, but nicely effective.  Just 10 tunes over 2 hours and two sets.  A hugely mature set of musos and musical and compositional grouping ends in a fabulous and deeply satisfying night of music.

Ten Part Invention performed at The Street Theatre.  10PI comprised Miroslav Bukovsky (co-musical director, trumpet, flugelhorn), Sandy Evans (co-musical director, tenor, soprano saxes), Paul Cutlan (tenor, baritone saxes, clarinet), Andrew Robson (alto), Matt Ottignon (tenor, flute), Warwick Alder (trumpet), James Greening (trombone),  Kevin Hunt (piano), Steve Elphick (bass) and Rease Cameron (drums).

Just how good

Best composition?  I wondered about that but it's a stupid question, especially given my limited knowledge, but my favourite work?  I think so.  I've listed every classical piece I've performed in concert (now 506 with some repeats) and it includes Beethoven 3,4,5,6,7 and plenty more, but my faves are choral and this seems my most memorable of all.  Sitting through Brahms German Requiem by Igitur nos tends to confirm it.  Gloriously rich and attractive, emotionally dense, wonderfully informed bass lines, extensive chromatic and substituting lines, beautiful harmonies in voices to drool over, high sopranos, inventive harmonies and challenging fugues.  I closed my eyes and fell into this density, knowing it well after having played it myself.  I find when I've practised and performed a work, it stays with me, so I know upcoming phasings and predict every line.  Strange that practice, or perhaps performance, can be so permanent.  I can't play from memory but I can revisit and predict a listen.  Hayley did a great job on so many lines, slow or busy as they were.  Otherwise, just a small accompaniment of piano, single strings and woodwinds, 8 players in all in the arrangements, rather than a full orchestra.  And the choir and two soloists, bass and soprano.  Very nice soloists, but I preferred the massed parts, the power and precision and movements of lines in harmony.  My German was nil, so the words were of nothing, but still power remained and glorious, emotional music.  Brahms German Requiem: a work of beauty and huge emotional density.

Igitur Nos performed Brahms German Requiem at Wesley.  Matthew Stuckings (conductor) led a choir of 22 with two vocal soloists, Elsa Huber (soprano) and Colin Milner (baritone) and an octet comprising Rowan Harvey-Martin (violin), Elizabeth Chalker (viola), Alex Voorhoeve (cello), Hayley Manning (bass), Jodie Petrov (flute), Yu-Lan Chan (oboe), Lis Hoorweg (clarinet) and Emily Leong (piano).

Salut

Salut can mean both hi and bye in French and it's a greeting between family and friends so it's apt for Salut! Baroque, partly for the intriguing invitations to the musics of composers or places or purposes that S!B explore in their programming and explain in their programs.  This concert was Bohemian Rhapsody.  We read of the first rhapsodies for piano composed by a Bohemian Vaclav Tomasek; of the relevant geographic area; of the manufacturing and trade links that associated with movement of arts and music through Prague, Vienna, Krakow, Leipzig, Venice and more; of the Defenestration of Prague and the Thirty Years War; of the Hapsburg Empire and the Peace of Westphalia; of the relationships of Bohemian, Venetian, Veronese and Viennese composers and the nature of the musician's life in court.  All fascinating, leading to a program of Biber and Vivaldi, and Zelenka, Bertali, Fox, Caldara, Schelzer, Fischer, Jiranek and Brentner.  There are many new  or lesser known names: a concert by S!B is nothing if not inquisitive.  And pretty, ordered, danceable, dignified, even suggestive and so well played by strings, harpsichord, recorders, theorbo and the like.  This is music that was new at the time, now played from the past, but very much a part of our musical development and so often just delightful and courtly.

Salut! Baroque performed at Wesley.  S!B comprised Sally Melhuish and Anitra Blackburn (recorders), Rachael Beesley and Julia Russoniello (violins), Marianne Yeomans and Brad Tham (violas), Tim Blomfeld (bass violin), Jude Hill (bass), George Wills (guitar, theorbo) and Monika Kornel (harpsichord).

Songs of lament and reflection

They advise The Elegy Project is "a contemporary chamber music ensemble blending classical, jazz and folk".  It's strange, yes, but beautiful and deeply satisfying.  Think a vocal dectet (a nonet on this day) singing Megan Washington or Lonely woman by Horace Silver and Leonard Feather, or a solo pianist playing Rachmaninov or Chopin's famous Funeral march then joined by the choir, or Joni Mitchell Both sides now, a key song of the '70s, played by a jazz quartet (on this day a trio of piano, bass, vocals).  This is a new group, directed on the day by Kimberley Steele with a string of renowned locals.  It's not a small chamber group given 13 names are listed, but a fascinatingly broadminded and exploratory combination.  Full marks for the mix of musics.  And there were some seriously satisfying performances, too.  Kimberley on solo classical piano and voice; Rachael on jazz vocals, deeply effective and emotive, and also joining in the choir; Chris just that fabulous bassist that he is, but then picking up a Telecaster to back the choir on one tune; Micah impressively spelling tunes and improvising, unhurried and purposeful, on a much nicer piano than I'd heard him on recently.  And the choir, some lovely voices, well intoned on some challenging and well arranged harmonies.  Gus is the drummer to come and he can only add.  I was taken deeply by this concert, the breadth and emotional expression of it all.  Fabulous and still very new.  If you read this post promptly, perhaps you can catch them at Wesley 3pm Sat 13 or All Saints 3pm Sun 14 June.

The Elegy Project performed at Wesley and comprise Kimberley Steele (piano, musical director), Chris Pound (bass, guitar, synth, director), Rachael Thoms (vocalist), Micah Knight (piano), Angus Henderson-Mack (Gus Henderson, drums), Emma Griffiths (soprano), Petta Lindsay and Neille Williams (altos), Oliver Bruhl and Cody Christopher (tenors), Martin Magill, Lachlan Rankin and Daniel Westbury (basses).

Plucks

Alice Giles introduced this concert by observing that the instruments being played, harp and guitar, are both plucked but they sound quite different given the structures of the instruments themselves.  The guitar has its strings (usually 6) over the soundboard; the harp has strings (6 octaves) exiting from its soundboard.  At least the strings are both plucked, although with different techniques, so a guitar may play a chord on six strings, but a harp can play a strum of many more.  And the techniques are otherwise, too, like on harp changing keys with pedals.  Each pedal raises or lowers a note by one semitone.  Interestingly, they are grouped, so two pedals work on the first two flats (B, E) and two further pedals work on the first two sharps (F, C) and the others manage the rest of the accidentals (G, A, D).  Fascinating!  Both these performers are renowned locals and this was a very relaxed and understated performance but very capable.  The first set was Alice on harp playing two sets of Five preludes for harp alone by Carlos Salzedo.  The first has movements titled Quietude, Iridescence, Introspection, Whirlwind, Lamentation, so I found myself wondering of the aptness of the composition.  I then found my concert neighbour brought up the same issue in some movements of the second prelude.  Not surprising, I guess.  Then set 2, with harp and guitar.  Three short compositions by Turlough O'Carolan, a local composition relevant to the Arboretum, A view from the Eagle's Nest by Marian Budos who was there for a chat after, and Suite magica by Maximo Diego Pujol, an Argentinian guitarist who had visited the ANUSOM in the past.  So some joyous, occasionally danceable, sometimes slow or filmic or storytelling or expansive as in landscape, and an obligatory Argentinian tango, from a pair of understated but quite brilliant performers on their respective instruments.  A pleasure.

Alice Giles (harp) and Timothy Kain (guitar) performed for the Harmonic Curves series at Wesley.

A cousin reads

I was at a family event and talking reading with cousin Licette and got an invitation to her presentation at the State Library the next day.  This was a monthly Tuesday Talk of the Friends of the State Library of South Australia and Licette was talking of influential books in her life.  It was an interesting visit to a reader's life viewed in the light of her readings.  The difficulty of the task of distilling the list was hinted at by the key literary texts she had  rejected.  Those she chose had a range of life references relating to Licette and not to all others: childhood, relationships, travel, and the like.  I could identify similarities and crossovers with some of my meagre personal readings and I came out with a desire to follow up quite a few.  So what and who?  Remember this is a personal collection over a full life to date, so Enid Blyton, Joanna Trollope, Zola, AS Bryant, Armitage, Andre Makine, Winifred Watson, DE Stevenson, Dorothy Whipple, George Eliot, John Gottman, Nina Stibbe, Alan Bennett, Alan Ramsay and a work by Licette and fellow professionals, Emotion coaching with children and young people in schools (2000).  Some intrigued me, some raised ethical or political questions, some just seemed entertaining.  FWIW, my starter intentions are Hero's daughter / Andre Makine, L'Assommoir / Emile Zola and Miss Pettigrew lives for a day / Winnifred Watson, but my list is not limited to three.  I don't read in a book club, but given the pleasure of this session, maybe I should...

Licette Gus spoke on significant books in her life for Friends of the State Library of South Australia.

Where's this now?

I missed a busy Euro day in Canberra with two jazz duets the previous weekend so I was happy to see at least one of the duos were featured with a full 2-set performance at COMA in Adelaide.  Suffice to say this was a stunner.  The duo was Reinier Baas and Ben van Gelder, guitar and alto, out of The Netherlands.  One quoted comment was that they sounded like a whole orchestra.  Not quite but I could see the intent.  Mainly it was a function of a certain guitar style that I'd not seen before, using pick and fingerstyles and strums and thumbs and fingered extensions to play bass lines, chords, fills, melody, snippets and intrusions and inclusions, all confirming grooves and setting an housing the song, seemingly all at once.  The alto was more conventional but thrillingly expressive, fleet, intriguing with intervals and sequences and fittingly with guitar, somewhat loose with time, so I could be unsure of the count, where was a beat or a temporarily changed tempo.  It sound problematic but it was anything but, being loose and expressive and together.  I noticed once a face from Reinier to Ben that suggested a slip but mostly this was ripples then waves and rough weather, all telling a story.  There were many originals, perhaps introduced by one or other performer, with fast melodies from alto while you're unsure of a common tune, then a massively quick line appears from guitar, perhaps unison, that confirms the composition.  These originals could seem indistinct in melody if lovely to hear, and perhaps strange or vague in structure but perhaps not, I'd have to listen more.  These were constructs of much complexity.  Then most unexpectedly a series of standards: All the things you are, Body and soul, Monk, more, that had the same sense of ambiguity and an exhilarating build of improv.  This delightful sense of melodic improv with a beguiling sense of time and multi-roles of accompaniment was a stunner.  I remain a bit perplexed but very, very impressed.

Reinier Baas (guitar) and Ben van Gelder (alto) performed for COMA at The Wheatie in Adelaide.

Gremlins not

A pub with a flying saucer hovering over: another boho venue, this time in Adelaide's city centre and with a weekly jazz jam.  I took my e-bass and the crowd and the space was fairly small.  The full range of Coopers on tap.  I drank dark.  Then the host band started and they were a blast, fabulous playing all round, playing a first set celebrating his life just days after the death of Sonny Rollins (d. 25 May 2026).  So, Pent-up house, Decision, Waltz hot, Ellington Way out west and Eternal triangle with Sonny Stitt.  Lithe and mobile alto, truly fascinating lines and apt from guitar, quick expressive bass with great tone, driving drums oddly toned down in effective solos to my ears.  The players were Tom Noonan, Django Roh, James Ho and Craig Laurenson appearing as The Gremilys (at Grace Emily Hotel).  It set a high bar for a jam session.  A player I'd seen at COMA came up for the first jam, as I remember on Airegin (I hadn't realised but this is Nigeria spelt backwards), then more jammers of a decent standard if not quite the openers.  Only a few tunes and not all just 32- or 12-bars.  I sat in for The more I see you with a singer leading from first year at the Elder Con.  The bass was heavier and higher actioned than mine and occasionally sliding out, but nicely strung and well amplified so I was pretty happy.  Then a final tune from the band to close the night and out.  I chatted with a woman more my age and it turns out it was her son who had sung.  And more chats with first time attendees chatting about jazz jams and improv and not having played with or heard any of the fellow jammers and The Wheaty and COMA.  I had been amused by jazz newbies dancing back from the loos or jogging to the high intensity jazz.  So such a fun night, just finished off with the Coopers Dark, so pleasant.

The Gremilys were the host band at the jazz jam at Grace Emily pub in Adelaide.  Th Gremilys comprise Tom Noonan (alto), Django Roh (guitar), James Ho (bas) and Craig Laurenson (drums).

Descend to COMA

COMA seems to always have two sets with two ensembles, mostly jazzy but sometimes exploratory classical.  Presumably with frequent connection to the Elder Con.  But it can feature others, including various Euro musicians coming to Smiths Alt in coming weeks.  Nice. And these nights are recorded, audio and video, and published to YouTube.  An impressive feat and warmly welcoming in a very musical pub with its own range of house-brewed bears.  Set 2 this night was the Bailey Hall quartet, reportedly contemporary jazz compositions exploring fun grooves, tasteful melodies and entertaining improvisation.  This was intense, not so easily visited but wonderfully capably played, precise lines, unison and otherwise, twisted, of various counts, often suddenly changing then returning.  Either they read superbly well or they had done some considerable work.  Some swing, some grooves, 6s and 4s, did I count 9? I wasn't too sure, expansive and rapid tenor solos, dense with screeds of notes and mobile harmonies, against a fascinating chordal guitar accompaniment and solos, dirty, edgy distortion on something like a Gibson 335 into a Twin Reverb or similar Fender with a distinct bluesy edge but far more inventive.  The yellow bass amp was Mark Bass and that belonged to the venue; perhaps the Fender did too.  A twisted 4/4 hint at blues and 6/8 with precise bass lines and unexpected fills, and another with floating dirty dissonances, desperate moving guitar and floating tensions.  Great PA tones, too.  Some truly capable playing from four graduates out of the Elder Con in the last 5/6 years.

Bailey Hill (drums) led a quartet with Lachlan McGargill (tenor, soprano saxes), Jack willsmore (guitar) and Tasha Stevens (bass) for COMA (Creative Original Music Adelaide) at The Wheatsheaf Hotel (The Wheatie).