Bassic matters

Two outings had me contemplating bass playing.  First up was a duo gig with James at Gundog Estate, playing a few hours and chatting with some of the visitors and staff.  The sound was so soft. I thought we were hardly hearable yet we were asked to turn down, but we were playing just feet from a table of ten.  The low volume was a pleasure and an opportunity to hear so softly, to contemplate melody and solos and passing ideas, to then talk of matters of performance, so this was wonderful and enjoyed and we played well on some James originals and a string of luscious standards.  Standards can be so beautiful and touching in an open, theatrical way, with fascinating intervals and lovely chordal movements and even opportunities to dirty things up with some dissonance.  A musical pleasure.

Outing no.2 was a three bass get together with Juliet and Jeremy before Jeremy's move to NYC to study bass.  It was a chat on technique from basic to advanced, cycles of arpeggios to upper octave pentatonics, exercises and training resources, mostly lesson-like with a string of interesting quotes (Jeremy is great on meeting renowned players and has fascinating quotes to share) and then a short spot of sharing instruments and jamming together.  Three basses with Juliet's Adam sitting in on piano for a bit.

It all may seem a bit incestuous, as are discussions in orchestral sections within and between sections (eg, basses often talk to basses and somewhat to cellos) but it is such a valuable self-led lesson experience.

James Woodman (piano) and Eric Pozza (bass) performed at the Wine cellar at Gundog Estate in Gundaroo.  Jeremy Tsuei, Juliet Flook and Eric Pozza (basses) talked and played bass, sometimes with Adam Hilhorst (piano).

Not Zimmerman

There were so many ways that this was an unusual Canberra Symphony Orchestra outing.  We walked in to find no printed programs, but a QR code with a link to CSO program for the year and the program for this concert.  Walking to our seats we find almost no one we recognised: this seemed a new group, different, perhaps younger and that's OK.  It was a full house or close enough: film music is popular and this was the music of Hans Zimmer, composer of Interstellar and Lion King and Pirates of the Caribbean and Dune and Gladiator.  And Driving Miss Daisy.  And a string of films I didn't know, Kung Fu Panda and Holiday and Thin red line and more.  Even those I knew of I mostly hadn't seen.  But I had played some Zimmer along with other film composers at an NCO concert and enjoyed the whole but he was not one I most admired.  Then it was a big orchestra, ~80, and had a rhythm (section) of guitar, e-bass and drums.  Strange that, with Chris and Nick from the jazz scene and Dave, normally from the CSO bass section, on e-guitar.  They didn't play too much: mostly Nick on drums, occasionally Chris, occasionally Dave, but he did have a standout, they might say solo, somewhere, with a repeating line with sustained, distorted guitar.  Standard metal tone if not so exciting.  Also four double basses, btw.  And a cello taking the part of and sounding often quite similar to a Chinese Erhu, especially up the neck, and voices in another piece that I guessed came from unison flutes and violins/violas although later someone suggested synths from one of two keyboard players.  Then later still an actual woman singer, first up wordless, then I think later with words, but not too sure.  And demonstrations by the orchestra of things, like how a very known song was slowed and made sparser of become the soundtrack.  And all this with commentary that I thought I had read in the program, from two fellow influencers from Melbourne, one a jazz musician the other an academic who is known to friends, about the films and Zimmer and scoring and that he'd appeared in the backline of The Buggles for Video killed the radio star (worthy involvement there!) in both the first and last episodes of MTV.  Did I mention the smoke machine?  And those crescendos and repeated simple lines, and how someone said of film composition that the amateurs use three notes and pros just 2.  Zimmer certainly used few notes and certainly dragged immense dynamic changes from them, sometimes from choice of instruments, and again those repeated four notes (too many?) that I remember the high strings all played, together, incessantly if powerfully.  You felt the emotional intensity.  So too from the light show, and the smoke machines.  The Zimmer man, not Dylan.

Canberra Symphony Orchestra performed music of Hans Zimmer under Nicholas Buc (conductor) with commentary from Andrew Pogson and Dan Golding and song from Cassandra Seidemann (mezzo-soprano) and a rhythm section of David Flynn (guitar), Chris Pound (bass guitar) and Nicholas McBride (drum kit).

Egg

Renowned local theatre critic, Peter Wilkins, described it as an "eggcelent production" and I must agree.  I missed some of the gags, it being quick and witty and we weren't too close, but the story of the annual quiche breakfast of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein meeting in whatever community hall with five leaders / members up front and the audience as part of the action was a strange and welcoming and joyous outing despite the dropping of a nuclear bomb and the need to remain indoors for 4 years and the accidental door issue at one time.  But there were also self-relevations, some unexpected, and challenging alternatives to save the world from nuclear annihilation and all round hilarity and consternation and love for quiches and their and others' eggs.  Great fun hinting at issues and fears that we should be better ready to deal with today, this being way past 1956 and the bomb and the Cold War.  I can see why this won a NY Fringe award.  One thing, though.  We all got labels with women's names.  Megan found her middle name and I did too, but mine was the traditional male spelling.  A very minor and somewhat amusing slip up in a wonderful outing.

Jarrad West (director) led Everyman (?) Theatre in 5 Lesbians eating a quiche at the ACT Hub, the 100yo Causeway Hall.  The cast was Crystal Mahon (Lulie Stanwyck), Steph Roberts (Wren Robin), Meaghan Stewart (Veronica ‘Vern’ Schultz), Sian Harrington (Ginny Cadbury) and Ylaria Rogers (Dale Prist).

Wind for weapon

It may not be the way that soldiers battle with woodwinds but it would be a better world.  This day our ADFA colleagues were playing at Wesley as they do a few times a year and they had woodwinds in their hands, so Sax and Clarinet quartets and a mixed Wind quartet and one duo of oboe with (dare I say, not wind) piano.  And the whole was a wonderful outing.  The compositions were sometimes lesser known, too, so the Sax quartet (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone) played two Andante and scherzo by Bozza, then that duet playing Poulenc from his oboe sonata, Clarinets with Saint-Saens Dance Macabre and a lively and ingenious work by Jean Francais, another lesser known to me, 3 movements of his Wind Quintet no.1 by the Wind Quintet of flute, oboe, bassoon, (French) horn and clarinet.  The woodwinds must enjoy their time away from the larger ensemble; I certainly do.  The tones are different out from full outings that I hear with strings, or perhaps they play with rhythm section and brass.  Those sinuous, flappy tones are blissful and often difficult to play and they have my admiration and pleasure when I record them and the repertoire is often different.  Always looking forward to the ADFA band making an appearance.

Woodwinds from the Band of the Royal Military College (Duntroon) played Bozza, Poulenc, Sain-Saens and Francais at Wesley.  The two named players of the program were Keelie McKenzie (oboie) and Nam Tran (piano) playing the Poulenc Oboe sonata, movement 1, Elegie.

Love and war

This is a theme that's around with the new film of The Odyssey but it's nothing new.  Two of our major classical music groups combined to do a program on this very topic, Guerrieri et Amorosi, Warriors and lovers, highlighting madrigals by Barbara Strozzi and Claudio Monteverdi, two major composers in mid/late-1600s Venice, Monteverdi older than Strozzi but both prolific and renowned, if Barbara is lesser so these days.  And a few instrumental pieces by Apeiron in respite by GB Vitali and Scarlatti.  Madrigals were written for solo voices, one for each part, and MD Dan Walker highlighted the challenge of this fluid music for a choir and Oriana did a wonderful presentation to my ears, capably accompanied by our renowned locals Apeiron Baroque as a quintet.  The themes suggest a more martial awareness by CM with an amorous sinfonia exploding into martial music, love portrayed as a literal disaster although later Cupid being praised rather than Mars.  Maybe because this Eighth Book of Madrigals is dedicated to the newly crowned Holy Roman Emperor.  Other the other hand, I note a sweetly sung song about an Athenian Maiden raped by the King of Thrace (lyrics by BS's father), a song on affections of the mind (Yearning, desire...) and an argument over sources of joy which resolved to a single kiss.  But this is just a sampler and my notes are just a borrowing from the program anyway.  But the song, the accompaniment, the vocals solos were a thing of great pleasure.  Again a warmly received concert and a full hose at Wesley for an imposing musical pairing.

Oriana Chorale was accompanied by Apeiron Baroque at Wesley with a program of madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi and Barbara Strozzi.  Oriana Chorale was conducted by Dan Walker (MD) with sometimes soloists Ali Hardy and Jade McFaul (sopranos), Oliver Bruhl, Cody Christopher and David Faraker (tenors) and Patrick Baker, Neil Bulleid and Joshua Dunne (basses).  Apeiron Baroque comprised John Ma and Brad Tham (violins), Marie Searles (harpsichord), Anton Baba (cello) and James Holland (theorbo).

Gospel and groove

Luke Sweeting was in town again with his Soul-Gospel band, a project of Luke and singer Eliza Kate, playing in the Street Theatre with the full 12-piece outfit and great sound and a string of original tunes amongst covers.  The theme is not my thing, but the music is and it was a blowout and the originals were every bit as good as those covers.  Busy chords, interesting melodies, great harmonies, funky or variously driving grooves embellished with a string of bass solos and solos from the other instruments, piano, not too many from guitar although one biggie, a few of each horn (two tenors an trumpet), some spots where the trio of backing singers took front lines, perhaps swapping lines with Eliza, perhaps with each other.  The balance was strong on bass and drums and Eliza's voice, choppy guitar and piano when it appears and the other voices and horns, perhaps less so for the organ which was discernable but soft, like piano much of the time.  The groove was the work of bass, drums and guitar, not unsurprisingly. I was amused by Luke standing to use a diminutive keyboard and hearing an effective clavinet or Rhodes; O brave new world / That has such [tech] in't.  Thus with the Hammond, of course, being these days shrunk to a keyboard.  I loved the grooves, the occasional odd timed bass lines, the effective bass and drum underlay.  Just lovely.  And those harmonies, not overbearing but rich and responsive, sitting over the powered and lively voice of Eliza who spelled every song of the evening except maybe one, a good 90+ minutes of solid, radio-length songs and just a few expanded with various solos, with her expressive voice and wide range and inviting presence of posture and movement and joy.  They quote a love of northern soul and there's a range of soul and gospel musics but what they do is a blast.  So much enjoyed.  Heard in a raked theatre setting but just threatening the dance floor.

Majesty Rising performed at the Street Theatre.  MR is a 12-piece soul-gospel band led by Eliza Kate (vocals) and Luke Sweeting (piano, MD) with a lineup of vox, 3xbacking vox, 3xhorns (2xtenor, tpt), piano, organ, guitar, bass, drums.

Not 10 but 20

I was intrigued by the idea of four-handed piano.  I had heard it before, rarely, but this was up close and I was recording and the pianists were two Italians on their first tour to Australia.  Of course there are four hands instead of two, 20 fingers instead of 10, so I could hear bigger sounds, more dense chords, moving melodies in different octaves, but also one finger can only play one note, so that's another rule.  It's still a piano so that percussive tone but it is distinctly bigger in sound and complexity.  They performers were Duo Mimesi, Federico treble and Gioia bass, but at least once an arm crossed when Gioia was playing full handed chords in the mid range and Federico reached over her busy arms.  And of course the repertoire, too, is different, even if the composers are similar.  In this case, Schubert variations and Lebenssturme, a Poulenc sonata and two dances from Rachmaninov and two Brahms walzes for an encore.  This is not light music and played with certainty and a ghostly togetherness.  It was interesting to see how they commenced a piece, one looking to the other or glances at hands, and to note that Gioia worked the pedal.  They held their spots on the piano, although they spoke later of playing each other's parts and swapping on other pieces.  But for this repertoire this was the share.  This was a big sound with dense writing and forthright performance.  Impressive and complex and not for the feint-hearted.  And so great to meet some travelling musicians, especially from Rome.  Lots to chat about.

Duo Mimesi performed four-handed piano at Wesley.  DM are Federico Bucaioni and Gioia Barbera (piano).

Blues crews

Ah it is fun to grab the JB and tail it down to the Canberra Blues Society jam session on a Sunday arvo and have a nice simple blues blow with that loud and clear backline.  The host band this day was Wally & Eric Crew and they are long termers in the CBS and authentic in their renditions and voices so a great pleasure.  The first item I encountered the CBS was yonks back at a venue near the Manuka Oval, was it the first location of the Eastlakes Club?  Then Tuggers, Austrian Club, Spanish Club, perhaps more, and now the Harmonie German Club with a decent hall and wonderful gear.  I'm revisiting recently.  My blow band just came together literally minutes before we went on stage.  Vox, 2 x guit, bass, drums.  Just three tunes, loud, D blues, A blues, an original with instructions: E, don't play the third. Well I played maj and min thirds in chromatic runs and b7 of course and it was a blast.  Again, noisy.  Aaron on vox, I missed the other names but drums was an ex-Army Band Euphonium player.  Big smiles.  Then a string of bands with familiar faces, some of whom I'd played with.  Once again no pic of my jam band.  Just one excellent German beer (dunkel) on tap and I had to leave before the end, but I came away with a smile on my face.  It's not complex music but it does have its style and authenticity and can merge into rock and it is fun.

Wally & Eric Crew were the host band at the Canberra Blues Society jam session at Harmonie German Club.  W&EC comprise John Van Buuren (guitar, vocal), Steve Hartnett (harmonica, vocal), Brian O’Rourke (bass) and Jonathan Jones (drums).

At times quirky

Bianca started with Bluesette, all scat over a classic standard, subtly interpreted and nicely felt then explained that she liked humour in her tunes.  Not that that's all she did, but it was obvious and her chatter just confirmed it.  The next tune was I'm hip then later Peel me a grape and Is that a monkey you've got.  But there was also a twist with very effective story told in person concerning Greek politics, known to her if not to most of us.  The lyric-writing was a stunner, personal and sincere and chilling and ending "Think of the people I've killed / I never will".  Geez, that's expressing politics.  Otherwise, this was a joyous and touching occasion at the end o her ANU degree (SOM and politics).  Not just that, but touching and intimate piece by Joni Mitchell and Graduation Blues, another of her originals.  I just stayed for the first set but this was a stunner.  A top band, piano, bass, drums, subtle and relevant and underplayed despite solos, swollen with harmony vocals and guitar or three horns or whatever.  A celebration of that Graduation.  Not at all the blues.  This was one I hadn't seen or expected to attend and it was a beauty.  Glad I stayed, even if only for one set.

Bianca Tzioumis (vocals) celebrated her graduation and EP release with Ruben Hinton (piano), Harrison Whalan (bass) and Oliver Stott (drums) and a string of invitees at Smiths.

Tidda

City Tidda was the name of this concert and it came with a veritable program like a classical concert, with tunes with explanations and performers with histories.  This was obviously an important outing for Sophia Rose, a proudly aboriginal woman from Sydney.  Tidda means sister, so City Sister, Soph who had studied at the Wollongong Con and plays trumpet and had written several of the pieces performed.  Her offsiders were, interestingly, all originating from Canberra, they were a lovely, serious, effective group: several driving drum solos; frequent fluent bass solos and intriguing piano solos, and Sophia over it all with melody and solos and chatter.  Other than her songs or jazz standards, we heard a string of personally influential tunes, of black diaspora and Aussie performers and influences to Sophia, Vampires and Dr G Yunupingu and Kokoroko and John Mayer and Bob Marley, so a fascinating and nicely played mix with a theme honouring Blak Australia and Black America.

Sophia Hunt (trumpet) led a quartet with Oscar Lubbock (piano), Harrison Whalan (bass) and Nate Griffin (drums) at McGregor Hall, upstairs at Smiths, with Nate's father occasionally sitting in (guitar).

Many happy returns

It's a regular event and quite fascinating in its presentation of development through musical education.  Jinbo Huang comes regularly to Wesley and I've seen him and the students playing this day over time.  This time, Naomi, Daniel, Arabella, Charlie and presumably sons Frank and Charles.  They play a range of composers, some obvious and challenging, Chopin and Liszt, some more forgiving, interestingly this time, one very much more theatrical or filmic.  Some names were more obscure - Gurlitt, Burgmuller, Yu, Tertu - but even amongst these some themes were well known.  Perhaps listeners to ABC Classics would know of them.  And the peak of Chopin and Schubert and Liszt, the impromptus and waltzes and that Campanella were a blast and a display of significant chops.  So, again, something more than would otherwise be expected.

Naomi Feng, Daniel Zhao, Arabella Lu, Charlie Sanoubane, Frank Huang and Charles Huang are piano students of Jinbo Huang.  They performed at Wesley.

Repeats

Could this become repetitive?  No, never.  Perhaps the greatest excitement I have in music these days in a big orchestral choral concert.  Doubly so in a good location.  This was my second play of Carmina Burana, again with National Capital Orchestra and Canberra Choral Society and the Woden Valley Youth Choir and the soloists, again in Llewellyn, second choral concert in 2 weeks in this our major Canberra concert hall.  What was different was the hall was very close to full with the upper balcony open, and the standing ovation.  I've never had a full hall doing a standing ovation for any work before.  This was something special.  Carmina is like that, though: everyone knows it from Nescafe ad or film Excalibur, or Therion or Nas or Turn up the bass.  There were times it took off in tempo but the restraint just heightened the changes so the excitement and tension.  So the arrival after 60 minutes was ecstatic like much of the work.  But first up was something very different, religious, much reduced in lyrics if again in Latin, Poulenc Gloria.  This as choral, one choir and one soloist, soprano, modern.  It didn't get the recognition, but the worth was there and the performance and musical discovery was satisfying.  At least it had standard notation, unlike the strangely presented Carmina.  But again some tricky pizz/arco changes on bass and plenty of odd and changing meters and rhythms.  So, repeated but not at all monotonous.  Loved it!  Ciao to Jeremy who's off to NYC to study.  And thanks to the NCO FB page for a few pics.

National Capital Orchestra, Canberra Choral Society and Woden Valley Youth Choir performed Orff and Poulenc under Louis Sharpe (conductor) with soloists Rachel Mink (soprano, Orff and Poulenc), Sitiveni Talei (baritone, Orff) and Dan Walker (tenor, Orff).   The bottom enders were Jeremy Tsuei, Greg Perkins, Mel Fung, Juliet Flook and Eric Pozza (basses).

Guitars

Mike Price talked of a band with two Carls, Dewhurst and Morgan, sometime in the past and I've got reports on CJ of various combinations of the 3 guitarists.  Mike was teaching and leading the jazz scool while the Carls were there, although at different times and has got together with them at various times.  It's all part of an ongoing jazz experience.  This gig was another incarnation.  Mike Price and Carl Dewhurst with James Luke and Nick McBride: a formidable combination.  The two guitarists remain diverse in presentation and approach: Mike more smooth, quick, scalar; Carl more dirty, loud, unanticipated.  The tunes were a very modern guitar bunch, from Scofield, Metheny, Stern, related sax Michael Brecker and Horace Silver Lonely woman and the uber-classic Bright size life (originally Metheny with Jaco Pastorius and Bob Moses) and a contrafact (strange word that) on The night has a thousand eyes.  To top it off, a guitar duet on Wichita Lineman: strange in this context but still a beautiful and touching tune and very fitting but different with the two guitars.  So a night of superb guitar artistry with quite different approaches, supported by top brass of the local bass and drums community.  Wonderful and 2,4 foot tapping and just a huge pleasure of many solos throughout over some testing tunes.

Mike Price Guitar summit featured Mike Price and Carl Dewhurst (guitars) with James Luke (bass) and Nick McBride (drums) at Smiths for a Geoff's jazz session.

Immersion

Mark Jurkiewicz presented a string of Chopin works for the latest Wesley lunchtime concert and I was mulling over such depth of immersion in the topic and long term commitment.  Chopin gets a poor showing at times, given every young pianist has a go at his waltzes or other and thus they can present as trivial, but hear someone with training at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw, playing from memory, with a program named also for George Sand, and with an obvious depth of musical knowledge in the program notes, and Chopin comes alive and his renown is immediately obvious.  Read the notes and learn of the Mazurka as three types of folk dance: the mazur, oberek and kujawiak.  The concert was entitled Chopin and George Sand: Love above all and the works date from the time of their relationship.  The works performed were Mazurkas op.33, as well as an impromptu, a ballade and a scherzo. There's more in the notes and much more in the performance and composition that becomes obvious in Mark's hands.  A concert to mull over for some time.

Mark Jurkiewicz (piano) performed works of Chopin at Wesley.

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.