Gently does it

The members of the Julien Wilson trio performed recently at Wang, with and without Elana Stone, and then moved on up to Canberra and the Gods for a local performance. Julien Wilson (tenor) and Stephen Grant (accordion) were playing with Geoff Hughes (guitar). Geoff replaced Steve Magnussen, who popped off to Europe after his Wang gigs. Geoff had played at Wang on the Drunken Boat with Allan Browne.

This was another drum- and bass-less gig at the Gods. The sax was airy and subtle. The accordion provided bass and melody lines as well as chordal washes. The sharp-sounding Spanish guitar provided solos, accompaniment and sometimes unison melody. The music was mostly original, but with a few latin-tinged versions of known tunes; their first tune was It might as well be spring. The aural atmosphere was more reminiscent of South American piazzas than French streets, which is the usual connotation of accordians and classical guitars. This was textured, soft, thoughtful music, and very well received by an audience which was larger than expected given this was the night of the Melbourne Cup. But I don’t imagine these types would have spent the afternoon grogging on at the racecourse.

ArtSound was recording, so expect to hear snippets on radio.