Canb Jazz Fest 3

Day 1 was great if interrupted; day 2 will be the same.  First up a big band, the ANU Jazz Orchestra.  They played a string of tunes, maybe uptempo because MD Con Campbell observed that they'd finished early.  SO be it.  This was big, fat, horn heavy tones, solos passed around variously, some decent grooves.  They played 9 tunes, several by Sammy Nestico including Dvorak's theme which is an arrangement by SN of the Largo second mvt. from the new World Symphony.  But my fave was sponsored by a local for this band from composer Jenna Cave who appears in CJ frequently when studying at ANUSOM and last time I heard, was MD for her own jazz orchestra in Sydney.  What gives you hope was a lovely, rich piece with glorious harmonies rather than the sharp hits of many big band tunes, luscious harmonies and several movements.  Then a short quick drop-in to hear the Razzlers.  Dance worthy, period jazz that I know little of, but worthy. They had a few couples up on their feet and a very impressive presence!   Then Wayne Kelly with Ben and Mark in the bar upstairs.  Then Wayne Kelly with Ben and Mark in the bar upstairs.  This is the very trio that CJ first wrote up, in October 2005.  They look younger in that pic.  But what a band!  All originals, compositions from all members, sharp and beautifully played, mature and expressive all round, pizz and bow, sticks and brushes, plenty of excellent solos, rich in tones and harmonies and well arranged.  I noticed a post on FB with a pic of them in the ArtSound studio, I think 3 days before, so maybe this is a new album in train.  If so, it will be worthy!  Just one standard, I'm old fashioned.  Then Mereki Leten.  I've seen Mereki in various combinations in a few locations.  She's one to get out for the gig and that's great, and very often with Michael Larsen-Collins and sometimes with Greg Stott at her side.  This time that trio was grown with Gus Henderson.  Mereki had written a tune for this event and it was nice but her flute was playing up.  Thus played on tenor sax and with key change for her offsiders, but it went perfectly well.  Otherwise, a David Bowie tune on   flute, a lovely Stan Getz Sunshower, Nicola Conte and some standards.  Mereki plays with a lovely tone and confident although understated melody.  Nice.  Gus was also understated but took a solo or two and Michael was on a Bass VI, the Fender-designed octave-dropped guitar.  The Bass VI is having a run in town with Lachlan playing quite expertly, in Wanderlust and beyond.  And Greg, shredding here even beyond what I'd expected.  Just relaxed but expressive, quick and melodic.  What's not to like?  And a quick touch of Matthew Dennett and Robbie Mann playing CM Widor Toccata in F on two pianos in the Red Room.  I only caught a few minutes and really quite unexpected.  Then off for another family matter before a final return...

The ANU Jazz Orchestra performed under Con Campbell (MD, conductor).  Wayne Kelly (piano) performed with Ben O'Loughlin (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums).  Mereki Leten (tenor, flute) performed with Greg Stott (guitar), Michael Larsen-Collins (bass) and Gus Henderson (drums).  Matthew Dennett (piano) performed with Robbie Mann (e-piano).  They performed at the inaugural Canberra Jazz Festival at Smiths.

Orchestral double vision

It's not often you see 2 orchestras in one night, although I noticed Miro called the Jazz orchestra a big band.  Whatever, a classical orchestra and a jazz orchestra/big band are different things.  The fact that the classical orchestra performs on the Llewellyn stage and the jazz orchestra plays in the bar just confirms the different formalities and memberships and musicalities but I love them both and obviously the audience does too.  These were the ANU Orchestra and the ANU Jazz Orchestra performing on one night in the same building.  First up was the classical players under Rowan Harvey-Martin playing Respighi, Vaughan Williams and Kodaly.  I was amused to not know of the Hary Janus suite although a friend knew it best of the 3.  The Respighi was Fountains of Rome and this didn't convince me.  I have lived in Rome for a several  years and seen the fountains frequently and this didn't click for me, but that's composition not performance.  The RVW was Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis interestingly with 3 groups comprising 2 small string sections and soloists.  I was most taken by some lovely solos, not least amongst the violas.  Amusingly, I greeted the basses before the gig and there were 3 (Dave, Mel and Hayley) and none are current students.  Then on to the bar and the big band and some swinging numbers although I didn't catch titles.  Miro was filling in for Greg Stott on the night.  At one stage he invited dances but only one male couple got up, amusing all while displaying some swing dance skills.  I recognised some faces in both orchestras but certainly not all.  Presumably for two reasons: new players in the music school and other ANU students who are taking part, for both orchestras are open for students and others from ANU.  Amusingly, I found I could take a wine into Llewellyn in a plastic glass, so maybe the two venues were more similar than I'd expected.  It's all music, after all, and all music is well suited to lubrication.

The ANU Orchestra under Rowan Harvey-Martin (conductor) performed on stage in Llewellyn Hall.  The ANU Jazz Orchestra under Miroslav Bukovsky (conductor) performed in the Athenaeum.

Battling orchs

It was a night of big but very diverse sounds.  First up a considerable classical orchestral concert by the ANU Orchestra, long enough to deserve an interval.  A few very popular pieces but also somethings new.  Mozart Symphony no.40 Gmin is everybody's but still a great, inviting work.  There were a few movements of concerti, one of clarinet by Weber and the first movement of the famed Elgar cello concerto.  There was a Glanville Hicks Sinfonia de Pacifica which sounded more Asian than islander to my ears and Megan's and an original by a current student, Bartholomew Bunk Alpha and Omega.   I liked this one, clear in intent and capably conventional in structure and obvious in stating the start and end, the alpha and omega.  And a few short but massively popular heavyweights, Copland Fanfare for the common man, with the brass up and behind our heads and the strings looking from stage to upper gallery, and Sibelius Finlandia to end.  A concert of considerable depth but popularity and nicely played with lines clearly expressed if a little reticent at times; nothing unexpected.  Then off to the Athenaeum for a further hour with wines in hand and the chance to clapping the solos with the ANU Jazz Orchestra under Greg Stott.  First up were a few latins and sambas and an interesting contemporary tune nicely using bass bowing at one stage and into standards with vocals, Somewhere over the rainbow and Night and day and an end with Dizzy Gillespie Manteca.  Decent solos and particularly interesting from the percussion/drums section and some lovely, satisfyingly sharp and meaty ensemble work and one deep bari solo which was well done but will always amuse regardless.

A night out in Llewellyn with the ANU Orchestra under Rowan Harvey-Martin and the ANU Jazz Orchestra under Greg Stott.

Blowout

I love a big band especially when it's a bit modern and challenging.  This was two BBs, or at least Jazz Orchestras, from the ANU School of Music: the students and the mates.  The students started the night.  They were not just students; the band is open to ANU students and staff more broadly.  But this was not just the old swingers, as lovely as they can be.  They started with Havana, then a Samba, then a string of tunes including the Nelson Riddle arrangement of Night and day for Frank Sinatra and finishing on Dizzy Gillespie Manteca.  So a lively and latin tinged set.  Some nice solos through the group, some movements within the percussionists and drummer, and singer Evie sitting in for two swingers.  Then a break and Greg's mates and drummer son, called the Test Pilot Big Band.  Both bands were directed by  Greg Stott and Greg played guitar for his TPBB.  He introduced the band as friends he could make a call on and there were plenty of recognisable faces.  What friends!  This was an exciting and wonderfully capable, driving band.  The life and energy and confidence and chops were just thrilling.   The tunes were mostly originals by Greg early on then later, when singer Steve Amosa sat in, they were covers, R&B, Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and the like.  A singalong to Donny Hathaway had us joining in and clapping and otherwise just heavy grooving to some great solos and steady driving grooves and pretty sharp written lines.  Nice.  Great music and great playing, but also just infectious fun.  Loved this gig!

Greg Stott (conductor, guitar) led the ANU Jazz Orchestra and the Test Pilots Big Band performed at Smiths.

Many happy returns

There was a time with three large ensembles at the Jazz School.  Now there are two, or at least at the Friends concert we heard two, and they were wonderful, inventive, capable groups and a huge pleasure to revisit.  Why am I so excited?  Because small bands are wonderful but relatively easy to create; big bands, jazz orchestras and the like are difficult.  They require charts and practice and interplay at a different level and they return a complex, integrated sound at best.  The bands were the ANU Jazz Orchestra and the ANU Recording Ensemble.  They are mostly made up of ANUSOM students but also open to non-SOM ANU students.  Greg Stott is musical director for the Orchestra; Miro Bukovsky for the Recording Ensemble.  The Jazz Orchestra is a more standard format.  I find a Jazz Orch to be more modern and exploratory in its charts, but essentially the format is much the same as a traditional big band: rhythm section and colours from saxes, troms and trumpets.  Perhaps a singer.  Miro's recording ensemble is a return to its previous purpose as a group that creates and performs its own music.  We heard three member-created originals from six tunes from them on the night.  The Recorders format was different though, more a product of membership, I guess: rhythm section with percussion and two (acoustic and electric) pianos, three/four horns up front, guitar and two singers.  So they were different groups with different players and a few stars in each.  I was taken by a few players, but don't take this as a full list: Jeremy was a blast on bass, highlighted by a double bass solo on Jaco's Chicken; Mereki, George and Fergus all impressed on saxes; Elliot on the Steinway; Koebi on voice; Rory on trumpet; humourously cocky Olivia on guitar.  Others too, but I missed some names.   Great to hear some words, too, from Koebi and Imogen on Mingus' uber-standard Goodbye porkpie hat, I think using Joni Mitchell's lyrics.  It reminded me of reading Mingus' autobiography so far back.  The book was Beneath the underdog; one line of lyrics was "They put him in an underdog position."  I will never forget that Mingus wrote so little of just the music in that book, but he dropped in one passage that something happened at the time he was practising 8 hours pd.  Words do impart further meaning.  As for the three original compositions from George, Ryan and Fergus (did I get that right?), they were impressive in any company.  So, great to see the large ensembles coming back and a huge pleasure to be in the Band Room for such a gig.

The ANU Jazz Orchestra and the ANU Recording Ensemble performed in the Big Band room at the ANU School of Music for the Friends of the ANUSOM.

Return of the Recorders

I was mightily pleased to get an invitation to a concert to welcome back the Recording Ensemble to ANOSOM.  There was once a time when the Jazz School had a Big band, a Commercial Ensemble and a Recording Ensemble.  This concert featured the Recording Ensemble for its first outing in the 2023 format and the Jazz Orchestra.  Leader Greg Stott mentioned the murky distinction of Big band / Jazz Orchestra and it's an interesting discussion but JO it is given the style of music it plays.  But first the RE.  It's smaller, just rhythm section and a small horn section.  They played several Wanderlust tunes and more and leader Miro sat in.  Not quite a slick as the JO yet, but the format is good and I welcome the arrival and look forward to more composition.  As I remember, the original tended to write its own music for recording.  It's an interesting and challenging concept.  Then the JO.  They started with a tune by Jenna Cave called For Miro.  Jenna was a student at the time of the three ensembles and is now leading the Divergence JO in Sydney.  Then a contrafact on Ray Charles with Wayne Kelly sitting in, Stella with El Osborne soloing on violin, Now's the time with Bird's solo played in harmony by the front line saxes, Sophisticated lady and Chick Corea Spain to warm us up for the end of the session.  This all happened in Athenaeum, the large ticket room and bar below Llewellyn Hall.  Then, to finish, a small band named the Tiny Jazz Collective played in the old Wig and Pen room.  TJC featured four players from the larger bands, Mereki Leten, Michael Larsen-Collins, Olivia Uebergang and Dan Simmons playing some older tunes modernised; an interesting challenge and nicely done.  Greg had hinted that this Friday Night Jazz Club may recur, so good to see the larger bands back and also, possibly, more jazz events at the ANUSOM.  After all, what is jazz without performance?

The ANU Recording Ensemble and ANU Jazz Orchestra performed at the Athenaeum at ANU followed by a small band in the old Wig and Pen room.  The Tiny Jazz Collective comprised Mereki Leten (soprano sax), Michael Larsen-Collins (this time bass), Olivia Uebergang (guitar) and Dan Simmons (drums).  

Caterpillar chronicling

Text by Geoff Page

It is not often one gets to hear a big band these days, especially in Canberra. Their dominant moment in the history of jazz is long gone even though a number of jazz clubs around the world still feature some sort of rehearsal big band on Monday nights. Thus to hear a big band at all at the moment is intrinsically surprising - especially when we are so used to listening to small groups, sextets at most.

New York-based Steve Newcomb's concert at the ANU School of Music Band Room on August 18 was even more surprising than expected - and gratifying. The evening began with a solo piano performance by Steve based around "There Will Never Be Another You", after which John Hoffman from Brisbane joined him for a duet ballad on trumpet. The short first half then concluded with Billy Strayhorn's "Take the A Train" with sensitive, understated solos from Hoffman, Miroslav Bukovsky, John Mackey and Steve himself. The Ellington/Strayhorn reference was probably deliberate, foreshadowing as it did the second half of the evening where Ellington's style of orchestral writing was one of several beautifully integrated influences.

Given the importance of improvisation in jazz, the term "jazz composer" may seem oxymoronic but with his new multi-movement composition, "Caterpillar Chronicles", Steve Newcomb, showed that this is far from the case. Although the piece is loosely programatic (following the development from caterpillar to butterfly) its main interest lies in the sonorities used and in the integration of its improvised and composed elements. After an impressionistic introduction on piano, Steve conducted the orchestra from out front, leaving Andy Butler to the piano role. Although the orchestra included several of Canberra's top young improvisers (Niels Rosendahl, Matt Handel, Reuben Lewis and Alex Raupach among them), most of the improvising was done by senior figures - John Mackey, John Hoffman and Miroslav Bukovsky). In each case the solos were satisfyingly integrated with the music as a whole - and occasionally involved antiphonal elements, especially between Hoffman and Bukovsky.

Although Steve Newcomb appeared disconcertingly youthful out the front conducting such a large assembly, he clearly knows his jazz history very well. In addition to Ellington, it was the arranging innovations of Gil Evans which were the most strongly felt. Like Evans, Newcomb did not use the brass and woodwind sections by turn or against each other but combined their timbres in sonorities that often hovered at a compelling mid-point between harmony and (relative) dissonance. There was a strong sense throughout of both tradition and of never having heard anything like this before (not even from Evans or Ellington). At times I thought an influence of French twentieth classical music could also be detected. It made one feel that this orchestra, its composer and its (mostly) young musicians should also be heard in a larger hall by the audiences who flock to classical concerts. It's hard to imagine they too wouldn't have enjoyed it. Nevertheless, the experience of hearing such a sophisticated and original piece up close and so well played was certainly a satisfying one.

Sitting in the front row, I was able to notice just how much the young musicians were enjoying being part of it - even though, I was told later, there had not been extensive rehearsal time. The feeling was even more obvious in the sections where they were "laying out", as it were. I could see how they clearly understood why they were not playing in those particular bars and how even their silence at that point contributed to the total effect Newcomb was aiming for. Fortunately, the concert was recorded but when, or if, it becomes available is not known at this point. It's unlikely that even the best recording techniques could in any way duplicate the experience of hearing such a concert live.

Caterpillar Chronicles was composed by Steve Newcomb and premiered by the ANU Jazz Orchestra at the ANU School of Music Band Room on 18 August 2011. John Hoffman (trumpet) visited.

Cyberhalides Jazz Photos by Brian Stewart