Cognisance

Gareth Hill was back in town with a band he called Slow Code, if only for the night. But what music! Since the virtual demise of jazz in Canberra following the virtual demise of the School of Music, touring visitors are increasingly rare and especially intellectual and musical challenges like this. It was difficult stuff - Jack Beeche was warning me of that before, as one of the performers. Gareth was launching his CD called Slow Code. It's a product of his PhD research into the music of Henry Threadgill, renowned contemporary jazz composer. I once caught HT in a workshop at the Jazz Gallery in NYC and reported it on CJ but I found it pretty metaphorical or maybe over-encompassing stuff. The spiel for Gareth's gig spoke of alternative harmonies, form modulation, improvised counterpoint. Jack showed me a chart and it comprised three staves of heavily syncopated lines for bass, guitar and sax. I had the impression Aaron on drums was also looking at some chart, perhaps that for the others. But this was a base only, a guide for playing or improvising at will. I think Gareth also gave advice on order of solos, etc, so that's the form modulation. He certainly spoke of HT changing tunes most time he plays them. As Jack joked, this was not a gig for after a few drinks. I might add, for the audience too. This was highly rich in harmony and dissonance, fleet of foot with change and improvisation, highly interactive with guides but also glances. Everyone played with great competence. Gareth, with his lovely rounded tone, not particularly speedy but wonderfully inventive in intervals and rhythmic play; Dan all speedy on guitar, dropping in harmonics or finger picking clusters; Jack with a wonderfully satisfying alto tone, sometimes quick, often slower and considered and thoughtful; Aaron strong but anomalous with unexpected hits and only toying with standard grooves. It was a stunningly inventive and difficult but satisfying exploration of rhythm and harmony and interplay. Mostly the tunes were Gareth's following HT, other than Dan's Sermon and Jack's Scooping and Monk's Ugly beauty, perhaps via Bernie McGann. A fabulous and enlivening detour through some of the most inventive of music.

Gareth Hill (bass) launched his album Slow Code influenced by the music of Henry Threadgill at Smiths. The band was Gareth with Jack Beeche (alto), Dan Mamrot (guitar) and Aaron McCoullough (drums) and was called Slow Code, if only for the night.

Bad+

I was lucky enough to hear a Paul Motion trio at Village Vanguard several years back and the format and approach was similar to this gig at Smiths. Two trios played, both bass- and piano-less, drums, a horn and guitar. Jack Beeche's trio featured alto; Brae Grimes' trio featured cornet. A chordless trio like this gives an open, flowing, harmonically-fluid sound. The guitar could play chords, and very occasionally did, but his take was more single notes, counterpoint, horn-like. I was chatting with drummer Aaron in the break and he spoke of how guitar can move the harmony especially using different inversions. It's a strangely ill-defined sound, gentle and inquisitive, open to lovely flows of melodic interplay. Jack and guitarist Dan certainly had that going, with a swishing background of drum and cymbal sounds, not playing the groove but responding to it, again none to defined. Brae's trio was called BAD trio and it was also very, very good, although this was more direct, with more a feeling of drive rather than float, but trumpet/cornet will mostly be harder and more direct than sax can be. Dan and Aaron played here too. I didn't so much notice changes from Dan, even if there were more twisted unison heads and less obvious counterpoint and a little more bass-like understory, but his backing and solos still spoke with a similar feel even if with , and he excelled with a stunner solo mid-set using loops and a growing growl of overdrive and harder pickup tones, gradually undoing this back to relatively uneffected tones. Aaron was more playing time, harder, more determined. Jack's tunes were some originals (by Jack and one by Dan) and sometimes standards, often melded into gently combined medleys: Monk's Light blue, Mingus' Duke Ellington's sound of love, Jim Hall's Careful, a 16 bar blues. Amusingly, Brae had given his tunes personal names; apparently it was easier to call on the stand than composition dates, so 4/7/15 became Shazza (I didn't catch dates for Bertha, Dwayne or Ursula). Each set had a quartet segment for the last tune, where Brae joined Jack and later Jack joined Brae. I felt maybe this diluted the concept of each band/trio but the music was still impressive. So? Great to hear this style, transposed as it is from Smalls and Village Vanguard and the rest, and played with wonderful authenticity. A stunner.

PS. I listened to Jack's first CD later and was pleased to hear he achieves a similar flowing quality but with bass (Gareth Hill). As a bassist, I can only feel relieved because I love the style.

Jack Beeche (alto) led a trio with Dan Mamrot (guitar) and Aaron McCoullough (drums). Brae Grimes (cornet) led his BAD Trio, also with Dan and Aaron.

Tapping and musing

We’re struggling with venues and audience for jazz in Canberra at the moment. Maybe it’s our cold winter nights, but poor Aaron McCoullough and his Elements Quintet were at the blunt end of it. There were some locals at the Front, but I reckon I could count on one hand the listeners who attended specifically for the gig: Gordon, and me, and a few other possibles. Too bad, because they missed a thoroughly entertaining and lively performance.

Aaron leads from the drum kit, but he’s a drummer with a sense of music beyond rhythm, and I like that. He provided several of the compositions, tunes that were standard in the modern sense of head and solos and chord progressions, but arranged into medleys and changes that sometimes surprised and left lots of room for solos. Aaron and the band play with real energy and drive, and it was mostly in this go-ahead vein that the solos were performed. Aaron himself took frequent solos, solos that arrived without warning and just naturally extended the driving and forceful style that accompanied all the tunes. To end they played a Branford Marsalis tune, In the crease, and I thought that Aaron must have seen Branford with that rabid drummer, Justin Faulkner, on his recent tour. Not as extreme, but Aaron had the same sort of hard and energetic approach. Daniel on piano and Pat on trumpet were similar in their full bore commitment, playing very fluent, long and sustained 8th notes runs, mostly sounding to me as diatonic, embellished with unexpected little rhythmic and melodic twists. Bassist Michael was grinning with glee at the energy and excitement of all this. I understand. Bass is such a big and involving instrument and I find myself similarly grinning at times when things are cooking. This side of things sounded to me of seventies jazz in the hard bop tradition: unison melodies and Rhodes accompaniment and driving rhythms. But there was also another side, which appeared when saxist Claire played. Claire had a very different approach, reminding me of the restrained expressions of Wayne Shorter. She variously played alto and soprano, with a tone that was soft and non-metallic, fitting with the malleable structure and effective dissonance of her solos. Much more the pensive note, the twisted fill, the torrential flourish. She was quieter, too, where the guys were loud and impulsive. All entertaining, all impressive and both sides worthy of the listen: tapping with the guys and musing with Claire.

There were originals from virtually all members, and a few non-originals: Travellers by Aaron Parks, a piano trio piece by Robert Glasper, and Branford Marsalis’ In the crease. There was busy syncopation throughout and just a little swing, and I counted at least one 7/4. This was a spirited performance and that little audience was very appreciative by the end. Let’s hope that appreciation is enough to keep the bands coming.

The Elements Quintet was led by Aaron McCoullough (drums) and comprised Aaron with Claire McCoullough (alto, soprano sax), Pat Thiele (trumpet), Daniel Gassin (piano) and Michael Story (bass) at the Front Cafe.