No tightrope needed

Thanks to David Beech for the well lit pic

Yes, Virginia, Hippo was completely different. This was becoming a big night as I left Smith’s for Hippo and Sophia Christopher. Sophia was a student at the Jazz School and I didn’t know she’d gone off to the famed Berkelee Music School in Boston for further study where she’s been studying jazz vocals along with film score and song writing. I came into a very busy all-ages scene at Hippo. Noisier and friendlier than usual. Sophia had friends and family in, and I love a gig like this. Art only has purpose so far. As Wayne Shorter said, "If all you have is music, then you don't have music". And after the purity and idealised sound artistry of the experimental, we got fun and ecstasy and passion of sophisticated pop/funk. I think Sophia was singing her own material, and this was not particularly jazz-like. It was lively and danceable and make-out-worthy; at home in Hippo but also in a string of other locations. I was enjoying this. Sophia was far more outspoken, confident, ebullient than I remembered her. She told the story of young American girls with few singing skills but tons of personality getting into Berkelee and the guidance she’d got on just this. Music as work is more often entertainment than art. If you can combine the two, that’s even better. Sophia was doing this: skilful chops and lively presentation. She slowed for just one tune: a rendition a favourite, What is this thing called love, but slowing is relative. This was still outgoing and fast paced and Sophia was supple over the changes. It’s something I noticed from her, along with her range. She’s moving and bending melody and the resulting feel is fluid and malleable. The band was good, too. Solid and effective feels, Andrew on loose accompaniment, a very nifty guitar solo at the end that spoke of iconoclastic alt rather than jazz.

Yes, Virginia, different and all good. I enjoyed this, despite or maybe because of the volume. The night life is seduction and conviviality and Hippo is a mainstay in Canberra, and Sophia was there with her new-found confidence slamming the place. Outgoing and skilled, so the best of both worlds, but more importantly, plain fun. One little bit of the US streets returns to Canberra. Sophia Christopher led her band at Hippo. The Canberra pickups comprised Andrew Kimber (alto tenor), Matt Dixon (guitar), Ben Foster (piano), Alec Coulson (bass) and Sam McNair (drums).

Chitlins and gravy

Party gravy is just a winning name (even if I don’t know what chitlins are). So was the band. Rough at times, but alive and infectious with funereal joy.
Funereal joy? As in New Orleans, with musicians accompanying coffins and the sombre turning to merriment. It’s not as strange as it sounds, of course. Wakes have a way of releasing you from the mundane and renewing bonds and often end in a charming mix of joy and melacholy, and often too much grog. Party gravy may have been playing the New Orleans funeral standards but this was for a modern Australian audience that wouldn’t know such funerals other than mythically. This was Fathers day and there were lots of little kids and the place was busy with swing dancers and drawn beers. Bite to Eat Café is a lively and friendly place that appeals to all ages with its ‘50s laminex demeanor and cosmopolitan vivacity. I only caught the second set, but one hour made my day. This was a place of generous and indiscriminate smiles, as a social venue should be, and the band provided the perfect ambience. Set two, first tune, was the classic Just a closer walk with thee; second tune, Down by the riverside. Then a medley of modern tunes funked up in marching band style: Pumped up kicks / Foster People, Boulevard of broken dreams / Green Day and Mad world / Tears for Fears>REM. Then an original, written just days before, called The Kraken. One more, then Feel like funking it up. By this time, the dancing kids had left the aisles and the adults were at it. Then it wound down and we were off to a quieter night, but joyous and enlivened.

I should just mention one touch of seriousness. I’m not one for the militarisation of the public which has been happening over recent years, but I do feel the loss of one of three soldiers in Afghanistan in recent days. He was from Canberra and was just a year ahead of one of my kids at school. My best wishes to his family. Like any funeral, this, too, had its solemn side. Good on the band for dedicating Closer walk to him. Party Gravy is a New Orleans-style Brass Band comprising Tom Sly and Ax Long (trumpet), Andrew Kimber (alto sax), Tye Langford (baritone sax), Josh Hart and Patrick Langdon (trombone), Sam McNair and Mark Slegers (drums) and Alec Coulson (bass).

PS: Now I know. Chitlins is an abbreviated form for chitterlings: chit•ter•lings [chit-linz, -lingz] noun ( used with a singular or plural verb ) the small intestine of swine, especially when prepared as food. ( http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chitterlings , viewed 3 Sep 2012).