Never wearied

It's their 45th anniversary concert tour and CD and these are masters and seasoned of our jazz craft so it's so surprise that this was such a deeply satisfying gig to attend.  Sure, we see them in smaller groups but to hear the compositions, the solos, the personalities, the arrangements of little big band colours is a special thing.  I'm still thrilling at the precision of those colours; of the contemporary classical crossover of Kevin Hunt's piano outings; of the touching depth of Sandy's introduction to the gig and Miro's Ornette-infused Nostalgia (isn't what it used to be) to end it all, of Steve Elphick's understated but ever correct Hadenesque presence.  And they fit a space like this, theatrical, spacious, respectful, nicely amplified.  It was casual, too, compered by Sandy and a space and casualness that we could see, experience the personality, musical and other, of each of these players.  I was amused by the cool pleasure of Warwick Alder and his chat with Miro; ever gregarious and friendly James Greening and his quips and then floored by his trombone responses to a Sandy solo; the as-one pairing of Sandy and Andrew and offsider Paul; Matt filling in for John Mackey, blowing in this own style and verve.  Rease Cameron was new to me, but nicely effective.  Just 10 tunes over 2 hours and two sets.  A hugely mature set of musos and musical and compositional grouping ends in a fabulous and deeply satisfying night of music.

Ten Part Invention performed at The Street Theatre.  10PI comprised Miroslav Bukovsky (co-musical director, trumpet, flugelhorn), Sandy Evans (co-musical director, tenor, soprano saxes), Paul Cutlan (tenor, baritone saxes, clarinet), Andrew Robson (alto), Matt Ottignon (tenor, flute), Warwick Alder (trumpet), James Greening (trombone),  Kevin Hunt (piano), Steve Elphick (bass) and Rease Cameron (drums).

Breathtaking

The Evans  Robson Quartet were on tour and they are royalty in Australian jazz and I was lucky enough to be free for their Smiths gig.  This was the last of their tour and it showed.  They are always capable and correct but this was the neatest and most precise that I could imagine.  I was in awe, hearing tightness and accuracy that seemed above any norm.  I noticed a quiet start from Hamish on drums, exploratory and informed by rudiments and that was a theme to continue through the night, so bass was equally perfectly timed and intoned and adventurous in phrasing, and those two matched saxes, Sandy on tenor or curved soprano and Andrew on alto or bari, just spelling harmonies but not chords as in piano or guitar, and always aware and responding to the other.  One interaction just caught my breath, but many more deserved it.  This was the final night of their tour, so we heard skills and seriousness but also inventiveness combined to explain the perfection, all with a joyous stage presence.  Complex heads of interweaving lines, not showy and sometimes understated but always satisfying and telling.  Do I have to say I was enamoured by this concert?  Perhaps not.  Just beautiful works of a deep musical maturity.

The Evans Robson Quartet toured thei latest ablum Zenith and appeared for the final performance at Smiths for Geoff's Jazz.  Evans Robson Q comprises Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano saxes), Andrew Robson (alto, baritone saxes), Brett Hirst (bass) and Hamish Stuart (drums).

Challenges

It was Geoff's Jazz@Lab outing, this time at AlterEgo, with the most incredible band comprising some of our most renowned Aussie performers: Sandy Evans, Andrew Robson, Lloyd Swanton and Hamish Stuart. Stars in their own right and a work of bliss together. The room wasn't the best - the smallest of stages split a long room in two - but the fabulous playing and compositions defeated all that. I was amused to watch passersby passing the door behind the stage where you could hear all pretty well. Some noticed and responded, perhaps challenged or perplexed; some just walked by; a few came in. This is not the stuff of commercial radio and this was the commercial heart of Civic. Andrew's compositions channelled Ornette to my ears: spiky and twisted but also an inevitable fit. Sandy's works went off, but in a different way. I was all smiles and admiration listening to the group dissolve into free then recompose itself just before the interval on one of Sandy's tunes. This was Sandy with Andrew's trio but these people are friends and have played together forever so it's a knowing coming together. As often, they featured one tune by Sydney jazz mentor Bernie McGann, Salaam, inviting Miro to sit in. His solo was different again. As were Hamish' and Lloyd's, on their different instruments, both setting down the most delicious and inevitable extemporisations. At this level, it all sounds so right, not fast or flashy (although speed makes its appearance when it fits) but with that feeling of continuity, inevitability, correctness that the great improvisers display. This was a great concert with intimacy despite a difficult room. Maybe that even helped, as challenges can. I missed Ornette at the Opera House so this will have to suffice, and suffice it will, with ease. A fabulous display. Many thanks.

Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano) played with Andrew Robson (alto, baritone) and his trio comprising Lloyd Swanton (bass) and Hamish Stuart (drums) at AlterEgo for Geoff Page's Jazz@Lab series. Thanks to Bob Howe for some pics from the night.

Real adults

James Greening and mates came to Canberra and it was obvious the adults were in charge for the night, at least at the Gods. This was Greening from Ear to Ear. All light and jovial but supremely skilled and in command and well prepared. I wrote notes: respectful of tradition, deeply skilled, open, unpretentious, respectful, communicative (everything other Canberra- visiting adult-pretenders are not). But back to the music. The Gods is undergoing renovation, so we were in the Arts Centre foyer. More square, damply reverberant but nicely fat sounding with the audience. The band was close in one corner. This was a 7-piece band with three horns in front and the writing showed, as did the excellent musicianship. These guys are top of their trade and the harmonies were blissful and the grooves sat with precision, unstressed, seemingly so easy, but that's the skill showing. Playing music as it should be played is deceptively easy, but it takes years to master. These guys had it. These are Sydney masters and I was entranced. The first set was James' Tam O'Shanter Tales suite. He wrote the suite while in Tasmania and it's dedicated to the musical influences in his life: his family, Monk, his wife, Jackie Orszaski, with some less obvious insertions, like Parallel lines (a fabulous little big band chart) and Hazara (of more political relevance). I was stunned by the ease of interaction and perfection of the harmonised sound. These were not easy charts, but always played with easily but sweetly. Then the solos. I loved the Hammond tone from Gary and the fabulously twisting percussion from Fabian. James' solos were perfectly formed and Andrew's were a lesson in melodic statement, embellishment and development. I have admired his sax playing for years and I learnt something here on the night. Paul was more abstruse, less a matter of formal development than an emotional journey. Steve Elphick was sitting in for Brett Hirst and set some firm grooves and was nicely considered in his solo. I don't remember Hamish taking a solo, but every bar was rich with variation and connection. Another lesson. The second set was a few tunes from band members. Fabian played guitar on Domingo, simple descending chord changes over a medium tempo 4 with an Euro street vibe imparted by lovely accordion from Gary. Andrew's 22 degree halo featured Fabian's percussion solo that floored me with its delayed beats and falling rhythmic complexity (Latin training required). Then another then Lowdown, again from Andrew, funky with an odd count. There were changes of instruments: Rhodes - Hammond - accordion, or bass clarinet - tenor, or alto - baritone, or trombone - sousaphone - pocket trumpet (that's an odd combination and quite a challenge of sizes) or double - electric bass. All fabulously played, tight as, perfectly harmonised and blended. This was fabulous and about as good as it gets.

Greening from Ear to Ear played at the Gods. GfE2E are James Greening (trombone, sousaphone, pocket trumpet), Andrew Robson (alto, baritone sax), Paul Cutlan (tenor sax, bass clarinet), Gary Daley (accordion, organ, piano), Steve Elphick (bass), Fabian Hevia (percussion, guitar) and Hamish Stuart (drums).

Glee

There was much glee around James Greening (there usually is). This time it was about his frequent gigs here recently in Canberra. It's too bad that Andrew Robson and the rest of the band haven't been here so often of late. This was an eclectic outing, intelligent and varied and unexpected. Several times Andrew's baritone sax gave a funky Mingus or New Orleans groove when he took that up. But then another time he played a trio with bari, bass and drums and this was smooth, sleek, melodious. He liked to vary the instrumentation, too. It wasn't at all surprising that the front liners played bari/alto, tenor/soprano and trom/pocket trumpet. But it was surprising that James or Sandy left the stage for various tunes, and even more surprising when bassist Steve left. That was on Flex, a Jackie Orszaczky funky-blues dedication, where the bari took the bassist's role. There were some other dedications, too, to musicians Andrew has played with. Two watch Bob was a dedication to fellow 10 Part Inventionist Bob Bertles from a quip by Miro Bukovsky. This was a slow, lumbering groove with a jauntily lyrical melody (played without Sandy). A march, Sound the trumpet ring the bells, was also introduced with a story of Jackie Orszaczky. I heard Jackie O too infrequently, but he's one of those musicians with immense admiration amongst his peers. John Pochée was recognised with the opening tune called The Alchemist. This one featured two solos, alto then tenor. Against the alto solo, the band dropped out to leave just drums in support before returning; against the tenor solo, the remaining support was bass. Andrew wrote something similar in the piece I found most impressive for the night, Texas Ranger, which was bluesy with some fast bop, and twisted and playful like Ornette. What little I've written has been most successful when I used an idea, even an arbitrary idea, as a formulation, so his palindrome doesn't surprise me. It's called Glenelg and it's a musical palindrome (spelt the same forward and backward). It's a busy 8-to-the-bar on bass with a slow melody over and solos that decay to free then to recover the melody with drums taps on 3,4. BTW, we learnt that Steve is a cryptic crossword filler and he'd recognised the palindrome immediately. Combover was a light take on early jazz with frequent changes. These tunes were from a new CD that this quintet has just released. Unlike his previous albums, this was unthemed; Andrew just wanted to record a group of favourite tunes, so the varied nature is no surprise. I reckon I'd heard a few before. It was a joyful band, too, led by Andrew's smiles and James humour and Sandy's good will. James has been a total pleasure to hear so often of late: wonderfully lyrical while playful and wearing dissonance so lightly. I enjoyed Steve's understated firm and restrained bass playing and Hamish's presence and sympathetic playing. Andrew's presence is light and friendly, but his playing is intelligent, as is Sandy's expressive sax; I especially enjoyed the soprano this evening. Andrew is a Cnaberra boy and we need to see more of him. This was a great outing with a varied repertoire of pleasurable performance and underlying intelligence.

Andrew Robson (alto, baritone) led a quintet with Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano), James Greening (trombone, pocket trumpet), Steve Elphick (bass) and Hamish Stuart (drums).

Chalk and cheese

It’s chalk and cheese but I love it all. Last night was the Andrew Robson Trio playing with Sandy Evans. Andrew at one stage talked of Ornette Coleman’s influence on his playing and having heard and met him in Sydney. Ornette is not pre-bop, so you can imagine how far this concert was from my last report. The band also played a series of originals from Andrew and a blues by Coltrane. I particularly noticed the ease and beauty of the harmony lines from the horns when they appeared although they weren’t frequent. Otherwise this was a night of Andrew’s angular melodies and great solos against a syncopated and responsive rhythm section.

Andrew’s solos struck me as oblique, intellectual affairs of long intervals, uncommon scales, changing harmonies and truncated notes, but he surprised me with occasional smoother scalar runs. Sandy was more legato in her lines, more smooth and rounded and deeper in pitch and tone from her lower pitched sax but also from her musical conception. The rhythm section was modern syncopated and wonderfully strong in presence and responsiveness. Steve played one fast walk, but mostly the beat was divided, playing once on 1-2 or syncopating freely over the bar or playing obligato lines or even devolving into free along with the rest of the band on a dedication to Ornette. Toby was just sitting in but did an admirable job, eyes on charts and responding quickly to snippets of melody or to a line of solo. There was an easy enjoyment on stage for their annual visit to the Gods. Andrew is a local, having studied at the Jazz School, so was happy to have family in attendance, but the whole band was good-willed and chuckled frequently. Mostly, the tunes were originals by Andrew. There were a few dedications. That one to Ornette was called Texas Ranger and was clearly in his style, a bluesy open melody that dissolved into a passage of free jazz. Another dedication was to Don Johnson, now deceased but head of the Jazz School when Andrew was studying. The Coltrane blues was Locomotion. Otherwise there were some urgent moderns, Combover was a early bop-style, Silk Road was mysterious and floating, there was a ballad with a bass solo that was precisely pitched and rich with double stops, Children in the aisles was a reference to a catholics gig in Paddington.

It was a demanding but also satisfying gig. I wondered if Andrew’s family frequently attended jazz gigs, because it was complex, but it was also clean and professional and wonderfully played and quite insinuating. Andrew Robson (alto) led a band with Sandy Evans (tenor), Steve Elphick (bass) and Toby Hall (drums) at the Gods.

Cyberhalides Jazz Photos by Brian Stewart

And there’s more (Wangaratta 2009)

There were other worthy performers at the festival but for whatever reason, I didn’t catch them. I had decided to attend all the Linda Oh and Ari Hoenig and Charles Tolliver gigs, and I felt I understood them better for it, but it’s got a cost in breadth of vision of the festival. I missed the jazz awards, which take a festival in themselves. I heard a few bars of Andrew Robson’s Thomas Tallis Quartet, Laia Genc’s Liaison Tonique and Hoodangers. Here are some pics, including the strange reference to "No undies" in the dress code of one of the local pubs.

The other ambience for a jazz festival is the feel around town. Mostly, visitors are seen by the locals as good business, but Wangaratta closes a street (Reid Street) and presents a free jazz, food and wines event which brings in all the locals. It’s not the seriousness of the real thing, but it’s pleasant, allows some lesser names to appear, and promotes local involvement. Various bands from the Jazz School have appeared in the past, and this time is was the turn of Raf Jerjen. They bravely followed the capable local big band, Jazzaratta, with tunes from their new CD. It was quite a change from Buble and Stevie Wonder to their brand of Coltrane but they got away with it. Nice playing, too, from all members, and I particularly noticed some decent bass solos from Raf.

So how did I find Wangaratta 2009? It was a smaller festival this year, with a fairly sparse program. So despite this being the 20th anniversary, I doubt it was particularly memorable for the regulars. The town is nicely sized and pretty friendly and well involved with the festival. I took the homestay option and so met some locals and that’s a plus. The new theatres (Wangaratta now has a brand new Performing Arts Centre) are worthy, but perhaps too small for the big names when there are lots of visitors in town. There’s a good chance of patrons being unable to get in to a session or alternatively having to wait in long lines. This puts a distinct limit on the size of the event. You can only have so many people missing the big shows before you have dissatisfaction. There were gold passes to jump the queue, but that’s essentially a short term and self-defeating approach to a real problem.

The names weren’t so big this year, but they were still interesting and worthy, and a few were revelations. I don’t think you necessarily need the really big names, although it does draw the crowds and they make nice notches for your horn. The sound was much better this time in the otherwise reverberent St Patrick’s Hall. But the mix in the main theatre was not too good, at least for the first big band shows, which would be the more difficult to control. I was not the only one to mention he didn’t hear horn solos or the bass, and the piano was too high, at least for Mothership on the Friday night. The deep bass for kick drum and double bass was sometimes too pronounced, a tom mic was breaking up at the last Hoenig gig, and although the piano was a big concert Steinway, it sounded strangely lifeless. I doubt it was the gear, because it all looked fabulous and there was plenty of it.

But management gave me a media pass (I hereby announce my potential conflict of interest!) and I always find value in jazz at whatever level and there was plenty there. More than enough for a good weekend, and it is a great weekend. I haven’t even touched on the blues artists, which were getting glowing comments from the people I talked to. So I enjoyed it very much, and thanks again to management for the media pass. But it seemed a strangely subdued event for the 20th anniversary. Not the biggest and best Wangaratta, perhaps, but easily and always worthy of the visit.

Rafael Jerjen (bass) led a quartet with Luke Sweeting (piano), Joe Lloyd (also sax) and Aidan Lowe (drums) at the Reid Street stage.

Return of both master and style

I’d heard tell of Andrew Robson, and heard some snippets here and there, but never heard him or his band live. I did last night. And it was a stunner. I have spoken here before of two of my favourite albums of all time: The cry of my people / Archie Shepp and Love from the sun / Norman Connors. Both are from the early ‘70s; both have vibrant, earthy, rhythmic, soulful playing and political comment around race issues. Andrew Robson’s band reminded me of that music and that era.

The night started with a horn duo, Andrew Robson on alto and Paul Cutlan on bass clarinet, playing an apparently free set. They were both spectacular, calling up harmonies then melting into new ones, bouncing lines and echoing each other, changing rhythms and roles at will. This was intense and communicative and emotionally mobile music by two players who obviously know each other musically. Paul switched to Eb clarinet and tenor sax, and Andrew to soprano sax, so the tones changed, but the interaction remained intense and true. Andrew sounded more jazz-influenced lines, and Paul, perhaps inevitably given the clarinets, impressed me as a more classical idiom. They played two tunes. The first improvisation lasted perhaps 30 minutes; this was dense, exploratory, searching. The second was much shorter, in expectance of the trio to follow; this was flighty, buoyant, jumpy. I’d heard an earlier concert with this pair on ArtSound, but hearing them live was insinuating and engrossing. So I was stunned before the rhythm section even appeared.

The performers were billed as the Andrew Robson Trio with Paul Cutlan. After the two duets, Andrew called up the other members of the trio, Steve Elphick and Hamish Stuart. The tone of the evening changed. The first tune hit with simplicity at first, then a devilishly fast rainfall of bass notes which was to be repeated later in the tune, long lines of alto, continuing changes in rhythm and groove, abundant life and energy, and a clear path to the history and tradition of the art of jazz. A second tune was given over to Barack Obama’s win which occurred on this day (Australian time). You could hear New Orleans, and extended bop lines, and 60s free and sax masters. The first tune was Big Ben, a dedication to Andrew’s major influence, saxist Bennie Wallace. A mate reported that Albert Ayler is another influence. Whatever, I looked at a friend when the break came, and we were both overwhelmed by the virtuosity and honesty of this music.

The second set continued with long and sinuous unison melodies, a rhythm section that continuously mutated and weaved its way under clear and expressive solos, walks and syncopations, horn counterpoint, deceptively simple drumming and a wonderfully expressive drum solo, and horns and bass freely exploring their full ranges, into thumb positions on the bass and honks and squeals on the horns, with long intervals and extended intervallic runs. But always with purpose. The final tune was a dedication to Don Johnson, the inaugural head of the Jazz School in Canberra. He died several years back, but is well remembered by Andrew. This was his Ode to Abe Snake, apparently Don’s Native American name.

Here’s a product of our Jazz School who’s come back as a master. This was truly an intelligent, engrossing and profound concert, and a welcome visit to my favourite style of jazz. ArtSound was recording, so listen out for the broadcast sometime on Friday Night Live. It was a stunner.

Andrew Robson (alto, soprano sax) played with Paul Cutlan (bass clarinet, Eb clarinet, tenor sax), Steve Elphick (bass) and Hamish Stuart (drums).