So nice to come home to

It seemed a strange experience to hear James playing with Dial M.  I play with him frequently and yet I heard more when I was in the audience than when I'm playing.  Maybe I'm usually too busy with my own playing although hopefully responding in kind, or maybe he was just playing differently in this context.  Maybe it's a comment on my listening.  Whatever, he played wonderfully and hugely enjoyed  the complex and shifting colours in his harmonies and clear flows and structures in his solos.  Blues pianist Leo was there and commented on harmony and talked of more studies with more time and we both commented on the shelves of books we each had that probably held guidance on all this.  But back to Dial M, they were playing a Cole Porter tribute entitled Songs of love and Loss with five lovely players and some guidance from charts and just the pleasure of the Cole Porter songbook.  Melody Neilsen was singing, strong, involving, so intimately phrased.  She mentioned at the end that she'd dropped the refrain from Night and Day into the start of I've got you under my skin.  I knew both but just felt some incongruity; Megan had recognised the tunes.  Mostly the songs were played with the quintet of Melody and James and Barnaby Briggs and Stephen Richards and invited friend Rouslan Babajanov from Sydney.  Melody obviously enjoyed the interaction and we all felt the joyous playing and presence of Baba: not showy but beautifully smooth and expressive and nicely responsive, including between Melody's sung lines.  Then Barnaby on bass, fluent and beautifully tone (playing with a mic rather than pickup) and sometimes quite explosive with lines that floored me and one solo accompaniment for Melody in Love for sale and Steve, so nicely solid and present and delightfully fluid in one solo with brushes.  The backgrounds of these people showed, capable and easily understated but just delightfully right and apt for the night and the music of Cole Porter and just occasionally explosive for a solo or two.  Such a great songwriter and such a worthy tribute.

Dial M played a tribute to Cole Porter at Smiths.  Dial M comprised Melody Neilsen (vocals), Rouslan (Baba) Babajanov (tenor), James Woodman (piano), Barnaby Briggs (bass) and Stephen Richards (drums).

Doing the job, very satisfying

Professionalism is something I particularly notice and value. It's a response from musos who try hard at this stuff and realise how difficult it can be. Whatever, I see it in Steve Richard's bands and I enjoy it immensely. Steve was back with his quartet at Smiths with Steve's arrangements and just two practices under their belts and a sharp, neat presentation of some entertaining and varied materials. That's what professionalism is. His offsiders were Sally and Barney and Lauren. Lauren on tenor was new to me: jokingly, Steve called her his secret. Apparently, she's recently back from hotter climes. I particularly liked her on some cool Miles but she was consistently accurate and satisfying, spelling out charted melodies neatly and laying out some intriguing solos. I think of Sally primarily as a composer but she's a jazz pianist of note enriched by her composition training which is evident in her playing. It's a different conception: big and wide. She told me she thinks of parts, of a big band or orchestra. I could hear that complexity and fullness, in melodic and improvisational concept, but also in richness of expression. Truly a fascinating and rich picture. Barney on bass was just his professional best at reading and interpreting, but he let go in ways I haven't heard from him before, with chromatics and hammerons at speed that were thrilling but also harmonically intricate. And Steve. I've played with him and can only admire that calm visage that hides training and skills that express themselves in sharp and intelligently varied exploration of time, splitting beats into parts, then parts further, the neatest rudiments with tone and that joyful cowbell that he enjoyed so much on this gig. Apparently it's a new acquisition. We got a few laughs there; very much with not at him. And a great collection of tunes, from Bird through pop arranged in jazz ways, like Bad Plus-ish Everybody wants to rule the world and Sting and Mark Knoffler, through locals including tunes by Sally and Miro and a few drummers, Manu Katche and Bernard Purdy, into touches of contemporary and free from Stefon Harris. A fascinating collection but also entertaining and contemporary. Did I say I liked this outing? I did, very much.

Steve Richards (drums) led a quartet at Smiths with Lauren Thurlow (tenor), Sally Greenaway (piano) and Barnaby Briggs (bass).

To Anaheim and places in between

Steve and his mates started in true jazz tradition with Moment's notice, a Coltrane standard, but this was a much more diverse performance: Sting and Scofield, Lyle Mays and Crowded House, Bobby Timmons and Jamiroquai, Todd Gustavsen and King Crimson. Steve noted the contrary derision between prog rock and jazz as overblown or pretentious ("they can't both be wrong") but played it anyway. Good. It gets in my history somewhere amongst the clarion call of Music to Midnight. I know Steve and Barney well from performing with them and hearing them around often so I had full expectation of great skills and sharpness and got it. I was floored at times with Barney's clever runs and some stupendous fills, and Steve's slick and deceptively easy rudiments and the rest. I didn't know Adam on alto and he was a pleasant discovery. Alto can be relatively shrill to the deeper tenor but, especially as he warmed up, I was taken by his quick chops, his clarity and precision, and his increasing softness of tone and phrasing. But it was Sally who was such a find on the night. We all know Sally well, of course, but I hadn't heard her play too often and especially not recently, and she's reputed as a composer and I think of her that way. But her playing was a revelation. Maybe it was the composer's vision, but her solos were glorious melodic displays, playful harmonic interludes, self-evidently structured, capably sequenced, richly vibrant and coloured. And then to spell her invention, Steve and Sally played an improvised duet, latterly named, at the gig, as Nigel's song. There was softness and tinkling start and finish, rolling handfulls of notes, cowboy grooves, Chinese snippets, funky stabs, C20th atonality, a quote from Caravan, this and more against toms and a snare without wires. Lots of possibilities; a composer's mind. Then a jazzer, You and the night and the music, the only American songbook excerpt despite a few jazz tunes, Moanin' and that Coltrane hit. And to finish it all, a Disney tune. Steve explained he'd got a 3-year old around the house so is aware of Disney songs. I don't so can't identify it but it was cute and cheerful as a final tune and just highlighting just how diverse this program was. Nice band, nice gig!

Steve Richards (drums) led his quartet with Adam Matthews (alto), Sally Greenaway (piano) and Barnaby Briggs (bass) at Smiths.

Entanglement with a silent 'b'

Scott chose an intricate name for his band, Tembtanglement, with a silent 'b'. It's tricky, like my canbjazz with another silent 'b'. But the band's not silent. It's a very clever outing by a string of trained and professional players, from the Duntroon band or otherwise, from ANU music School or otherwise. The repertoire is a mix of originals from Scott and an intriguing choice from the pop repertoire. The final tune, Nirvana Teen spirit is a a common choice and a great crowd pleaser. But Kendrick Lamar and Outkast featured with Beyonce and Justin Bieber and Eurythmics and Valerie by Amy Winehouse. Then a string of tunes by Scott, funky or swinging, all scored for three horn parts upfront. My wardrobe exploded on Yamba Drive was a wildy syncopated and odd-timed piece with a common time bridge. Spilt champagne could have been a US TV theme, all jaunty and lightly latin. The playing was solid and steady and strong. Baba was a blow out as he is wont to be, busy and flowing and melodically convincing. Capable solos all round, from Scott and Josh and Clare and a short one from Sim and a long, virtuosic one from Barney on his firmly wooded Warwick. I love a fat, middy-toned bass and this was middy but also niced toned. Lucy Ridge joined for a string of songs, Teen Spirit and Valerie and more. She was polished and neatly embellished and with one satisfying scat spot. A very professional workout on a range of jazz through funk and pop, with lots of obvious prior work on charts.

Tembtanglement played at Smiths. They were Scott Temby (trumpet, flugelhorn), Lucy Ridge (vocals), Josh Hart (trombone), Rouslan (Baba) Babajanov (alto), Clare Fitzgerald (piano), Barnaby Briggs (bass) and Simeon Staker (drums).

Mulling on jamming

All of a sudden there seem to be jazz jams around. I'm mulling this at the moment. Why, the multiple jam sessions when the performance scene is otherwise so dilapidated. The ructions at the jazz school reduced the numbers of students around town; the regular touring bands have mostly disappeared; the lively jazz experimentation seems lacking or maybe it's underground. But we have these jazz jams. There's still a desire to play with others and to find colleagues. Maybe it's the disruptions that lead to this scene. Whatever, I attended the Smiths Sunday session to find a great host band and a few sitters in. A comfy scene, good music and some obvious appreciation from the non-jazz followers. So worthy, entertaining and enjoyable. Keep it up.

The host band at Smiths Sunday session was Josh Buckler (tenor, convenor), Hugh Barrett (piano), Barney Briggs (bass) and Mark Levers (drums). Sitins were Andrew Howard (drums), Mitch Preston (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Tilted

It was a great gig again last night at the Tradies. Very much enjoyed with some deep, even house-like, grooves in spots and some terribly daring displacements and chromaticism. What I call fun. No idea how we get away with it at a club venue, but we have a good time and it's obvious to others and that works. Some pop tunes help. We had quite an audience for the launch of our website, but my particular pleasure was to sit out for a few tunes and listen closely to Barney Briggs with James and Dave. He'll be covering me for at least one gig in October and his takes on Stella and Just friends, playing my Bitsa fretless JB, were a pleasure.

Tilt played at Dickson Tradies. Tilt comprise James Woodman (piano), David McDade (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass). Barnaby Briggs (bass) sat in.

Various frim fram

They are all (I guess) from the RMC band and I've heard them mostly doing more fusion-styled music before, but this was standards. Melody said it almost apologetically, but that's never necessary. This is the Great American Songbook (capitalised for a reason) and some of the best and cleverest popular music ever written and a great pleasure. And this done with a trio (vocals, guitar, bass) expanded to a 7-piece band with drums and a horn section. And with some clever arrangements and varied formats. The trio is Dial M and so was the septet. They were playing with a sound man and considerable reverb on vocals and a heavily effected sound on guitar (reverb and echo and drive, I guess) and mixed with the background of harmonised horns and varied solo sounds and Melody's very nicely controlled, experienced voice, perhaps somewhere in alto but comfortably managing some higher notes too, this was a great pleasure. Too bad there weren't more to enjoy it at Smiths, but so be it. The songs were a wide range, from Days of wine and rose as and Comes love and Alone together and Yesterdays and Love for sale through to some less common ones like Sinatra's Small hotel and If I only had a brain from Wizard of Oz and a strange one from Nat King Cole about what he eats, Frim Fram sauce (something local and remembered from childhood, I guess) and a few '90s swingers from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (jokey 12-bar dance throwbacks to '50s swing dancing). And two unexpected choices: a nice take on Jimi Hendrix Wind cries Mary and a love-struck ballad from Barney called All I am. Now I didn't know he could sing, but he did a very decent job with a touch of Elvis and others (see YouTube for Al Jarreau and George Benson doing this). And to top it off, some interesting arrangements, especially on the stock standards: Alone together was a syncopated 8-feel; Yesterdays had starts and stops and various time changes; Love for sale was just vocals and bass; Small hotel was not much bigger with just vocals, guitar and bass. So nicely trained players with some interesting, sometimes challenging arrangements playing a string of great songs. Well done.

Dial M are Melody Neilsen (vocals), Luke Greenhalgh (guitar) and Barnaby Briggs (bass). For this gig at Smiths, they added Julian Fung (alto, tenor), Ben Bonney (trumpet), Steve Davison (trombone) and Blair Fairbairn (drums).

Driven

Shorty and Chow were back at Smiths. I hear them snot so much as jazz but as fusion. It takes me back. Those changes, those driving feels and sometimes contorted melodies and solos, that power that's not-too-subtly emanating. Luke feels very much like this and it's not surprising because he wrote a good deal of the original compositions (I think Barney wrote all the others). Barney mentioned the difficult changes in On point. I could feel the intervallic contortions in Luke's soloing on the early tunes. He had plenty of gear on stage, three guitars and an array of pedals. He was playing Gibson semi-acoustic on the first tunes (ES335 or thereabouts) and the style was fusion, distorted, driving, sustained from the Fender Twin. There's some real tradition here. A later tune on a Strat was more Beck-ish with wang bar and then to finish a fatter a Les Paul with more bluesy, scalar soloing. A nice touch of history and a chance to compare classic tones and to revisit my fusion past. I was loving this! Julian was far more smooth and scalar throughout in solos, if sometimes choppy in accompaniment. Nicely phrased over barlines and through changes, smooth, not jarring but deceptively adventurous with its rhythmic note placements. Lovely. He was mostly alto, but touched on soprano. Barney was mostly on double bass, very occasionally with French bow and mid-punchy presence from a Mark bass amp. It's not a traditional sound, but it is one that cuts through. I was overjoyed by a few monstrous unison lines, one on acoustic, then another on the Warwick e-bass that he used later in the night. There was lots of reading here: everyone had charts and there were obviously plenty of dots written. I really enjoyed new drummer, Blair, too. I noticed on the Net that he's played musicals and he had that awareness of form and purpose that fits that style and some very well-formed but driving and interesting swapped fours and a solo or two. Very neat; very professional. But these guys are that: they all play the Duntroon Band. Their tunes were all originals, other than a short funky take on Coltrane's Naima. This is an outing before a recording. The tunes were often merged into medleys with interludes, I would guess mostly through-written leaving some generous spaces for solos. The tunes had names like The Seer or Pat's coming to town or Small story or Sunflower or On point. Nothing in these names, but this was some interesting and competent fusion with jazz chops and a touch of looping and driving guitars and contemporary jazz sax. Interesting writing and foot tapping and a chance for some screaming guitar. Much enjoyed.

Shorty & Chow are Luke Greenhalgh (guitars), Barnaby Briggs (double and e-bass), Julian Fung (alto, soprano saxes) and Blair Fairbairn (drums) and they played at Smiths.

Boys' own

Shorty & Chow recorded a live broadcast for ArtSound the other day and I was there. It's a while since I've caught Chris Deacon and his Friday Night Live broadcasts. Secret: they are sometimes recorded in the afternoon and broadcast days later. But the playing, the chatter, are live and the effect is live. That's what matters. I caught the first set and Shorty & Chow dropped in to balladry with Luke's dedication to a venue in Newcastle, The Terrace, but it was mostly funky and driving with rock drums and effected, echoed Abercrombie guitar and syncopated bass. Nice. Chris was showing his headbanger side and we were both rocking away in the control room. This was fun, tight, with sharp drums and searing guitars and solid grooves and that alto playfully over the top. Scranky was the name of one tune, and Pignose and Dancing with Gertrude were names of two others. It fits. Dirty, driving, guys' music, a bit impolite, but fun and involving. Takes me back. Shorty and Chow. Enjoy a touch of misbehaviour. Great stuff.

Shorty and Chow are Luke Greenhalgh (guitar), Barnaby Briggs (bass), Julian Fung (sax) and Jonathan Harding-Clark (drums) and they recorded two sets for ArtSound's Friday Night Live with Chris Deacon engineering and producing.

Good for the gander

... Tate was running off to play with Victor Rufus Reverberation at Smiths. It's a common run these Thursdays: Thursday is performance day School of Music and jazz night at Smiths. I came in to a decent crowd and a band playing Dave Holland Conference of the birds. I enjoyed hearing that. It's well know but not too often played. This was a medley that ran into Nirvana Teen Spirit then Kurt Rosenwinkel's Next step. Difficult electric jazz. Then Brian Blade Fellowship Evinrude-fifty and Donny McCaslin Casting for gravity. Nothing like the preceding ballads. This was outright boys' blowing and skilled reading adn chops on hot stuff heads with no thought of love and life. Boys and girls: long last the difference. I enjoyed this hot flashy stuff, especially the contorted heads, some considered and structured and very controlled solos, including one that let go of diatonism and the planet, from Tate, a fluent and fast bass solo form Barnaby, an impressive drum solo from Rhys that was based on a very jumpy, stop-start groove, intelligent tenor and Victor's generous presence and guitar. It was only a few tunes (they had started before I arrived and Tate moved faster than I did, having to farewell some friends on the way) and it seemed short. An encore that was unplanned, on a Bb blues (Victor chose Bird's Relaxing at Camarillo) and the end. I was recording, and I had almost one hour. I was surprised. It didn't feel so long. Lively and choppy; the other side of Tate's interests. Nice one.

Victor Rufus Reverberation comprised Victor Rufus (guitar), Doug Hall (tenor), Tate Sheridan (piano), Barnaby Briggs (bass) and Rhys Lintern (drums).

Hey Shorty

Ah, that was fun. It was just a bit of jazz-funk-fusion. Locals Shorty and Chow were playing. But those 16th notes can enliven things and the funky beat on the one makes for so much energy that this playing was pretty relentless. They played originals, too. There were just a few standards (Alone together, Cissy strut, Softly as funk, Ladybird as swing for an unexpected encore) but these were mostly originals, by guitarist Luke or by bassist Barnaby. Barney was a monster with some solos, playing lightly with two finger pizz, plenty of chromatics and some impressive fast ascending picked slides and some massive descending lines that I guessed mixed chromaticism with seconds. Great fun. Luke was comfortable somewhere in Scofield with distortion and echo and often dropped into this sound, but just sometimes played straighter. I thought he was nicely contained and structured his solos well, changing tones, maintaining long eighth-note passages, perhaps going heavy with chords, often against drums. Jonathan plays pretty straight and swinging and driving drums and can build up a head of steam. He did this tonight for several solos, but also building very strongly behind guitar solos. Julian was more the individualist soloist, often restrained, slower, thoughtful as sax is, sometimes with a deep water bubbling tone, other times with a thinner, straighter alto voice, often venturing into interesting dissonances. Nice again. The final tune, Barnaby's Dancing with Gertrude was my favourite for the night and obviously a feature, laying out the melody in nice unison against odd timing, then strangely dropping tempo and speeding up again then playing a 16-th note funky feel in four for the solos. Luke's Suspension was quirky and busy unison lines for all parts, again 16-th notes and bass ostinato. Barney's From both sides was another ballad, this time with bass playing melody against swelling guitar chords. The other ballad was Luke's Terrace with guitar strumming that reminded me of 50s Hawaiian guitar. His Subtonic counted as a steady 7/4 with an angular melody, then into solos in three. So, local fusion with decent chops and some original themes. Good to see, and well enjoyed.

Shorty & Chow are Luke Greenhalgh (guitar), Barnaby Briggs (bass), Julian Fung (sax) and Jonathan Harding-Clark (drums).

Manuka again

It's our local and we'd walked down for pizza to start the long weekend and there was jazz in the distance as we left. Victor Rufus was out with Barney Briggs and Sean Connaughton playing standards for the diners. We just caught a few including Beatrice and Alone together. Some tasteful melody from Victor and some fleet bass solos and a very latin take on Alone together. On the lawns at Manuka, under the pollarded plane trees. Just ships passing in the night but nice. Victor Rufus (guitar) played with Barney Briggs (bass) and Sean Connaughton (drums).

Finally Merimbula 3

I caught one of two sets of the ANU Big Band under John Mackey. Big it is: 30 performers including eight singers. As you’d expect, it was lively and well turned out. I felt comfy from the first vibrant chords of a Bill Liston chart, and it was a roller coaster ride from there. Woody Herman played on bass clarinet and clarinet; a vocal choir performing Easy to love; a Bach cello suite performed on 6-string e-bass by Jack Schwenke. The Music School now joins students from jazz and classical backgrounds, so we get an idiosyncratic performance. Strange, yes, but also interesting.

Mark VI included several players I was to perform with in my own band, so I had to catch them. They are led by trumpeter Mark Durieu, performing hardbop and the like: David Sanborn, Scotch & soda, Sugar. It’s entertaining music and hardly profound, but I’m sure it doesn’t claim to be. These are good musos: good readers, good soloists, correct and capable. You can see the Army Band connections in the reading and accuracy and occasionally in the haircuts. I particularly enjoyed Noddy’s drive, Baba’s fluent solos and Barney’s easy reading. Barney had to do the set on double after he’d left his guitar strap in the car, but I didn’t notice anything lacking. Mark VI were Mark Durieu (trumpet), Rouslan (Baba) Babajanov (sax), Douglas Hill (piano), Richard Manning (guitar), Scott Temby (guitar – not sure he was playing this set), Barney (Benjamin) Briggs (bass) and Derrick (Noddy) Brassington (drums).

Don’t tell Megan, but I went to a jazz service. Well, actually an ecumenical gospel service, as I was informed by someone leaving a local Anglican church. It was in the Catholic church, an unfortunate ‘60s A-frame construction with a priest who mentioned Parsifal and his preferences for other than jazz. He railed against ideology and at one point even questioned Papal modernism. I can respect tradition, but I felt a chill breeze of Pellucid conservatism about this man. The readings were Psalms 158-160, all praise to the Lord. Some lines from the “responsive prayer” sounded like piffle to my ears: “Let us raise to the limits of time / And behold Your eternity / Let us run to the edges of space / And gaze into Your immensity”. I prefer words like “Blessed are the peacemakers”. I often hear music in churches these days; they can be some of the best spaces for music. This was jazz and gospel singing. Rhythm Syndicate was choir; Pippa Wilson was singer with a decent, mature, traddie band. The songs were Swing down chariot (what is it about chariots in gospel music?), Amazing Grace, God bless the child (lovely!); I believe (credulous pap to my ears); Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (deeply uncertain and earthy and a paen for our times); He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother (unfortunate); Put your hand in the hand (lively) and When the Saints go marching in (inevitable). I enjoyed this. I sang along and searched for harmonies, no doubt annoying the couple in front of me, but it was fun and it loosened the vocal chords.