Back to blues

I used to attend blues jam regularly but it faded, but I've been looking forward to a return for some time. Finally, notification of a Blues Club jam at Hellenic and a free Sunday afternoon. Great! Pack my most appropriate instrument (stock standard sunburst fretted JB MIM with DiMarzio pups) and off. The host band was Northside City Slickers with John Van Buuren, Tim Spellman and Fred Pilcher and Bridget Croft sitting in for a few songs. Then the jammers list. I was lucky enough to play with a great band led by Chris Harland with Peter Kirkup, Mitch Preston and Chris Tominich on harp. Three 12-bar blues: Medium temp C, some walking; 12/8 in A; driving blues in G. That's the blues for ya. Great fun, fabulous amp (Mesa-Boogie, thanks Bucky), hot and tight. Then a series of other bands and various mates: Steve, Don, Ken, Ross, Dan, even Wayne Kelly made and appearance. A big hall with a decent crowd, some dancers, German beer away from the rain outside. Great!

Canberra Blues Society jam sessions are held 2-5.30pm, third Sunday each month, at the Harmonie German Club.

Canberra Blues Society monthly jam

Returning to Roots

I follow jazz and even fine music these days, but I still have a soft spot for blues-rock so a visit to the Pro Blues & Roots jam today was lots of fun. The Cherrypickers were hosting and what a great little band they are. No surprise there: they are made up of some of the cream of the local blues-rock scene and the songs were wide ranging and entertaining, the feels were solid and capable, Monica’s voice was in full flight - loud and powerful and often growling - and John’s guitar solos were busy and chordally full and often screaming. Just as this music should be. They had the dancers up, the feet tapping and a few heads nodding, and they were having as good a time as we were. John’s bass sounded great, too: hard and unyielding with playing that’s tight, rock-powerful and distilled. They didn’t strictly play the blues, although JVB sang on the classic, You don’t love me. The rest of the repertoire included Michael Jackson’s I want you back (this was commented on!), as well as Aerosmith(!)’s Walk this way, JoJo Zep’s The shape I’m in and Martha and the Muffin’s Echo beach. Not really the blues: more entertaining than impassioned.

The room was the same. This is not a young crowd – I don’t feel out of place – but all are welcome. The blues does have some young followers but I’m sure many of these people lived through the years of rock guitar. Cream’s Sunshine of your life was played and my guess is that the performer heard it when it released. But it’s a friendly, easy-going scene, beery but certainly more restrained than I expect these guys (mostly guys) remember from their youth. There were several other make-up bands, people having a jam, maybe friends who’ve played together here or elsewhere before. One was more a country blues style, playing JJ Cale and the like. One was led by the richly bearded ex-Canadian singer-guitarist Danny Mack aka the Cement City Cowboy. Chris Harland led another band with his hot blues guitar. I got to play a few tunes with JVB and Jon from the Cherrypickers and a few others.

It was an entertaining and sociable outing that I plan to revisit. The blues scene around Canberra revolves around the Canberra Blues Society with frequent events and Bucky’s monthly Pro Blues & Roots Jam sessions. There’s plenty of opportunity to hear the blues and it’s great fun. The Cherrypickers are Monica Moore (vocals) and the Jon/Johnnies: John Van Buuren (also known as JVB; guitar), John Coates (bass) and Jon Jones (drums). The Pro Blues & Roots Jam is held monthly at Holy Grail, Kingston and the MC is the garrulous and entertaining bassist Dave (Bucky) Buckmaster. Other players included Chris Harland, Peter Barta, Steve Hartnett, Mitch Preston and Danny Mack.

Danny Mack

Mary had a little lamb

Mary had a little lamb. So sang Chris Harland with his Blues Band blustering away on a steady 12 bar groove. Then the guitar solo. Guitar solos are big and important and emotive in blues, at least in guitar blues. Later in the night, fellow local blues guitar whiz Dave Blanken sat in and the different styles of these two players became evident. Chris is of the Hendrix blues-rock era to my ears: distorted and compressed, screaming bends, fast, florid, ecstatic. Dave is from an earlier era, probably Chicago blues: a more naked valve tone, slower, more phrased, earthier. I was interested to hear the two together, to appreciate the differences, and I enjoyed them both. And I enjoyed the steady and repetitive but purposeful bass and the coolly played drums, the boogies and 12/8s and the rest. The whole is attractive and involving and bodily. You see it in the dancers, and there was a full dance floor for most of the set. The music has seriousness but it’s also for beering, dancing and partying. It was clearly good for the bar. All great fun and emotive and skilled in its own non-academic way although the lyrics which can be less than poetic. There were several of the “All I want to do / is play the blues on my guitar” variety, but there was also the more obscure “I’m a cross-cut saw” which sounded more authentic down south working man. It’s great to revisit the blues scene. If only my ears could handle it better, but that’s also a part of my generation’s blues-rock history.

More folks at Folkus

The latest of the monthly Jazz@Folkus sessions was held last Saturday, and it was a cracker. There was a solid attendance by a range of listeners and members of the Canberra Jazz Club. And it was well deserved, with interesting original music from Dan McLean and his cohort and a visit by some bluesicians. There was more, but I had to leave early.

Jazz@Folkus seems to be developing as a meeting place for all manner of musically-interested people. There were at least 3 attempts to record the session: James Luke with a laptop taking a feed off the PA, another guy with a stereo pair of ribbon mics into a Zoom H4, and me with my new Rode NT4 into my own trusty H4. There was also a Jazz Club raffle (which I was lucky enough to win!). Folkus founder Bill has pronounced a dictat that everyone should introduce themselves to someone new. It gives an excuse to chat widely, so there’s chance of developing a real community. Good luck to it.

Dan McLean appeared with his new quartet, featuring Greg Stott, James Luke and Chris Thwaite. The music was all original, mostly (perhaps all?) by Dan. Dan seems to me to play with a broad range of styles which encompass the history of jazz trumpet: older style growls and strained notes and traditional arpeggios through to audacious boppy scalar and pentatonic runs. His tunes were similarly varied including several odd times. Unexpected was a version of Summertime with alternating acid 4/4 and swing 3/4 and with some way out timing ending the head (half-time 6/4?). Looking forward was mostly 11/4 (6-5) in straight 8s then swing, but with a bridge of repeated 5-5-6-5 (I think!). There was latin, blues swing, ballads, funky Herbie Hancock riffs, postbop and a Monkish tune to finish the set. James set some solid riffs down and busily swapped between double bass and his fretless electric. His solos are relaxed in presentation but melodically strong and technically varied, and the sound of the fretless Fender is like a bouncing ball. Greg can be a rocket: furious and fast, and conceptually complex. He plays gentle and intervallically interesting lines, but can drop into double or even quadruple speed runs with precision at call. His sound sits way back in the mix with what seems like wet reverb. Chris is a great listener - you can feel his concentration - so his playing was clear and accurate, and he takes tasty solos too. It was a first outing for this band: there were some rough edges and some chuckles within the band when they encountered the odd times, but it bodes well.

The second band was a bit incongruous, but capable in their blues style. They were a trio from the Chris Harland Blues Band, presumably led by Chris himself on guitar and vocals. They played the harmonically simple but emotionally charged style that is Chicago (guitar-based) blues: a solid rhythm section supporting a feature guitarist/vocalist. There were sustained, distorted guitar solos on blues scales and lyrics like “pray, lord have mercy” and paens for lost lovers. Standard stuff, nicely played; great for a night out, a chat and a few beers. If you want to hear more, there’s a strong blues scene in Canberra. See URLs below.

I had to leave early, but as I was walking out I heard the first bars of a band featuring four trumpets up front. It had the sound of composed harmonies and was sounding great, so I dreaded having to leave. Presumably, there would have been a short jam at the end, too. Feel free to add comments below, especially if you were there to the end.

The previous J@F had a very poor showing, but this month’s was eminently successful. Support these sessions with your attendance, and congrats especially to Cam and Dan for a great afternoon.

Canberra Blues Society website