Inlays, velvet, timber

Ah … The Parlour. It’s a new one on me, but I loved it. Swish! Carved woods, inlaid tabletops, red velvets, chesterfields, table service. And perfectly suitable for classy music, like Damian Wright’s flamenco guitar and Miroslav Bukovsky’s quintet. It was a fabulous outing all round. But firstly, the venue. It was a surprise. I knew of the development and I’d heard of its support for good music, but I’d never gotten there. It was much more impressive than I’d expected. Truly salubrious; classy to the core. I remember the daggy, dingy but historical buildings that used to house local government services in this place. Now there’s a five star hotel, new aged foyers, art and Victorian elegance in the Parlour. I’ll be back.

First for me on the day was flamenco guitar with Damian Wright. I’d heard Damian several times with the Translators where plays a fusion style with Steve Hunter and James and Ben Hauptmann. That’s stunning in its own way, but I loved the authenticity of this performance. Damian has spent several years in Spain and continues his studies in Spanish guitar. This is blissful music: sharp fingernail tones; tabla-fast strums that drench you in tense rhythms; barred left hands with fingered melodies; rock solid beats in rhythms of huge complexity. Damian was explaining the accents to me on a 12/8 rhythm: 12-3-7-8-10 (yes, it starts on 12; no, I don’t understand either) and how maracas will concurrently play 4 or 3 to the 12 (I think that’s right) and dancers will perform over the top of all this rhythmic melange. I noticed his foot tapping a rock-solid 4 to the 12/8, but he disabused me of this simplicity. It’s much more fluid. And there was a discussion of how all 12 notes are available in the harmony, although I didn’t particularly notice this. Just fabulous music and a great eye-opener.

Second was an old favourite: Miroslav Bukovsky leading a quintet with John Mackey, Mark Sutton, Hannah James and Dave Rodriguez. I’ve heard these players and this music many times before, but it remains fresh. Miro’s tunes are a revelation of lyricism and indulgent grooves. This is half the songbook of Wanderlust: what’s not to love? John was again a revelation. I’ve not heard him for a while, what with family duties and loss of venues, so his statements were fresh and clear. He has such a rich sense of harmonic colour; he phrases with clarity and inevitability with phrases that cross barlines with ease; he toys with eighth and sixteenth notes. And his tone is so big: the Parlour and the volume suited him. Damian said of Miro that it was obvious that he was a composer. You could hear that melodic sensibility in his solos. Repeated patterns transposed a few tones; inevitable intervals, or tastefully challenging ones. Miro played the flugelhorn for most of this gig, so it was rural and inviting: such a lovely sound. Dave was his melodic self, with his heavy strings that fight a bent note, but give such a big tone. I most enjoyed his comping: modal chord movements that blended with the soloist to form a moving palette enriching the solo. He said after how he’s enjoying comping. And Dave’s judicious use of effects: not driven, but echoed. Hannah was fluent, rhythmically strong and steady, and well intoned. It was a soft but present sound, that would lift to solos that moved widely and easily across and up the fingerboard to the thumb positions. Sydney must be suiting her, for this was one of Hannah’s favourite performances for me. Lovely work. Mark was pushing from the back, with limited kit so limited tonalities, but not limited rhythmically. This was strong and forceful, and some short but expressive solos that insolently clashed against underlying rhythms with intelligent complexity and easy control. The audience had a treat. A wonderful performance of several enveloping tunes and a few ring-ins including Bolivia, Mal Waldron’s So nice and Bronte Café and ending on an ecstatic Tenor madness and Miro's beautiful and intriguing Peace please. Did I enjoy it? Does it show?

Damian Wright (guitar) played the first set of flamenco guitar. Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet, flugelhorn) then led two sets with John Mackey (tenor sax), Dave Rodriguez (guitar), Hannah James (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums). They performed at the MusicArtFood mini festival at New Acton.

Translations

They were the Translators and they performed at the Gods the other night. It’s an apt name for an unusual mix of instruments that produces a very recognisable and attractive outcome. It’s seldom that I attend a band with electric mandolin, especially one that’s screaming like a Strat, or Spanish guitar played in classical cum Flamenco style, but that’s what was on stage, and it worked comfortably with the sixteenth note grooves from electric bass and the lively drumming. An unusual combination but still with affinities: with Jaco for those bass chords and funky grooves and exquisitely mellifluous bass melodies and with Al Di Meola and Paco De Lucia for those nylon strung Spanish guitar sounds. Even the mandolin had references. The fast lines, high pitches, sometimes screaming sounds with overdrive and echo sold it as an instrument with attitude, sounding eerily like studio-based indie guitar soundscapes.

The elder of the band was Steve Hunter. Steve’s a master electric bassist and wonderful to hear: a great, phat sound; rich and varied chords and fingerstyle sixteenth note funky accompaniment; sweet melodies and some devastatingly fast falling lines. Ben Hauptmann was on the electric mandolin: from sharp and thin mando lines to fast guitar-like solos to complex and richly effected soundscapes. Brother James Hauptmann was on drums: not showy, but strong with busy grooves that grew naturally to peaks with the solos. Damian Wright was the Spanish guitarist. The nylon sound is recognisable (you hear it often enough from players like John McLaughlin, perhaps played with a plectrum) but the style places the band outside the mainstream. This is thumb plucking, fingernail strums, fingerstyle chords. There was some jazz sensibility in the left hand, but the right was in another space altogether. Very capable and perfectly fitting to this context, but still quite unexpected.

The tunes were originals by various members: Flamenco influences, two chord funky solos, rapid unison melodies, unexpected and dramatic starts and stops. This was energetic and lively music, tons of runs, tons of cleverness and overt Latin passion. At one stage, Geoff Page mentioned that Steve was the bassist who convinced him of the authenticity of the electric bass. It’s easy to concur on Steve’s expertise and musicality, but this night was not just Steve. The performers presented an odd mix of instruments, and a style that we are aware of but that’s not common on the jazz scene in Australia. But it’s infectious and lively and I, for one, would easily hear more.

The Translators are Steve Hunter (electric bass), Ben Hauptmann (electric mandolin), Damian Wright (Spanish guitar) and James Hauptmann (drums).

Spanish translation

It was a refreshingly different style of crossover that was presented by The Translators last night at Hippo, and perhaps apt following the weekend of the National Folk Festival. From my JazzGroove emails, it seems there’s a good deal of experimentation with different musical forms coming out of Sydney. Canberra seems to be relatively tame in this regard. I can guess two reasons for this. Firstly, our jazz players are mostly at the student level and are learning their trade; our best tend to leave for bigger smokes before they spread their exploratory wings. Secondly, when you’re in business and earning your crust, you are busy testing new ideas and sounds to see what sells, and that’s another prod for invention. Musical invention in Sydney features several Canberra names (Hauptmann, Undy, Clarke, Dewhurst, Ryan). It’s nice when those names come home for a family visit, as two of them did for the Translators gig.

The Translators had elements common to other jazz formats mixed with tonalities which were decided different. There was Steve’s virtuoso, Gatling, punchy, Pastorial electric bass. Steve’s a stunner with some blisteringly fast but clear fills and sustained 16th note finger play in the tradition of Jaco: world class and not one to miss. James accompanied him with strongly driving but unobtrussive drumming. His has a full and rolling drumming style, with solos which are comfortable within the groove while deceptively crossing rhythms and dissecting bars and beats. Joining this were the less common sounds: Damian’s flamenco guitar and Ben on mandolin. Mandolin? Well, it was perfectly satisfying mandolin for lovers of a hot guitar solos. Ben played plenty of very stylish guitar-like jazz solos but with the clipped, peaky sound of the mandolin. It was interesting and engaging, but also strangely comfortable for such an uncommon instrument . Damian’s guitar was much more diverse in style. He introduced several tunes with classic flamenco solos and flourishes, and his solos were similarly Spanish. Sadly, the finger picking and nylon-strung guitar didn’t cut through like the other instruments, so I missed detail in many of his solos, but my impression was of Al DiMeola with Paco Peña, or a jazzy take on Sky with John Williams.

The music was all original. Each of the members penned at least one tune performed on the night. It was all built on strong beats, and the powerful rhythm section made it incessantly danceable, so again I thought of the folk crowd which loves to dance. I counted several triple time rhythms, although there was also 4/4 and at least one 7/4 on the night. I wondered if it was the rhythm that had got to the couple who were sweatily pashing off in the front row for a full set, but perhaps it was just youthful lust.

Whatever, this was fascinating and refreshing and inventive. A very successful fusion of elements of flamenco, jazz and even rock. The name says it all: translation. Great stuff and recommended.

The Translators are Steve Hunter (electric bass), Ben Hauptmann (electric mandolin), Damian Wright (acoustic guitar), James Hauptmann (drums).