More chalk and cheese, pt.1

Freshbace was two student bands, each led by a visiting jazz luminary. The first was Bennie Maupin; the second was Joe Chindamo. I’d seen both of these musicians in workshop so I was intrigued to hear them in concert as leaders of a student band. Like some other combinations that I’ve attended at CJP, these were chalk and cheese.

Bennie’s band went first. Bennie was involved in some major movements in the late sixties and seventies - Bitches brew, On the corner, Headhunters, Mwandishi – so we could expect a more spacey presentation. We got it. Just to emphasise the approach, the concert started with a string quartet. Then into a concert of heavy grooves, touches of free or at least lengthy cacophony, string quartet intros and washes, plenty of solos including a Ponty-like jazz violin, and an end on a solid funk. The tunes were originals from Bennie’s pen. Jewel of the Lotus and Mapo were spacey ‘70s jazz from early ECM releases. Equal justice was a ballad where Bennie played a slow ostinato of long and somewhat atonal intervals on piano. The final tune was a solid jazz funk that livened up to finish the set. This is probably the era that most influenced me in jazz so I was entranced by the music. The students were playing to their best, aware but smiling, and the music was alluring and physical. I especially took note of the unusual sound of El’s electric violin, which she played with considerable authority and with those characteristic intervals due to the tuning in fifths. Daniel’s guitar solo, especially his overt cutting blues and repeated notes against the funk, was classic Kim: outlandish but convincing. Jordan dropped into slap for the funk and let loose some devastating triplet slaps. I enjoyed watching the string quartet enjoying temporary freedom from dots during several group improv passages. Nice concert and earthy and physical.

Bennie Maupin (soprano sax, piano) led a student band comprising Andy Butler (piano), Matt Handel (alto), Tom Sly (trumpet), Patrick Langdon (trombone), Daniel Kim (guitar), Henry Rasmussen (drums), Llewellyn Osborne (jazz violin) and the Childers String Quartet of Tobias Chisnall (violin), Estelita Rae (violin), Anthony de Battista (viola) and Julia Janiszewski (cello).

Cyberhalides Jazz Photos by Brian Stewart

Back from the Coast

Jazz Quest text by Nevin Temby; Merimbula pic courtesy of MJF

I missed the Merimbula Jazz Festival and the Exceptions playing at the Loft, but I caught McEvilly / Tarento / Kim / Moore at Hippo and it was decent consolation.

Firstly, the Merimbula reference, from my mate Nevin:

Merimbula Jazz Festival marked the first Open Jazz Quest, where non local under 25s could compete for $500 first prize, $300 second and $200 third prize. The Lakeview Hotel hosted the event and generously provided the prizes. The competition aims to promote excellence in jazz performance by offering not only a highly competitive performance platform but also cash and contra prizes to help young musicians further their musical careers. Fourteen entrants from around Australia performed to a very receptive capacity audience during the festival, with the modern jazz ensemble ‘The Exceptions’ catching the adjudicators interest on the night. First prize went to Tate Sheridan (paino), second to Joe McEvilly (alto) and third to Scott Temby (trumpet). / During the photo shoot the following day, the organiser explained to the guys that the current board is very interested in promoting the modern genre for the festival. Great news for festival goers.

Congrat-ulations to the band. As for the Hippo gig, I very much enjoyed their detailed, busy and skilled take on the standards. Joe surprised me with some rich substitutions and chromatic sequences, but he also performed with a lovely melodic sense. Sometimes playing slow and setting themes, one time stunning me with the most subtle intervention against Daniel’s excitable guitar. Daniel’s playing truly sets a scene. He’s physically frisky and it shows in his playing: busy, jumpy, contorted, inventive, over-provided with ideas. It’s intriguing and anything but relaxing, so I was a bit taken aback (although very pleasantly) by his complex but gentle guitar chordal intro/outro to Darn that dream. Jordan was on electric and I loved his hard tone and expert chops. He’s got easy knowledge to the highest frets and great fingerwork and an easy ability to drop into and out of solos and off times and fours with Rohan. I’d only seen Rohan play in a more restrained context. Here he was still serious and steady, but often enough busy and fun, like his few bars of melody played with tuned elbow on snare skin. It’s a great party trick that I’d seen from Ari Hoenig and he did it with confidence and panache. But this outfit also had an impressive presence as a band. I noticed in the way they moved grooves together, passed solos, understood conventions. These guys are presumably playing together every day and it shows. I particularly noticed when a blues degenerated into an undefined one-note holding pattern then fell back into a walking swing at the end of the 12 bars, but I’d seen the same mutations elsewhere. It was obviously improvised and very neat work.

Joe McEvilly (alto), Jordan Tarento (bass), Daniel Kim (guitar) and Rohan Moore (drums) played standards at the Hippo Bar.

New York state of mind

Keith said to me it that Miles O’Connell’s music might have been recorded by Blue Note is it had a trumpet. I located it somewhere in the ‘70s, but maybe that’s just because that’s when I started listening to jazz. But it’s music you might hear today in the clubs in New York. I know that Miles was listening to at least some of this music when he was recently in NYC. He played one track from Kurt Rosenwinkel, who he’d caught several times, and who is a major influence for many current jazz students. Miles had told me that most of what he was playing was original and it was written during or after his NYC sojourn. So this is also where it’s at now; a modern style that’s spanning the decades. I hear it as busy grooves from bass and drums, slower melodies that float over chords that change slowly, perhaps every two or four bars, still the head/solos/head structure, and all players having a solo role, and usually a plangent tenor out front with guitar or piano accompaniment. But I guess that’s modern jazz in its major guise.

Miles did it well, both musically and in presentation. There was some nervousness, and the second set sat more comfortably than the first, even though Miles had told me that was the harder set. They’d settled by then. I appreciated Miles’ tone better, then. It was not so much forceful as sinuous, although hardening when emotions called for it. These were nicely developed solos with sparser starts and developing flourishes presented with an edgy distance that befits jazz seriousness. But there was also a nod to performance. I really liked the professionalism of the band introductions at the outro over an obviously planned, funky riff. Nice one! Also the way tunes merged with intervening solos and the way Miles maintained the flow by only speaking occasionally. Daniel fitted this image to a tee. He’s a performer with considerable presence, but also a developing rabid guitarist. His tone here was distorted but not sustained and it nicely displayed some intriguingly jagged lines. Max stated harmonies and pushed the groove and soloed comfortably. I particularly liked a solo intro in the second set that highlighted the tone of the Velvet strings, but I enjoyed his presence too. He’s an openhearted and involved player and a pleasure to watch and presumably to play with. Luke was steady and calm and slightly distant and that seemed apt when Miles noted he’d returned from a recent outing as a rock god. Andy sat in for just one tune that had him punching heavy quarter note block chords each side of a sweeter solo. Mostly the tunes were originals written during or after Miles’ NYC sojourn, but there was also Rosenwinkel and Radiohead, the intelligent pop choice of this generation. In all, an interesting and convincing concert with and some very decent modern jazz writing. Miles O’Connell (tenor sax) led a quartet with Daniel Kim (guitar), Max Alduca (bass) and Luke Keanan-Brown (drums). Andy Butler (piano) sat in for one tune.

Jamming worldwide

I was not the only person who commented that these jams are great fun, even if not too frequent. This one was a repeat at the Hippo, with an introductory set and support by Luke Sweeting’s Front and Siders. This was a shockingly capable display of composition and musicianship and a challenge for the improvisers waiting to have a play, but a jam is a loose and extroverted thing and this is a friendly group so it all went well with some seriousness but also good will.

Firstly, the Front and Siders. They started with Sam River’s beautiful Beatrice, but then it was all original compositions, I think all by Luke. The tunes were complex, varied, often charted for unison lines of bass and piano left hand, or piano and guitar (this combination sounded quite fusion-ish, I thought), inventive piano over left hand pedals, nice rich ostinatos behind drums solos or mesmeric interludes and long crescendos. There was intensity and suspense. There were quiet, reflective times where the band sat playing minimally and held tension. I particularly noticed how effectively they could sit on a groove that was waiting to lift. But there were also explosions of energy, especially from Daniel on guitar, with fat, electric-flat tone and screaming high notes and hard-strummed chords and chromatic sequences and excitable rises and emotional denouements. James responded with solos that spoke more gently including one with German bow. Luke was masterful on complex harmonies and substitutions and the less common scales. Pianos can do this and Luke is doing it great justice with complexity but also with and easy acceptability despite the challenging tonalities and rhythms. Aidan was not intrusive, but free flowing and precise and so easy to listen to. It was a wonderfully impressive set and a great way to return to Canberra jazz after an NYC sojourn. This is sophisticated and satisfying music at a high level. The Front and Siders were Luke Sweeting (piano), Daniel Kim (guitar), James Luke (bass) and Aidan Lowe (drums).

So that was the prequel for a night of jamming. It was fun. Luke was the one pianist so worked hard, but there were several horns, guitars, bassists, drummers, so they were shared around. I sat in for two tunes: a Bb blues and Alone together. Otherwise, it was bebop, All the things you are and the like: common jam tunes, but nicely played with seriousness but also joy. It was a smaller group in attendance, and perhaps more relaxed for it. Looking forward to more.