Taking me back

At least for Fats Homicide’s first set, I felt I’d been taken back to jam bands of the ‘70s: guitar based trios; rock rhythms at medium and slow 4/4 tempos; guitar or bass solos with effects; limited structure and dynamics. The effects were more sophisticated (I liked an arpeggiator, and the synth and echos were extreme and interesting) and the playing was better (these are all trained players, after all), but the outcome (and I guess the intent) was similar. I liked it well enough but it's not so much a current interest. The fact that 2XX was recording just seemed to fit this scene and even some faces seemed new. But then the last tune of the first set was different: a sweet ballad was a delightful change and it set up for a very different second set. It started with a nice waltz drum feel with a descending bass pattern and lovely distorted guitar melody and solo. Matt is a lovely guitarist, and I enjoyed several fuzzy, sustained guitar solos during the night, and his leads and feels were always suited for the tunes and nicely leading, in the way that voices lead. Simon dropped in lots of chords in this format and some rabid effects which I loved but could hardly identify with the bass. I particularly liked one small, simple passage of pure Precision-bass styled tone but it was rare (he was playing with lots of effects and distortion), and also some nice riffs that gave more rhythmic solidity to the music. The bass chords filled out the sound, but I preferred the definition and openness and rhythmic form of the riffs. They played a country rock beat with tremolo guitar playing blues licks with sparse bass chords which was lovely, but I wasn’t too keen on its descent into metal distorted repeating quarter-note bass. Then more metal with syncopated bass riff. Kay was obviously having a good time on this and this was infectious. There were smiles going around with the audaciousness of it all.

So what of Fats? It’s got its rough, brash side and that joy in extravagance but there’s also order and even sweetness peeping through at times. Not sure they’d want to admit it, though. Fats Homicide are Matt Lustri (guitar), Simon Milman (bass) and Kay Chinnery (drums) and I expect they will appear sometime soon on 2XX.

Smash a few tunes … have a cup of tea

So said Simon Milman when interviewed between the sets during the Fats Homicide live broadcast on ArtSound the other night. It was an interview with several quotes, including a key one from Cecil Taylor: “no matter what you do, make sure you have fun”. Jazz can be deadly serious and takes masses of hard work to develop the requisite skills, so I found the references to fun a bit strange. The chuckles in the studio at the end of the second set indicated this band was having fun, but the music certainly wasn’t lightweight. Two non-stop sets of 45 minutes apiece, with tunes well-known to the band morphing one into another, as they explored and played with interactions and improvisations and solos and fills. The relationships were mostly expressed by ear, although a few taps of Matt’s foot on the double bass were needed to catch Simon’s attention to end it all as the time ran down … another source of amusement.

The music was loose and open and searching. Sometimes a clean guitar, sometimes whatever form of effect, lots of bowed bass and sparse drumming. Periods of waiting as repeated figures sat in the air, anticipating contact with a new tonality or effect or a new tune. Drums appearing from the ether amongst digitally-enhanced guitar soundscapes or bouncing bass bows or strained, thin bow strokes. Then relief of the tension as a new melody appears amongst the mist. One melody a sharp country guitar twang, another a clean jazz guitar tonality. Frequent solo passages, again searching and open for thought. Then perhaps some atonal musings. And a few adventurous bass solos that particularly interested me.

I’m not sure who leads this band or if there’s a leader. I’ve heard Matt and Simon in various interesting, exploratory combinations of this nature. I’ve also been particularly interested in some of Simon’s previous outings, with music of Ornette and some interesting original charts for the Melds in this studio. Music of this style is not always successful, and it’s definitely not something you catch at the local bar, but I love the commitment and adventurousness and fun expressed in such a melange of sounds and rhythms and harmonies. So it was another intriguing live broadcast from this terrific Friday Night Live series at ArtSound. Well done Lauren and Isabelle for filling in the most unexpected of circumstances. And a dedication to engineer Kristen who was unable to be there for this session.

Fats Homicide are Matt Lustri (guitar), Simon Milman (bass) and Kay Chinnery (drums).

JU Bley

Bley was number 2 stage upstairs. It was well isolated sonically, a neat size, although could have done with some decoration or curtains (next year). But it got a series of capable contemporary jazz bands, and represented the women in jazz via Carla Bley.