Siders very live

The piano was good but the space was very live, reverberant, for Luke Sweeting’s trio called Front and Siders. The played at Canberra Grammar School, but this was in the monumental upstairs dining room with lots of timber and a stage and arched, stone-clad windows and vaulted roof. This is not the intimate, soft environment of the Gallery, but more traditional, colder, harder, even if the piano was better. So it was hard work for the band to perform their delicate, undemonstrative music, but it was nonetheless an impressive concert.

Musicians develop in the style they listen to. The open spaces and fine, delicate patterns and unassuming performance suggests Northern European jazz to my ears, so I wasn’t surprised that Geoff suggested they’d be hits if they toured there. Luke was fluid and inventive, as we expect these days, but he’s still not an overstated presence, leading through the slightest of glances. The others melded easily and with care, and were reserved and responsive. Brendan’s bass fitted neatly with ostinatos and syncopated comping and frequent lyrical solos and one swinging walk. Nick’s drums were heavy on cymbals and rolls and fills and a soft snare leaving tons of space in accompaniment, although the snare sometimes snapped louder and his solos were more clamourous. But the overall sound remained light, open, detailed, measured. The music was mostly originals by Luke. This was sophisticated music with complex structures and changing rhythms. I liked the left hand piano with unison bass in one tune and the complex take on the blues in Corporate genius. Pat Metheny got an outing and also Scott La Faro and Sam Rivers' lovely Beatrice as a moderate swing. To end, Matt Handel sat in on a tune from Luke's sextet album which will be launched at the Gods in coming weeks. The addition of sax made for a meatier tone and tune, but the detail and lightness remained in essence. The room was ringing but the playing was easy and considered. This was a capable and big-eared trio. Lovely gig.

Luke Sweeting (piano) led the Front and Siders trio with Brendan Clark (bass) and Nick Meredith (drums).

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.

Night people

It was day and night when we moved from a quiet and deliberate Band Room to a vibrant but noisy Hippo to hear the Front and Siders Trio. I like to just listen, but I also enjoy the bawdier side of jazz. It’s more on edge and perhaps more adventurous. It’s definitely looser and more error-prone. But it’s got a life that concert venues, for all their admirable care and thought and precision, don’t have. And it’s a big part of our jazz history.

The Front and Siders are Luke Sweeting, James Luke and Mark Sutton supplemented by various ring-ins, playing standards and various originals. So, it’s a bit of everything in an environment that’s got a bit for everyone: cocktails, chatter, suasion, seduction. The band fitted with ease. These are seasoned professionals and it showed. Not showy but ever-solid and nicely spoken in accompaniment and solos and sometimes playfully at the edge. Luke’s volume was a bit low so I most noticed James and Mark. James was on double and playing with lovely discretion and solid tone, effectively holding grooves and embellishing them, and soloing with clarity and vibrancy. He was often-enough up amongst the high notes, but I particularly noticed an ease across the neck, in the so-called DMZ, high on the low strings, where strings are clumsy and notes sound less defined, but where you can form patterns and chords with high notes that you can’t do in the commonly-used areas of the neck. Mark was playing a storm. He was obviously reading and picking up a few tunes from James on the night, but once the grooves were established, his playing was sharp and sometimes devastating. Great stuff. And Luke is always great value. I was floored by a denouement bar of a quality that I’ve only heard on record: some tortuous descending line built on a symmetrical scale, diminished I guess, dropping into dissonance then out again as it wended through an octave. What advanced harmony. The sit-ins that I caught were Matt Handel and Alex Raupach. Matt particularly caught my attention with a solo on two chords that was well structured from sparse and lyrical to dense and abundant then back again.

I chatted through some of it, peered with ears through cocktails clinking and sometimes just sat back and enjoyed the ambience of seasoned players in a living venue. I guess I have to admit an occasional lapse from musical purity, because I loved it. The Front & Siders Trio is Luke Sweeting (piano), James Luke (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums). Matt Handel (tenor sax) and Alex Raupach (trumpet) sat in for occasional tunes.