Canb Jazz Fest 3

Day 1 was great if interrupted; day 2 will be the same.  First up a big band, the ANU Jazz Orchestra.  They played a string of tunes, maybe uptempo because MD Con Campbell observed that they'd finished early.  SO be it.  This was big, fat, horn heavy tones, solos passed around variously, some decent grooves.  They played 9 tunes, several by Sammy Nestico including Dvorak's theme which is an arrangement by SN of the Largo second mvt. from the new World Symphony.  But my fave was sponsored by a local for this band from composer Jenna Cave who appears in CJ frequently when studying at ANUSOM and last time I heard, was MD for her own jazz orchestra in Sydney.  What gives you hope was a lovely, rich piece with glorious harmonies rather than the sharp hits of many big band tunes, luscious harmonies and several movements.  Then a short quick drop-in to hear the Razzlers.  Dance worthy, period jazz that I know little of, but worthy. They had a few couples up on their feet and a very impressive presence!   Then Wayne Kelly with Ben and Mark in the bar upstairs.  Then Wayne Kelly with Ben and Mark in the bar upstairs.  This is the very trio that CJ first wrote up, in October 2005.  They look younger in that pic.  But what a band!  All originals, compositions from all members, sharp and beautifully played, mature and expressive all round, pizz and bow, sticks and brushes, plenty of excellent solos, rich in tones and harmonies and well arranged.  I noticed a post on FB with a pic of them in the ArtSound studio, I think 3 days before, so maybe this is a new album in train.  If so, it will be worthy!  Just one standard, I'm old fashioned.  Then Mereki Leten.  I've seen Mereki in various combinations in a few locations.  She's one to get out for the gig and that's great, and very often with Michael Larsen-Collins and sometimes with Greg Stott at her side.  This time that trio was grown with Gus Henderson.  Mereki had written a tune for this event and it was nice but her flute was playing up.  Thus played on tenor sax and with key change for her offsiders, but it went perfectly well.  Otherwise, a David Bowie tune on   flute, a lovely Stan Getz Sunshower, Nicola Conte and some standards.  Mereki plays with a lovely tone and confident although understated melody.  Nice.  Gus was also understated but took a solo or two and Michael was on a Bass VI, the Fender-designed octave-dropped guitar.  The Bass VI is having a run in town with Lachlan playing quite expertly, in Wanderlust and beyond.  And Greg, shredding here even beyond what I'd expected.  Just relaxed but expressive, quick and melodic.  What's not to like?  And a quick touch of Matthew Dennett and Robbie Mann playing CM Widor Toccata in F on two pianos in the Red Room.  I only caught a few minutes and really quite unexpected.  Then off for another family matter before a final return...

The ANU Jazz Orchestra performed under Con Campbell (MD, conductor).  Wayne Kelly (piano) performed with Ben O'Loughlin (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums).  Mereki Leten (tenor, flute) performed with Greg Stott (guitar), Michael Larsen-Collins (bass) and Gus Henderson (drums).  Matthew Dennett (piano) performed with Robbie Mann (e-piano).  They performed at the inaugural Canberra Jazz Festival at Smiths.

One sweet jam

Not too many came to this Smiths Jam.  Maybe there was some confusion over listing?  I hadn't seen it earlier but it was there in the evening.  Whatever, it was a nice outcome for me.  Mitch and I arrived at the same time and Greg was alone playing guitar in the upstairs bar.  I got the double bass from downstairs and Mitch got his sticks and we were a trio.  The bass sounded OK but with a nut too high for my hands but I got in some walks.  Then Michael arrived with an NS electric upright bass.   Michael took over on drums when Mitch left and I got to play the NS and it was a dream.  We had a few pianists  and vocal/flute and a string of decent standards and jazz tunes.  Such a pleasure to play and especially to play with Greg, wonderful player that he is.  So, an opportune night to get to the jazz jam at Smiths.

Out of the West

Ben Vanderwal appeared at the Festival of the Drum at Smiths, essentially leading the evening.  He's renowned and from Perth and unexpectedly accompanied by another Perthite who happened to be in town, but he revealed during the gig that he's got an early connection with Canberra.  I'll let you ask him.  I'd heard Ben several times over the years and he's a fave of mine and no way did he let us down this evening. But then he had a pretty good set of offsiders, too: Miro, John, Greg, Lachlan and that visiting Perth person, Emily Gelineau, on 5 string violin-cum-viola (the extra low string on the violin provides for the full range of the two instruments) who just happened to be passing through with Musica Viva (!).  There were tunes from several members, not least two of Miro's renowns and one from Greg as well as 3 from Ben (one with the title: Paul Motion goes to a dance hall concert) and an arrangement of Summertime and Monk Bemsha swing and interestingly, two rich groove-rich numbers from Don Cherry.  Don Cherry, that's interesting.  The final tune of the night was Mopti by Don Cherry and it just spelt the tenor of the night, deeply grooving, joyous presence, some improv cutting going on.  Emily was on violin and it's not a common jazz instrument.  She told me of her admiration for Stephane Grapelli and how she especially enjoys gypsy jazz, but she was perfectly comfortable in this grouping. There was joy and laughter here from the West to join with the chops of our more sedate Canberra presence.  Of course, Ben was inventive and supremely reliable and steady despite his wildly inventive play.  Something like his humour, perhaps.  And that final tune and the passed solos and infectious joy was just such a groovy pleasure to end the night on.  Just a stunner, in humour and stage presence as well as inventive playing.  Fabulous.

Ben Vanderwal (drums) led a band with Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet, flugelhorn), John Mackey (tenor), Greg Stott (guitar), Lachlan Coventry (bass) and perth-side sit-in Emily Gelineau (5-string violin/viola) at Smiths. 

Battling orchs

It was a night of big but very diverse sounds.  First up a considerable classical orchestral concert by the ANU Orchestra, long enough to deserve an interval.  A few very popular pieces but also somethings new.  Mozart Symphony no.40 Gmin is everybody's but still a great, inviting work.  There were a few movements of concerti, one of clarinet by Weber and the first movement of the famed Elgar cello concerto.  There was a Glanville Hicks Sinfonia de Pacifica which sounded more Asian than islander to my ears and Megan's and an original by a current student, Bartholomew Bunk Alpha and Omega.   I liked this one, clear in intent and capably conventional in structure and obvious in stating the start and end, the alpha and omega.  And a few short but massively popular heavyweights, Copland Fanfare for the common man, with the brass up and behind our heads and the strings looking from stage to upper gallery, and Sibelius Finlandia to end.  A concert of considerable depth but popularity and nicely played with lines clearly expressed if a little reticent at times; nothing unexpected.  Then off to the Athenaeum for a further hour with wines in hand and the chance to clapping the solos with the ANU Jazz Orchestra under Greg Stott.  First up were a few latins and sambas and an interesting contemporary tune nicely using bass bowing at one stage and into standards with vocals, Somewhere over the rainbow and Night and day and an end with Dizzy Gillespie Manteca.  Decent solos and particularly interesting from the percussion/drums section and some lovely, satisfyingly sharp and meaty ensemble work and one deep bari solo which was well done but will always amuse regardless.

A night out in Llewellyn with the ANU Orchestra under Rowan Harvey-Martin and the ANU Jazz Orchestra under Greg Stott.

Blowout

I love a big band especially when it's a bit modern and challenging.  This was two BBs, or at least Jazz Orchestras, from the ANU School of Music: the students and the mates.  The students started the night.  They were not just students; the band is open to ANU students and staff more broadly.  But this was not just the old swingers, as lovely as they can be.  They started with Havana, then a Samba, then a string of tunes including the Nelson Riddle arrangement of Night and day for Frank Sinatra and finishing on Dizzy Gillespie Manteca.  So a lively and latin tinged set.  Some nice solos through the group, some movements within the percussionists and drummer, and singer Evie sitting in for two swingers.  Then a break and Greg's mates and drummer son, called the Test Pilot Big Band.  Both bands were directed by  Greg Stott and Greg played guitar for his TPBB.  He introduced the band as friends he could make a call on and there were plenty of recognisable faces.  What friends!  This was an exciting and wonderfully capable, driving band.  The life and energy and confidence and chops were just thrilling.   The tunes were mostly originals by Greg early on then later, when singer Steve Amosa sat in, they were covers, R&B, Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and the like.  A singalong to Donny Hathaway had us joining in and clapping and otherwise just heavy grooving to some great solos and steady driving grooves and pretty sharp written lines.  Nice.  Great music and great playing, but also just infectious fun.  Loved this gig!

Greg Stott (conductor, guitar) led the ANU Jazz Orchestra and the Test Pilots Big Band performed at Smiths.

Stan

Mereki plays cool, correct, crisp, nicely inventive with beautiful and consistent tones, gorgeous not boisterous.  I once saw Stan Getz and I mentioned him to Mereki and she noted that he's an influence.  I wasn't at all surprised.  Such a lovely tone and such understated but expressive playing!  She was playing at Molly for a Tuesday evening jazz night gig with Michael and Greg.  Greg is probably one of her teachers; Michael is a fellow student and I often see them playing together.  I first thought he was on guitar and he did have 6 strings, but it was a Fender Bass 6.  It's actually a bass guitar, tuned EADGBE one octave below a guitar, although its short scale makes it a different beast.  I feel they sound like guitarists playing low rather than bassists, but it's thuddy and it does the trick and they get the gig, so so be it.  He played some quick solos down low or up the neck that few bassists could manage.  And Greg was playing guitar in his lithe but quick, crisp, fluent style.  Just standards, carefully and precisely done, expressive and relaxed and sometimes up, neat and clear, or maybe a ballad.  The Nearness of you had me melting.  It's so beautiful and they did such a lovely job on it.  I just caught one set but it was a lovely thing.

Mereki Leten (tenor) led a trio with Greg Stott (guitar) and Michael Larsen-Collins (guitar) at Molly.

Double shot

It was the opening night for Smiths Alt upstairs and I was interested.  But a quick look at NPC had Rafael Jergen in town playing with Greg Stott and Mark Sutton.  I caught the first set, all standards as is the style of NPC Fridays, and an awe-inspiring set all round.  Of course from Raf, who studied in Canberra, then in Luzern and now teaches at the HSLU Hochschule Luzern.  A story of commitment and the outcome is evident.  Wonderful playing.  Quick and correct but also relaxed and responsive.  So good.  Nice to see Mark back from the coast for some gigs, too.  Both he and Greg played effective and communicative solos, playful to Raf's ever-wide smile.  (OK, so I caught them in a moment of concentration!).  And I met Raf's family.  These visits for so many overseas-based players are family visits with some gigs thrown in.  Since COVID and those imposed music school antics, we haven't had the visiting players as before, so glad to see any and especially Raf.  Then a quick visit to Smiths upstairs.  It's been on the agenda for some time and now established.  Two decent rooms and a balcony upstairs.  One room is smaller with bar, upright piano and electric organ and a comfy hangout atmosphere.  The band on the opening night was Leisa Nicole (organ), Stephen Richards (drums) and Ben O'Loghlin (guitar).  Lovely tunes, organ tones, left hand organ bass.  The other room is more an upstairs concert-cum-events space, larger, with a stage, a grand piano (!), a pipe organ (?) and a small but decent PA.  It's early days yet, not too much furniture (despite a string of pianos throughout), but it bodes well for an extension of Nigel and Beth's lovely, laid-back and inviting, exploratory and bohemian atmosphere.

Rafael Jergen (bass) performed with Greg Stott (guitar) and Mark Sutton (drums) at the National Press Club.  Leisa Nicole (organ), Stephen Richards (drums) and Ben O'Loghlin (guitar) performed upstairs at Smiths.

Leaning to party

 

John Mackey was playing at the NPC and I was free but in the end it was more a visit to old friends than a serious jazz gig.  Perhaps because the noise was high and listening was difficult but we could chat in the break and it was happy hour and there was dark ale.  Like a party.  John was playing with Greg so a tenor/guitar duo, sometimes the pair but often just guitar even amongst the noise.  But a great outing.  I listened to John as I could, remembering his correction once to me that he wasn't playing out and it's clearly true: he's mostly playing the chords but just scarily fluent.  And Greg also fluent and expressive for chords and solos even playing solo.  Just a relaxing friendly interlude straining to catch the virtuosity from both instruments amongst the chatty crowd.   More party than concert but always worthy playing.

And vale for that endangered lizard or whatever which was surviving in that block on National Circuit which has now succumbed to cranes.  Another one bites the dust, at least in this location...

John Mackey (tenor) and Greg Stott (guitar) played at the National Press Club.

Melody

We bassists have too little awareness of melody.  Even our awareness of chords is limited other than as movements and intervals, say, compared to a pianist who plays the colours.   It's understandable.  Our role is rhythm and we can play whole gigs with just a chord chart and it's common with many (primarily) single note instruments.  Nonetheless, melody and those chordal colours are central to well written music and Burt Bacharach is a key example in C20th popular music and I was astounded yet again at Smiths this night.  Greg Stott was leading a group playing the music of BB.  I was late, given some confusion over the starting time, but what I heard had me almost in tears.  Admittedly, it's music of my lifetime and that's of relevance, but the complexity and sheer inevitability of the tunes, their plays with time and abbreviated bars, their glorious unexpected colours and beautiful while self-evident melodies overwhelmed me.  The band was good too!  Great even.  Chris with a Beatle bass with pick and occasional finger style, thumping apt rhythms and grooves and plenty of expressive solos.  Nick a wonder on steady and determined beats that exploded with sharp fills.  Greg just shredding with his quick and neat guitar, and some delightful jazz solo takes on a few tunes.  El had a new 5-string e-violin that had me thinking viola until I heard of the low C string.  Her solos were expressive and right, but she stunned me with neat and glove-fitting fills, expertly played over Burt's captivating chords and melodies that just asked for such treatment in good hands.  And Liam who put the words, sometimes queried in our different world, of love and loss.  Anyone who had a heart had to be touched by his fluid jazz interpretations.  But the love, or the look of it, was filling the hearts at Smiths.  Not that it was a young crowd: this was of an era.  I mostly missed the first set, coming in on an instrumental Look of love (as I remember) then a break.  Then That's what friends are for, Wives and lovers, Alfie, Walk on by, Close to you, What the world needs now is love.  Just one of those would crown the work of virtually any songwriter.  Truly a master amongst  Lennon/McCartney, Dylan, Carole King, Joni Mitchell and the like.  But this was just some tunes.  I remember seeing Greg at the BB gig at the Royal Theatre here in Canberra in Oct 2015.  Just look at his playlist for that concert and fell the awe.  Given Burt's and the Greg's band, this was the concert I was most awaiting this year and I was not disappointed.

Greg Stott (guitar), Chris Pound (bass), Nick McBride (drums), Llewellyn Osborne (violin) and Liam Budge (vocals) performed music of Burt Bacharach at Smiths.

BB setlist Oct 2015

Testers

Then band no. 2, Greg Stott's Test Pilots.  Very different even if one tune harked to Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin and thus perhaps a hint at the Swamp jazz.  But no, this was different.  A mix of two generations, the senior partners up front and the rhythm section, a piano trio, behind.  Not that the front line took all.  The music was, in some ways, defined by the intense funky, loud and immensely driving grooves.  That is until a guitar took off with its own drive, meaning distortion, hot and loud and fast and indulgent.  Nothing like Greg at the National Press Club and so, so, so much fun.  I could drool over the sweeps, that signature of Canberra's own US guitar hero, Frank Gambale.  Greg was all over it.  And John, of course, always a master.  I found his solos more clear and easier to follow in this groove context.  I remember just how one simple rising arpeggio run followed by a scalar return took my breath away, as obvious a thing as it seems.  But the youngsters got their time in the headlights, too.  No slouches.  Jamie on Rhodes was a melodic but also rhythmically intense soloist, then I admired a spot where he sat out for variation and clarity.  That's mature.  And Haris, all rhythms and octaves on the chord notes surprised with a busily melodic final solo, and Peter, replacing Nic McBride no less, all concentration and sharp funky intensity, blew us out with several short filler solos then a final blow of concentration and momentum towards the end.  Greg led it all and introduced it all.  First up a medley in honour of recently deceased Jeff Beck, Mingus Goodbye porkpie hat leading into 'Cos we ended as lovers.  Those immense strained guitar tones boded well.  Then into three Greg originals, all grooves and complex melodic passages, Cipher, Alea iacta est (the tune in honour of Earnest Ranglin) and Blood nut.  Then Peter Gabriel Don't give up, for its play on timing, and Fuego, another Greg original and base for a final blow for all, a swinger with walking bass over rock drum line.  By this time I was chuckling with the daring and excitement of it all.  What a blast.

Greg Stott's Test Pilots played at Smiths and comprised Greg Stott (guitar), John Mackey (tenor), Jamie Rea (Rhodes), Haris Hodzic (bass) and Peter Campion (drums).

Jamming another way

Well the other way is obvious and it's jazz and it's there virtually adjacent on a Wednesday night: the Pro Jazz Jam at Molly.  The hosts are a blast and the sit-ins are no slouches either, or a t least most.  I came in with James Luke and Con Campbell with sit-ins on drums and guitar and another guitar.  I sat in a little later, then Greg Stott and Steve Richards came back to end the night.  Both guitar and drums sitting in were classy acts; students I guess, but reliable, interesting, knowing the expectations.  The second guitar was an earlier style but again capable.  There was an e-bassist too, but I was chatting.  The final few tunes when Greg and Steve fell in were stunning.  Tight, quick, classy, all the lines clear and apt, some explosive tenor and blurting guitar and bass that was clear in intent and might quick and into the stratosphere, although only when it worked.  It just did.  The tunes were pretty standard; the performance was exemplary.  Did I mention I was impressed?  I was.

The host band at Molly's jazz jam was Con Campbell (tenor), Greg Stott (guitar), James Luke (bass) and Steve Richards (drums).

Unlocked

ACT is perhaps the most Covid-vaccinated population in the world (as they are saying) so it's not unexpected that we'd be opening up, and we are.  My first outing to a music venue was for commendable locals, the Greg Stott Trio, at National Press Club.  They played standards and latins and perhaps pop in jazz styles (we heard Eleanor Rigby) and they were just inspirational!  Greg is fluid and swift and inventive; Mark is our local drum gem, stunning me with an open sounding solo of such exhilarating and intellectually satisfying polyrhythms as to drool over.  Bass was Chris Pound on electric.  Chris was once a star student but I haven't heard him for years.  He bio says he's played in USA, England, Poland, Cyprus and Ireland since graduating from ANUSOM in 2009 but obviously now returned to Canberra.  Again, neatly expressive and melodic in solos, not flashy but satisfying.  The lineup at NPC is always impressive and this trio nothing less.  It gets an extra mark given the lack of live playing for a while.  We just caught one set, but mature and capable and wonderfully sharp playing.  Not NYC but it may as well be.

Greg Stott (guitar) led his trio with Chris Pound (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums) at the National Press Club.

Quality and quantity

I'll put it down to a matter of quality and quantity.  I am wont to feel the width, but my recent CJ posts have been infrequent after a total blowout at the last (classical bass) concert.  But John Mackey's Melting Pot playing his Wave Length suite was fitting as another blowout.  It was fabulous and I was in awe.  John had described it as an improvised series of movements based on skeletal scores and influenced by Covid. I heard a series of tunes with rock-based grooves (think '70s Miles) and nicely twisted heads with plenty of space for blows.  There were some floating segments, perhaps with electronics or glorious piano chords from Wayne, some ecstatic outbursts from Greg and wonderfully and reliably tuneful, melodic statements from the front line of John and Miro.  They can both explode with a flourish but openly spell melody and play with various degrees of dissonance at will, and that interplay can be blissful.  Miro's harmonising to John can be a thing of great beauty.  And they both played with an octaver or harmoniser to sound all the world like synths.  And there was electronics there, too, with Mark standing at a bench of electronics, perhaps a keyboard (not sure) but definitely a laptop with looping and more (probably Ableton, I guess).  Mostly it was lost to the audience but between tunes and in some floating segments, it was evident.  Greg had a laptop, too, but not sure how it was used.  He had a string of pedals at his feet, so not just for effects.  And the core of the rhythm section was Lachlan on his Bass 6, that unusual 6-string bass that I remember as a remnant from the '60s.  He plays with thumb-pick and finger-picking for some fabulously embellished rhythmic grooves and extensive solos.  It's a different, virtuosic approach to bass, both grooving and thrilling at once.  And Mark, Sir Mark of the late intros, just a gem with the most supple stick control creating glorious, sweet tone and endless insistent driving grooves with nothing out of place, no embellishment ever indulgent, just perfect, never erring.  Mark was way on top in the mix that I found not quite as I'd expect, with Greg somewhat lost or indistinct, as too was Lachlan (but bass is hard to clarify), as even were John and Miro although Wayne seemed to be there, crisp on grand piano, when I turned my ear to him.  Perhaps a function of where I was seated?  But I quibble.  I enjoyed this concert deeply, the playing was outstanding, the heads were a great pleasure and there was joy and even some fun, and that glorious snare-on-3 drumming throughout.  So, quality or quantity?  At least for my last few CJ outings, the call is outlandish quality!  BTW, I chatted with Mark and Greg after and suggested a release from this session.  I just hope it was recorded as multitrack.

John Mackey's Melting Pot played the world premiere of his Wave Lengths suite.  The performers were John Mackey (tenor, soprano sax), Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet, flugelhorn), Greg Stott (guitar), Wayne Kelly (piano, keys), Lachlan Coventry (bass), Mark Sutton (drums) and Mark Webber (laptop).

PS.  Thanks to Abbey Mackay Budge of the Creswick Collective and Caroline Stacey of the Street Theatre for the pic.

Jazzing post-whatever

I was musing with a jazzer the other day about gigs around Canberra.  We have had a wave of losses over recent years from the changes to the ANU School of Music then the biggie from COVID but one modest venue has just kept on keeping on.  That's the National Press Club .  In fact, it's expanded, at least for jazz, as jazz has taken over from the thursday blues nights.  It's mild club jazz, but it can be exhilarating with some of the best players around town and occasional visiting mates.  So the other night I got to NPC for the Jason Varlet trio.  His offsiders were Greg Stott and Mark Sutton, both regulars at NPC.  I hadn't seen Jason for years.  He's a fluent, capable e-bassist and he was hot on the night, quick and fluently mobile over the neck with a boppy, chordal approach to solos and a soft tone.  Greg has his own speed, too, of course, but is more influenced by the melody (bassists tend to know chords and, despite best intentions, forget to learn the melody).  Greg is always a pleasure.  But tonight my eye was particularly on Mark, able and deliriously, pleasurably correct and so nice with some solos that were not so fast (well, sometimes in flourishes) as conversational, expressive, substantial.  One surprised me with mallets.  Otherwise, they were always fluent, working the various skins for expression, precise and consistent in attack and accent.  Not at all the rock star, but the eloquent and subtle virtuoso.  It was a particularly good night for Mark, I guess.  I could just chuckle  and give restrained applause.  Such a pleasure.  So, another visit to my local.  It's become a habit recently.

Jason Varlet (e-bass) led a trio with Greg Stott (guitar) and Mark Sutton (drums).

Converted by Covid

I guess it was Covid that caused Sydney drummer Dave Goodman to be off the program at NPC.  It's the standard way in these pandemic times.  But the guy who walked by me, I guess seeing me alone and listening, the guy who said "excellent music", said it all.  This was a blast regardless and with no drums!  Just jazz blowing on standards and latins and bop with tenderness to curb exhuberance.  Brendan and Greg were on the bill; Con replaced sticks with a tenor reed.  This was truly a thing of beauty.  Not too loud or insistent but gloriously expressive from all three.  Greg works hard taking both solo and accompanist parts, but never a hesitation.  Brendan was just a smooth speedster playing soft but deadly lines throughout his solos, then nonchalant accompaniment with equal finesse.  Dave's ring-in was Con, on tenor.  The role was different but mellifluous, sometimes, explosive, always melodically satisfying.  I could hear the lyrics and lines of many players, from bop to latin, presumably a measure of his transcriptions, or maybe just listening.  Transcriptions is my guess.  Lovely.  So a different experience but a deeply satisfying one.  Just locals, but just excellent, in the words of my passing mate. 

Con Campbell (tenor), Greg Stott (guitar) and Brendan Clarke (bass) played at the National Press Club.

Some like it hot

Obviously Con Campbell does.  At least that's how I hear him and it was no different last night.  It's a quiet week but I wandered into Molly and there was Con's band, with Greg and Brendan and Mark.  Playing bebop.  It mostly stayed that way for the night, or if not bop, treated that way.  Not that Brendan would slow it down.  He's a machine gunner with delightful melodicism so raring and ready for the quick stuff and he plays with the application and effort that the big bass needs and sounds great for it.  Greg is more restrained: blindingly quick but clean, not the bluesy dirt that the others were indulging in.  I tapped one time on my metronome: 274.  Quick but not into the stratosphere.  Brendan had worried that he'd maybe settled the time, but I doubt it.  There was reliable drive here and his double timed phrases didn't lag a millisecond.  Con led with the tunes and heads and walked through the fours and the rest.  Lovely, expressive solos and a big earthy tone.  The alto player I was sitting with commented on that.  Mark was bright in the lights and delightfully steady and unintrusive but took the feature when the fours came around and they were inventive and easy.  Such a lovely outing, if "outing" is the right word for the bebop and uptempo swingers and latins that we were hearing.  Maybe stunner is a better word.  I got into chatter with Brendan's family (cheers, Mel) and that was interesting, if necessarily shouty given the volume, so I missed a good bit of the music.  But every peek at the band was another stunning line from someone.  This was still the quiet week after Christmas, not yet New Year's Eve, but this was alive.  Great stuff.

Con Campbell (tenor) led a band at Molly with Greg Stott (guitar), Brendan Keller-Tuberg (bass) and Mark Levers (drums).

A too quick interlude

I saw so little and to some degree I heard so little of Briana Cowlishaw and that was disappointing.  I was booked for something else to 7pm so I only managed 4 tunes, and even though I was relatively close, the chatter was loud (that's good, but...).  I heard perhaps more of Greg as his guitar was sharp with attack and cut through, but voice is more smooth.  But what I heard was lovely and I could feel it getting earthier and firmer even by the fourth song.  I would have liked to follow that, as she settled in, but I couldn't.  Already there was a neat, well controlled alto voice, gentle but with occasional power, a nice awareness of timing so the melodies got subtle jazz inflections and delays and anticipations.  And she sang several scat improvs with lines that showed clear listening to sax lines and other jazz instruments.  This, too, was getting firmer and more adventurous and earthier. It helped that the last song I caught was the relatively raunchy Honeysuckle rose.  Her bossa was far more restrained and romantic and I liked to hear some language (Portuguese? Again I couldn't hear well) in the bossa.  So, nice but a short outing.  Greg was great too, of course.  His solo guitar role was totally convincing moving through accompaniment into soloing, chordal and single note lines, with no hesitation or feel of undue sparseness.  Not busy, but comfortable and present.  Too short but sweet.

Briana Cowlishaw (vocals) was accompanied by Greg Stott (guitar) at the National Press Club.

Difference

My God, what styles there are in jazz!  Styles over eras.  I got to the National Press Club for John Mackie's band, with Greg and Brendan and Mark.  Anyone who knows these names will know these are superlative players.  Just a thrill to hear such ease and richness.  So different from just days back, at Molly.  Was it Messaien that Bird studied and held in reverence?  And what of Hendrix who died young, shortly before he was to play with Miles.  Different worlds but all music, just mightily diverse, or as Newton said, "standing on the shoulders of giants".  Like Hildegard von Bingen to Fanny Mendelssohn.  Difference but also all one.  John played some Bird Parker and it was stunning.  The whole band: sharp, relevant, correct, devastatingly quick.  As a bassist, I was especially awed by Brendan's alacrity, but also the lines that were so melodically true.  Much the same from the others, of course.  All referencing the source, a standard or bop or whatever, but giving it personal relevance and currency in interpretation, so John's lines started by spelling some unexpected intervals then developed with harmony and flurries to floor the listener.  More modern, perhaps, but referential.  Then a bossa that sat like a rock, sturdy but pretty and devastatingly emotional.  Not sure what else to say, but I was enthralled.  Years of practice distilled into a few sets in a bar, National Press Club, for some birthday guests, I guess, and others.  And they noticed.  It's hard not to notice such ability, unpretentious, there, in a modest setting.  Really quite a stunner, actually.

John Mackey (tenor) led a quartet with Greg Stott (guitar), Brendan Clarke (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums) at the National Press Club.

We are blessed

It was a family evening so Sandy Evans and Andrew Robson was out. What a loss; they are such a capable and inspiring group. But I managed an hour at the National Press Club for Greg's band, and I was blessed. Really, we are all blessed. I've travelled the world and found great musicians scattered throughout. We have our own and Greg and Lachlan and Mark are amongst them. They are not our only ones so we are doubly blessed. I just caught a few tunes (and a cheap beer at the happy hour). I recognised but can't name them, but I was inspired by the playing. Mark just dropped the slightest of solos, but it was bliss: first up polyrhythmic plays, then straighter and sharp as. Greg is out front, being guitar, and slithering through fast, crisp, intriguing solos and, of course, spelling out melodies. And somewhat the same for Lachlan. He plays bass on a Fender 6 and shreds it like a guitar and it's a blissful experience, again also with references to melodies and passing dissonant harmonies. So all round, I was just dumbfounded. These are not our visitors, not troubadours visiting from NYC or Berlin. These are just our locals in the NPC bar on a Friday evening and they are seriously capable and intriguing players. My God, how lucky we are. On the other hand, our pollies are ratshit, so not all is right in the world...

Greg Stott (guitar) led a trio with Lachlan Coventry (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums) at the National Press Club.

Contrasts

It was a fascinating contrast to be introduced to North and South Indian classical music in one week. I'd heard of the distinction but never chased it up. I guess this is indicative: Bobby Singh and tablas and ta ka di mi in the north; Tunji Beier and various tones and drums from the south. Both were playing with western musicians in a jazz context. I wrote of Bobby Singh with Sandy Evans a few days ago. This was Tunji Beier with the ANU Jazz Faculty band in the band room. To me it was like listening to an album, with tunes running one into another, perhaps with a connecting solo segment. Each tune nicely clear and purposeful with a minimalist few chords with a head from Paul Cutlan, visiting ANU and here playing bass clarinet. The feels were spacey or 8-to-the-bar grooves or even a final South African feel, so much repetition with rhythmic plays, modern and so much less harmonic than much jazz, bebop and the like. Truly inviting solos from bass and guitar and bass clarinet variously, playing with syncopations or playing tones, not least like didj from Paul at times, or just hugely effective bass solos, soft but more jazz-like. Not that this wasn't jazz but then bundaries are flued these days anyway. And the drums. Mark took a heavy mallet solo with unrelenting pulse, then to be joined by Tunji with his powerful complex Indian broken rhythms. Lovely and it worked a treat. And to open and close, sharply toned rocks dragged and clicked against a larger rock. And that tuned bowl. And somewhere that mouth harp. This was somewhat towards music for meditation but not there, minimalist to a degree but album-purposeful. I liked this one lots.

Tunji Beier (South Indian percussion) played with Mark Sutton (drums), Brendan Clarke (bass), Greg Stott (guitar) and Paul Cutlan (bass clarinet). Kim Cuneo (piano), ANU School of Music Director, sat in for the opening bars.