Cognisance

Gareth Hill was back in town with a band he called Slow Code, if only for the night. But what music! Since the virtual demise of jazz in Canberra following the virtual demise of the School of Music, touring visitors are increasingly rare and especially intellectual and musical challenges like this. It was difficult stuff - Jack Beeche was warning me of that before, as one of the performers. Gareth was launching his CD called Slow Code. It's a product of his PhD research into the music of Henry Threadgill, renowned contemporary jazz composer. I once caught HT in a workshop at the Jazz Gallery in NYC and reported it on CJ but I found it pretty metaphorical or maybe over-encompassing stuff. The spiel for Gareth's gig spoke of alternative harmonies, form modulation, improvised counterpoint. Jack showed me a chart and it comprised three staves of heavily syncopated lines for bass, guitar and sax. I had the impression Aaron on drums was also looking at some chart, perhaps that for the others. But this was a base only, a guide for playing or improvising at will. I think Gareth also gave advice on order of solos, etc, so that's the form modulation. He certainly spoke of HT changing tunes most time he plays them. As Jack joked, this was not a gig for after a few drinks. I might add, for the audience too. This was highly rich in harmony and dissonance, fleet of foot with change and improvisation, highly interactive with guides but also glances. Everyone played with great competence. Gareth, with his lovely rounded tone, not particularly speedy but wonderfully inventive in intervals and rhythmic play; Dan all speedy on guitar, dropping in harmonics or finger picking clusters; Jack with a wonderfully satisfying alto tone, sometimes quick, often slower and considered and thoughtful; Aaron strong but anomalous with unexpected hits and only toying with standard grooves. It was a stunningly inventive and difficult but satisfying exploration of rhythm and harmony and interplay. Mostly the tunes were Gareth's following HT, other than Dan's Sermon and Jack's Scooping and Monk's Ugly beauty, perhaps via Bernie McGann. A fabulous and enlivening detour through some of the most inventive of music.

Gareth Hill (bass) launched his album Slow Code influenced by the music of Henry Threadgill at Smiths. The band was Gareth with Jack Beeche (alto), Dan Mamrot (guitar) and Aaron McCoullough (drums) and was called Slow Code, if only for the night.

Bad+

I was lucky enough to hear a Paul Motion trio at Village Vanguard several years back and the format and approach was similar to this gig at Smiths. Two trios played, both bass- and piano-less, drums, a horn and guitar. Jack Beeche's trio featured alto; Brae Grimes' trio featured cornet. A chordless trio like this gives an open, flowing, harmonically-fluid sound. The guitar could play chords, and very occasionally did, but his take was more single notes, counterpoint, horn-like. I was chatting with drummer Aaron in the break and he spoke of how guitar can move the harmony especially using different inversions. It's a strangely ill-defined sound, gentle and inquisitive, open to lovely flows of melodic interplay. Jack and guitarist Dan certainly had that going, with a swishing background of drum and cymbal sounds, not playing the groove but responding to it, again none to defined. Brae's trio was called BAD trio and it was also very, very good, although this was more direct, with more a feeling of drive rather than float, but trumpet/cornet will mostly be harder and more direct than sax can be. Dan and Aaron played here too. I didn't so much notice changes from Dan, even if there were more twisted unison heads and less obvious counterpoint and a little more bass-like understory, but his backing and solos still spoke with a similar feel even if with , and he excelled with a stunner solo mid-set using loops and a growing growl of overdrive and harder pickup tones, gradually undoing this back to relatively uneffected tones. Aaron was more playing time, harder, more determined. Jack's tunes were some originals (by Jack and one by Dan) and sometimes standards, often melded into gently combined medleys: Monk's Light blue, Mingus' Duke Ellington's sound of love, Jim Hall's Careful, a 16 bar blues. Amusingly, Brae had given his tunes personal names; apparently it was easier to call on the stand than composition dates, so 4/7/15 became Shazza (I didn't catch dates for Bertha, Dwayne or Ursula). Each set had a quartet segment for the last tune, where Brae joined Jack and later Jack joined Brae. I felt maybe this diluted the concept of each band/trio but the music was still impressive. So? Great to hear this style, transposed as it is from Smalls and Village Vanguard and the rest, and played with wonderful authenticity. A stunner.

PS. I listened to Jack's first CD later and was pleased to hear he achieves a similar flowing quality but with bass (Gareth Hill). As a bassist, I can only feel relieved because I love the style.

Jack Beeche (alto) led a trio with Dan Mamrot (guitar) and Aaron McCoullough (drums). Brae Grimes (cornet) led his BAD Trio, also with Dan and Aaron.

Daniel plays our lost Parisan café

Daniel Hunter was back from Paris for several birthdays and a jazz wake for Smiths and perhaps more. The venue was full (I almost didn't get in and a few other regulars gave up) but that's life in the big smoke. Perhaps Smiths should have seen crowds more like this earlier and they may not have closed. Sad. But good to hear Daniel again, this time touring with a band of mates from Melbourne, the Longhairs (joke). Jokes were a topic of the night (joke). Really, the music was the topic and this was convincing stuff, reminding me of West Coast contemporary, perhaps Pat Metheny. Guitar music, changing bar lengths especially in the head, plenty of changes but few obvious cycles. I'd heard a few of these tunes from his CD and there were some new ones: one as yet unnamed; another called Asylum with an obvious theme and angry, 4 chord rock resonance. Another is Sco-feel with obvious references, and I could feel the Scofield dirty guitar edge here and elsewhere. I liked the echo that held after some tunes, too, although effects, certainly sustain, were not too obvious. Drummer Nick was a hit with much rock-influenced concept and conviction and confident execution. Bassist Gareth is an old hand and local favourite. He's showing great firmness and professionalism after several years in Melbourne. Tenor Jack built his solos nicely from evident to rabid fast passages. Really nice, and especially so in harmony with John Mackey who sat in for two tunes. John was the teacher of several of these students and deserves their obvious respect: he played a storm and read post-bop easily: admittedly fairly scalar lines but at presto speeds. This was Circulation, like the others a composition by Daniel. Born in the 80s was Daniel talking about his generation with a manic, discordant concurrent solo by tenor and guitar. But perhaps it was Quiet, a pretty, floating tune in 3/4 with melody syncopations that I most took to. But then, at the end, I wondered at the quality of these guys: the neat reading, spot-on timing, interesting charts, substantive solos. This is the product of our jazz education, now looking to me to be pretty much lost to Canberra. And our Parisian café, Smiths Alternative, along with it.

Daniel Hunter (guitar, compositions) led a quartet with Jack Beeche (tenor), Gareth Hill (bass) and Nick Martin (drums). John Mackey (tenor) sat in for two tunes. For the last Thursday jazz night at Smiths Alternative.

Happy Birthday Harry

The music for Harry’s birthday was jumpy and oblique. Tim Willis was the guitarist and composer for The End and Harry was Tim’s nephew. I’m not sure how this music fitted a sixth birthday (this is not the Wiggles) and also not sure how you contemplate modern jazz that produces these sounds. This is such a different music from Miles or, it seems to me, even one of their cited influences, The Bad Plus. I thought perhaps there was surf music in it or rockabilly and even metal. Tim just called it jazz and I was admonished by a mate for seeking categories. Whatever, I find all this refreshing, and this no less than other new forms. There were solos, especially against long crescendos. There were some very complex unison ostinatos, behind drum solos but also elsewhere. There were passages of immense quietness which surprised me given a quintet lineup with two horns. The music wasn’t really loud, even if there were some spots that were. There were drums that were immensely controlled or alternatively explosive. There were guitar and sax solos that were malleable or even purposely indecisive in pitch and richly changing in perverse harmonies. There were melodies that went with and against harmonies, and ones that responded to rhythm section calls. There was guitar that was woody and echoing and dirty as but also simply melodic, even in keys that clashed dissonantly with underlying chords. There was repetition in the rhythm section, with e-bass clarity on Fender Jazz, yet there was also zestful simultaneous soloing on two horns with guitar. There were lots of odd time signatures and changes despite an unnerving apparent simplicity. There was all this, over entertaining melodies that spoke of simplicity and humour. But this is not simple. Not really like The Wiggles.

Great show. There’s a huge variety of jazz happening these days with all historical forms existing together in a formless postmodern quantum realm with influences from wherever. This music that embraces the quirkiest to the most serious and the endless combinations they make. What is jazz? Who knows, but ya gotta love it.

The End comprises Tim Willis (leader, guitarist, composer), John Felstead (tenor), Jack Beeche (alto), Gareth Hill (electric bass), and Nick Martyn (drums).