Bassic matters

Two outings had me contemplating bass playing.  First up was a duo gig with James at Gundog Estate, playing a few hours and chatting with some of the visitors and staff.  The sound was so soft. I thought we were hardly hearable yet we were asked to turn down, but we were playing just feet from a table of ten.  The low volume was a pleasure and an opportunity to hear so softly, to contemplate melody and solos and passing ideas, to then talk of matters of performance, so this was wonderful and enjoyed and we played well on some James originals and a string of luscious standards.  Standards can be so beautiful and touching in an open, theatrical way, with fascinating intervals and lovely chordal movements and even opportunities to dirty things up with some dissonance.  A musical pleasure.

Outing no.2 was a three bass get together with Juliet and Jeremy before Jeremy's move to NYC to study bass.  It was a chat on technique from basic to advanced, cycles of arpeggios to upper octave pentatonics, exercises and training resources, mostly lesson-like with a string of interesting quotes (Jeremy is great on meeting renowned players and has fascinating quotes to share) and then a short spot of sharing instruments and jamming together.  Three basses with Juliet's Adam sitting in on piano for a bit.

It all may seem a bit incestuous, as are discussions in orchestral sections within and between sections (eg, basses often talk to basses and somewhat to cellos) but it is such a valuable self-led lesson experience.

James Woodman (piano) and Eric Pozza (bass) performed at the Wine cellar at Gundog Estate in Gundaroo.  Jeremy Tsuei, Juliet Flook and Eric Pozza (basses) talked and played bass, sometimes with Adam Hilhorst (piano).

Many happy returns

Once again our great joy to return to Red Hill Primary School with memories of kids and Sausage sandwiches without the politics.  But this only gets a post if we play with someone new.  This time, it was Gus Henderson and it all worked a treat, including a take in a New Orleans groove.  Always a pleasure.

Tilt Alt. comprised James Woodman (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Gus Henderson (drums) at RHPS.  Thanks to Lin for the pics.

Something else

James and I enjoy our occasional duos at Gundog at Gundaroo.  Piano and bass is such an open sound with such an opportunity to hear and respond and hopefully invent.  I guess because neither steps on the other in frequency and the lack of parts just allows concentration and comparison.  Whatever, I was a little surprised to have Ornette called, I thought pretty daring for such a venue, but this was The Blessing and we'd played it before and it's got a groove if interrupted that works.  So Ornette for comfy venues.  I checked the Allmusic review for Something else, the album The Blessing appears on and an old fave I haven't heard for a while and the argument is that "in its angular, almost totally oppositional way, it swung and still does".  Couldn't agree more!  As for the award-winning riesling, something special.

James Woodman (piano) and Eric Pozza (bass) played at Gundaroo.

Country but close

James and I have done a few duo gigs and we had another, again at the Cork St Cellars, Gundog Estate at Gundaroo.  It's a busy little winery outlet and bar and we got to play for a few hours and it was seriously good fun.  There's a clarity without drums; perhaps a case of less is more.  Every note, every idea, (every slip-up) is crystal clear.  We just played a string of standards and more up-tempo blues and the like and one original and the audience appeared oblivious but we had several people coming up for a chat after.  It's not a scene where response is immediate and ecstatic (not pub rock!) but there was awareness and understated appreciation and that's a pleasure.  And Gundaroo is actually surprisingly close despite its very rural demeanour.  Now, we just need a name for this little combo.

James Woodman (piano) and Eric Pozza (bass) played at Cork St Cellar at Gundog Estate, Gundaroo.

Busy-ness

It was a busy musical weekend, what with 2 jazz gigs and a Beethoven 7 rehearsal and later a concert and a committee meeting.  No pics for the two gigs, but a big thanks to Hugh who sat in on drums for one and who was playing the second when I was sitting in.  My sit-in was with Simon Halabi at Blue Eyes, that intimate cocktail bar.  Simon sings, too, so not just the standards as instrumentals but also a few borderline jazz songs, like Peggy Lee's take on Fever.  Nice and well received.  Not an easy lug and only more demanding given ongoing works in Garema Place (more ongoing works...) and rain and a very confusing parking station.  But two gigs much enjoyed.  But no pics on either night...

Tilt Alt played Dickson Taphouse on Friday night with James Woodman (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Hugh Magri-Bull (drums).  Simon Halabi (piano, vocals) played Blue Eyes on Saturday night with Eric Pozza (bass) and Hugh Magri-Bull (drums).

Good out

Good to get out for some jazz.  I'm busy with all manner of classical music, which I love and some of which I play, but jazz remains a long love and this was a corker.  A corporate gig with a contented and welcoming audience and we play our music, standards and James', and the sound is good and we are playing well.  Relaxed, welcoming and a nice beer and some nibbles.  Such a nice night out, playing, if too rarely listening these days. Close to home, too.

Tilt were James Woodman (piano), Mark Levers (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Doing the drum rounds

I'd played with Hugh Magri-Bull but it was only at a jam session and a jam session is just a few tunes on different gear and nothing like a decent gig over three hours.  This was a Tilt outing at the Dickson Taphouse and it's a great place to up the energy for essentially jazz musicians.  Most of the DT bands are blues or rock so the background is noisier and the audience is involved.  At least the audience that's close in and there are spots throughout for eating, listening, sunning and more.  We had some recurrent listeners from pervious gigs and some musos and dancers to please and even a few staff of Better Music.  Otherwise, a little quiet given Enlighten Festival but much enjoyed.  Hugh was our latest invitee in the drum stool and a worthy player, inventive in solos and responsive in ensemble.  A great night even if I forget a pic until too late.  And many thanks to Hugh.

Tilt performed at Dickson Taphouse comprising James Woodman (piano), Hugh Magri-Bull (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Planets and other pleasures

I haven't played too much jazz recently, but when I have it's been satisfying and hugely pleasurable.  Maybe some time away makes you hark for the steady swing.  Dunno, but my walks have been more interesting with nice voice leading and the like, so great.  This was our long-standing gig at Red Hill Primary School.  It's a visit to the past for me, having had two boys at the school, now capable professionals, and not just a year or so out.  It's history for James, too, as this was the 10th anniversary of our first gig together, here, at RHPS.  We played with sit-in drummer Somesh Putcha and he plays with another bass mate, Jeremy.  This is so Canberra jazz, actually, being a small world.  Jeremy is our man in NYC right now, and Somesh is off sometime soon after several previous visits.  World jazz is also quite a small world.  But we enjoyed some intriguing takes on standards and some very rhythmically sharp drum solos and a few of James' originals and sausage sandwiches and beers and active kids and chattering parents.  Such a good night, especially without threatening rain (we've had some very wet nights here in the past) and with some clear skies for one or two planets (Venus and Jupiter are bright in the West and East and Saturn's there too at the moment).  So all was well and much enjoyed at this always-pleasant community event. Obviously we forgot the selfie.

Tilt Trio performed at the Red Hill Primary School end-of-year gathering.  Tilt were James Woodman (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Somesh Putcha (drums).

Sandwich

Not too many gigs these days but then think quality not quantity (although frequency can also correlate with quality).  But this was a good gig, with James and Mark and me at OCI.  It actually sandwiched my NCO films gig with another at Mercure on Saturday night, so there was at least considerable frequency this week.  Both Tilt gigs were great fun.  At OCI, I got out the P-Bass for a few funkier lines, but mostly the double and that felt lithe and sounded full.  Mark just played snare and high-hat given some kick problem but still blew the place out with his understated syncopations.  James has been playing with increasing litheness and inventiveness of late and this just continued.  So all was well.  Thanks to James and Mark.  And to Liv who was double-booked.

Tilt played at Old Canberra Inn and Mercure with James Woodman (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Mark Levers (drums).

Stars in eyes

It's not every Tilt gig that gets on to CJ.  We have some secrets!  But this was a great gig and we had an appreciative audience that hung around until we finished then left which is a good sign for the band and we played really well and I played the second set with my newish Japanese Fender P-Bass 1985 with lovely aftermarket Motown-styled pickup and I was renewing my feel for the diminutive e-bass and we even did a funk jam with Rhodes tones.  That's not our normal way but it was nicely firm all round.  And the ceiling was interesting thus the pic.  Thanks to James and Mark for a great night.

Tilt played at Old Canberra Inn.  Tilt was James Woodman (piano), Mark Levers (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Spectrum bottom ender

Tilt Alt. played again at Old Canberra Inn and as often happens we had a visitor half expecting a jam session. This is actually a great pleasure and sometimes we have sit-ins. This evening we just chatted to Ben Jones. Ben plays bari sax in Spectrum Big Band and perhaps involved in its admin. With any luck we'll get that sit-in at another gig. At least we got a selfie with Ben.

James Woodman (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Mark Levers (drums) played as Tilt at the Old Canberra Inn. Ben Jones (baritone sax) listened and chatted.

Thanks Sean and all

It's an amazing and fabulous thing that jazz players can come together and play decently with no history, or at least no personal history.  The history that serves is the studies and practice and listening that makes for the essence of jazz.  So Dave couldn't do this gig and Sean sat in.  And it was a great gig and very much enjoyed by us and well complemented by listeners as they left and even as encountered on the streets.  That's nice.  Mostly standards, and that's part of that history mentioned above, but also several tunes from James that aren't just walks. Congrats to Sean for his ear.  It happened a few weeks back, too, at Old Canberra Inn, when only I could make it and the sit ins made up 2/3 of the band, namely Ross and Mark.  But this was another entertaining and challenging gig to everyone's entertainment including us.  How I love music like this!  Casual with beer on amp but deadly serious too.  Jazz is something special.

Tilt Alt. were James Woodman (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Sean Kirk (drums) at Molly and Ross Buchanan (keys), Eric Pozza (bass) and Mark Levers (drums) at OCI.

Bands make parties

 

It's an indulgence, but I like to write up any gigs here where I've played with new players.  Ollie was on Friday and Liv and Imogene were at a wedding on Saturday.  Plus Steve, who we've played with before.  The wedding was in a back garden in Hackett for James K, a singer from In Full Swing big band, no less, so relaxed and comfortable and a nice place to settle into playing with new musical mates.  Unusually for us, we had a singer, Imogene, who studies at the Jazz School and also sings classical with some of the best choirs in town, and a second singer, groom James, introducing the music with a chorus of his own.  Plus Liv for some natty guitar solos and the practice of melding the two chordal instruments, piano and guitar, which, in the end was no particular problem given two capable and listening musicians in our James W and Liv.  And Steve, who we've played with in the past, sharp and correct and unobtrusive when not out front but then ready and explosive when passed a solo.  My playing grew gradually more even and settled as the day went on, so that was satisfying.  Then a final DJ set for the dancers at the reception; in this case there were none given no dance floor and the early afternoon timing.  But the departure of the band pretty much marked the end of the day, which was probably a fairly long day for those who had attended the wedding service.  It's understandable but also something I have noticed before.  A band is something special at a party and its performance can define place and time, so when the band stops, so does the party.  It's seldom said but I've seen it over and over.  Live music is a special thing and it makes a party, or makes a scene.  This was just one more instance.  So thanks to all, Liv, Imogene, Steve and James and our wedding hosts James and Rose.

An augmented Tilt played at the wedding of James K and Rose.  Tilt Aug. comprised Imogene Blake (vocals), Liv Uebergang (guitar), James Woodman (piano), Steve RIchards (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

drum'n'bass

Dave's not been available for a little while for Tilt so we've been chasing replacement drummers.  Two were due this weekend.  First up was Red Hill Primary School fete.  It's a sentimental favourite gig: relaxed, welcoming, casual with an appreciative audience of kids and more and decent sausage sandwiches.  What's not to like.  I went through a string of drummers before finding someone available.  It's a wonderful aspect of the community, especially around the Jazz School, that your gig gets passed on until someone is available.  We ended up with Ollie Brissenden and it was a raving success.  Variously subtle, changing, sharp: a huge pleasure.  Then Richard dropped in for set 2 and I picked up my new toy, a mid-90s Japan P-Bass with Seymour Duncan p/u bought from eBay and not even been plugged in before.  It's a lovely instrument, but really pales against double bass for jazz, which is what we were playing, but it was a revelation anyway and sounded a joy for finger funk.  Thus was our latest RHPS gig.

James Woodman (piano), Ollie Brissenden (drums), Richard Manderson (tenor) and Eric Pozza (bass) performed as Tilt at Red Hill Primary School.

So nice to come home to

It seemed a strange experience to hear James playing with Dial M.  I play with him frequently and yet I heard more when I was in the audience than when I'm playing.  Maybe I'm usually too busy with my own playing although hopefully responding in kind, or maybe he was just playing differently in this context.  Maybe it's a comment on my listening.  Whatever, he played wonderfully and hugely enjoyed  the complex and shifting colours in his harmonies and clear flows and structures in his solos.  Blues pianist Leo was there and commented on harmony and talked of more studies with more time and we both commented on the shelves of books we each had that probably held guidance on all this.  But back to Dial M, they were playing a Cole Porter tribute entitled Songs of love and Loss with five lovely players and some guidance from charts and just the pleasure of the Cole Porter songbook.  Melody Neilsen was singing, strong, involving, so intimately phrased.  She mentioned at the end that she'd dropped the refrain from Night and Day into the start of I've got you under my skin.  I knew both but just felt some incongruity; Megan had recognised the tunes.  Mostly the songs were played with the quintet of Melody and James and Barnaby Briggs and Stephen Richards and invited friend Rouslan Babajanov from Sydney.  Melody obviously enjoyed the interaction and we all felt the joyous playing and presence of Baba: not showy but beautifully smooth and expressive and nicely responsive, including between Melody's sung lines.  Then Barnaby on bass, fluent and beautifully tone (playing with a mic rather than pickup) and sometimes quite explosive with lines that floored me and one solo accompaniment for Melody in Love for sale and Steve, so nicely solid and present and delightfully fluid in one solo with brushes.  The backgrounds of these people showed, capable and easily understated but just delightfully right and apt for the night and the music of Cole Porter and just occasionally explosive for a solo or two.  Such a great songwriter and such a worthy tribute.

Dial M played a tribute to Cole Porter at Smiths.  Dial M comprised Melody Neilsen (vocals), Rouslan (Baba) Babajanov (tenor), James Woodman (piano), Barnaby Briggs (bass) and Stephen Richards (drums).

10 years

It was Red Hill Primary School's end of year party and Tilt was playing again and James reminded me that this was the 10th anniversary of our first gig together.  Time passes, as they say.  we've done quite a few of these events, for year start or end, over the years since and it's something we enjoy immensely with kids and happy parents milling around and sausages and the like on tap.  Dave has caught Covid so Mark filled in for this gig and it was a beauty, despite my return from little playing.  It seems the muscles come on tap as required and double bass does require considerable muscles in those hands and fingers.  So thanks to James and Mark for a driving and entertaining outing and looking forward to Dave next up. Unlike several previous incarnations, no storms this night despite the theatening sky.

 Tilt Alt. were James Woodman (piano), Mark Levers (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Whiskey's a warmer

The Glenfiddich Whiskey Wanderer was back in town and Tilt took a gig in the open in mid-winter Canberra.  Just 2 hours, but suffice to say we were concerned about the cold.  Just look at the puffer jackets: not pretty.  In fact, in the end, there was no wind, the temp was ~7degC and I was mostly too hot.  But hot is good for jazz and this was a best eva, but I've been saying that too often recently.  Suffice to say we played well, nice driving rhythms and lovely solos, some adventurous free forays, one almost endless solo coaxed from Dave.  Let's face it, when playing fours you can't squib and you also can't determine how long it goes for.  Someone bought me a whiskey and tonic and it was interesting although I drink mine straight.  And a cash tip even fell on Dave's snare at one stage.  Generous!  As for the venue, it's a 1972 Leyland double decker bus that's been decked out with bar and seating and an upstairs lift-ceiling.  Self-sufficient and cute.  We were so taken by it all that we just played a single, long 2-hour set.  We've been enjoying longer sets recently although not to 2 hours straight, but when you're on a high, make the most of it.  So quite a night to remember.

Tilt played at Molly for the visiting Glenfiddich Whiskey Wanderer 1972 Leyland double decker bus.  Tilt are James Woodman (piano), Dave McDade (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Another Hofner variation

That very night (the night of the Beatles tribute) Tilt played at Old Canberra Inn and Richard dropped in to play a few tunes.  We didn't play any Beatles, but I reckon the Fab Four would have taken such a selfie, at least  in their early days, if they had our mobiles.  My bass even got a look in, so again a Hofner variation.  This was great fun and we played well but we've played too little this year.  Not sure why, but probably to some degree a function of self-promotion.  Despite this blog, we are not too good at that.  Like my alter-ego studio band, The Pots, with its few monthly listeners.  I notice lots of other players, often well regarded or with significant musical history with just a few monthly listeners like my The Pots.  A mate from a schooldays band who went on to play with the best in Australia and toured OS contacted me this week and his albums have a similar listener base.  But this was a good night out, some drinks and food, some nice bass solos and grooves and for me that's the purpose of all this anyway, at least after so many years.

Tilt Trio played at Old Canberra Inn.  Richard Manderson (tenor) sat in with James Woodman (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Dave McDade (drums).

Old

The Old Canberra Inn is about the oldest European built thing in Canberra.  A hand hewn timber slab construction from 1857, originally a coach stop, rough but a great hangout with history and character and ambience.  So when we got an offer out of the blue to play there, we took it.  The news was that jam sessions fortnightly and band gigs the alternate weeks.  OK.  We had a great gig and a great audience and played well.  Not sure, though, that the message went out, as a few blokes arrived with guitar and kit components.  We got to chat with a visiting muso from Sydney but he was just there for a dinner.  And Leo Joseph dropped in for some of the first set.  I would have liked to talk to a few of the others but nothing came of it.  We played two long sets and no musos around in the breaks.  Whatever, the jam scene has opened up now in Canberra, and I know of at least regular jam sessions around Canberra.  So all is well and we enjoyed the gig.  Thus ends a busy few weeks for me: two significant classical gigs and three jazz gigs.  Plus an album release and various recordings.  That's lots for this bassist.

Tilt Trio played at Old Canberra Inn.  Tilt Trio are James Woodman (piano), Dave McDade (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Visits

I was surprised to see Anthony Irvine arrive at our Molly gig.  He's a capable bassist and he said later he'd just come to hear Tilt Trio.  We are a retiring crew so I was somewhat flustered.  But we chatted and we played well, so all was well.  He also played a few tunes after our break.  Sadly, no pic, but this was a lesson in commitment and extravagant high playing.  So, what a blast after my relatively safe, but if pretty effective, arpeggiated chords and scalar solos.  He mentioned this as classical chops.  Yeah, maybe, not sure.  I am informed by my recent classical playing.  I certainly read better, if not the more syncopated stuff which is not a thing for the classics.  But I do enjoy finding cycles of fifths and diminisheds and chromaticism in "fine" music, even in Beethoven, often enough.  So it's all a thing of pleasure.  Certainly this gig was.  Thanks for the visit, Anthony.

Tilt Trio played Molly.  Tilt are James Woodman (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Dave McDade (drums) and Anthony Irvine (bass) sat in for a few tunes.