Western Cultural Icon live

It was the Canberra Symphony Orchestra Gala last night and Megan and I got early tickets and close seats. I‘d expected something special, but was nowhere near ready for 300 performers and Beethoven’s Ninth. Reading in preparation, I realised just how central it is to modern European culture, so much so it’s taken as the anthem for the EU. And it’s so filled with quotes that it’s locked into our consciousness.

I was dumbfounded. Powerful, passionate, intense, moody, emotionally dense and overwhelming. I spoke to several people who talked of tears in their eyes or goose-pimples. Certainly, it’s something different and new to hear it live, with that upwelling of 300 voices, or counterpoint of bassoons against cellos and basses, or that renowned horn section, or those overwhelming orchestral hits. It’s the length of a CD (in an apocryphal story, the reason CDs are 74mins in length), but the time just flew. Orchestral tuning intro, then full-on orchestra in flight and volume, then the oddly placed scherzo cum march of the second movement. It all seemed so well played, with comfortable timing and harmonies sitting sweetly with good intonation. Then the third, pensive movement. I felt slightly uncomfortable here; the orchestra felt just a little wary. But then the massive fourth movement, with its restatements of themes, again those presto bass lines that floored me, the SATB frontline (perhaps a little unbalanced, although not unlike the version I have at home) and that massive SATB choir in echo. I was head back, eyes closed, stunned by the power and the ecstatic passages of melody passed around the orchestra, horns or violins or brass or that mediaeval-sounding pair of bassoons that sat upright behind the violas, in front of the massed rows of female SAs and male TBs. I most experience music with my eyes close, but I had a great view of the bassists, and I marvelled at some of the phrases. Classical/jazz crossovers Gareth Hill and Leigh Miller were in bass seats 2 and 3 following Max McBride. And along with many others in the audience, I had mates in the choir: five women I had sung with in Healthy Voices, the Department of Health Choir: Annette Quay, Jill Buckley-Smith, Janet Wardman, Julie Carmody and Catherine Ryan. I caught my singing mates after the show, and they were similarly excited and reported big emotional responses from this most perfect of classical/romantic-cusp statements. BTW, the conductor was Nicholas Milton, the vocal soloists were from Opera Australia and the choir was the Canberra Combined Choir.

But the Ninth was not all. The night included a more important performance before the interval: Australian music and world premiere. This was orchestral selections from Richard Meale's 1986 opera, Voss, based on the Patrick White novel. There were no voices here, so none of David Malouf’s libretto, but there were impressionistic images of desert and animals that seemed eerily correct to my ears (and were mentioned to me by others without prompting), but this developed to a richly volumed end which was presumably the espressionist statement of the doomed Voss expedition. But it was still more restrained than the bombastic Beethoven. I felt the orchestra struggled more with this one. I guess the harmonies were more challenging and the tunes wouldn’t have been anywhere near as ingrained as the Ninth.

But I cavil, for this is our poorly funded, part-time orchestra that has to get by with part-funded rehearsals. They do an excellent job, doubly so given the circumstances, and this was a fabulous night and will be a very special memory.

Our own

Our own Canberra Symphony Orchestra was playing the other night and Megan and I got along. It’s a different environment from the jazz scene: respectful, immobile, cummerbuns, standing ovations, and manifestly older. The orchestra sounded a dream in the new Llewellyn Hall acoustics. The range was full and even, and the reverb put a soft wash over the lot and held it together, and despite the large size of the venue, individual instruments were quite audible. You couldn’t say even the 50 musicians playing fortissimo was really loud, but it was loud enough. This just confirmed for me that the post-trauma renovations have been successful, if only for some musics. I’ve complained on CJ about jazz and soul in this venue, but for acoustic classics, it was wonderful.

The music was Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Brahms in an evening entitled Serenade; “a concert experience pairing gorgeous melody with dramatic virtuosity”. Beethoven’s Lenore Overture No. 1 was apparently the first of a series of overtures, and I hear Beethoven was not pleased with the early ones. It was pretty short, but still showed stormy early romanticism, as is Ludwig’s way. The Tchaikovsky was his Violin Concerto, with Nicolas Koeckert as the romantic hero soloist out front. He certainly played with involvement and virtuosity and presence and sometimes with ferocity. Fingering on a violin lets the player range wide and high, and this piece had Nicolas into the high harmonics: impressive stuff. What a lovely little instrument a violin is! It seemed to be a pretty hard piece all round, and the performance didn’t always feel so settled to me, but it was melodic and dramatic and was a great display of technique. The final piece was Brahms’ Serenade No. 1 in 6 (!) movements. Apparently it was an early work, written when he was 24. The orchestra seemed nicely settled on this one, and I was settled into the classical milieu by then and enjoyed it most of all.

The orchestra itself has about 50 members. As best I could manage, it comprised four basses, six cellos, 8 violas, 8 second violins, 10 first violins, and pairs of trumpet, oboe, flute, bassoon, clarinet, four horns and a timpanist: about 50. The other romantic, individualist hero at an orchestral concert is, of course, the conductor. On the night, this was Benjamin Northey.

Interestingly for local jazzers, Lethal Leigh Miller was moonlighting in the second bass seat. It’s quite a change from the funky Lethals, although I noticed he did display a jazz habit by nodding his head with the music at one stage.

What a beautiful sound, though. I’ve also got tickets to Beethoven’s ninth in May: an orchestra and a dramatic choral performance in this lovely space. Now that will be bliss.

Sweep of history 2

The second band at yesterday’s Folkus was a jump to funk and the seventies: more an offshoot of jazz than part of its mainstream. Turner’s Antidote performs at local festivals, but doesn’t seem to otherwise appear in the CJCalendar. But they are lively and fun, as in Brecker Brother and Commodores and the like, so worth the effort to catch them. Hot bass grooves with guitar, keys and drums form the back line, and they combine with three horns up front. All hot and sticky and sexy, as this style should be. Nice to see a combination of generations, with a few stars from the jazz school combining with the moderately age-challenged amongst us. Music’s a great leveller. I’d guess at least one of the players can remember the era. It was hard not to notice Lethal Leigh Miller’s bass and some raging solos from Dan McLean, but everyone had their space in the sun. Picking up the pieces was surprisingly cool, complete with chants. All blues was airy and on edge but worked. I particularly liked some tensions that just sat with wah-guitar or floating keyboard flitting through. And there was a theme from Billy Cobham’s classic album, Spectrum, in there somewhere. The ‘70s are a much maligned era, but it had its high points and unique visions … disco and punk and platforms and sequins amongst them. Catch Turner’s Antidote at the next Moruya Festival, or otherwise if you can.

Turner’s Antidote comprises Peter Henderson (tenor sax), Richard Manning (guitar), Leanne Ballard (keyboards), Dan McLean (trumpet), Rod Harding (trombone), Leigh Miller (bass) and Aidan Lowe (drums).

Not too big (Moruya 3)

Moruya’s not a big festival, but it’s intimate and relaxed and a lovely weekend at the coast for the performers and aficionados. It’s a holiday atmosphere: cheap, friendly, easy-going, shorts on stage, and the weather’s generous so mornings are on the beach rather than in the bars. But the music’s good, too. There’s a range of bands from the students at the Jazz School, sometimes formed for one performance at Moruya. The names usually give those away. But there’s also the teachers and their slick and virtuosic performances, a range of amateur or semi-professional players, and a spattering of the popular (less demanding, but better paid and more entertaining) feature artists. I mostly miss those feature bands, but they always draw the big crowds. I love the large ensembles, and the Jazz School always provides the Commercial Band, the Big Band and the Recording Ensemble. All different, and all big and exciting and rich sounding. For me, it was the Recording Ensemble that blew me away this year. They were having a great time (Sebastian McIntosh was in fine and dry form as MC), blowing hard, and playing original charts. Miro leads this band and he asks for, and gets, original charts, and creative input from the students. Congrats due here.

I didn’t catch the whole festival this year, given my relaxed demeanour, the languid temperatures and the pleasant housemates, but here’s my report.

Drummers seemed to be in abundance. Fantastic Woollen Fishing Rod (named for the occasion, I expect) was a quartet of trumpet, alto and two drummers. It was an odd mix, but a nice experiment. Andrew Fedorovitch (alto) played with Shane Spellman (trumpet) and John Wilton and Jono Lake (2 x drums). The Recording Ensemble was also doubling up on drummers (and more) but more on that later.

The Melds appeared after a great outing on ArtSound in recent weeks. They featured 3 drummers, and finished with a drum feature with synth guitar accompaniment. The band seems pretty fluid, as the membership was different from the ArtSound outing. Shouldn’t be a problem, as it’s largely free, sustained, layered improvisations on fairly simple themes, but very compelling. I was amused to overhear at one stage this snippet from the stage: “Don’t stop now. See what happens”. And, of course, it did develop and it was compelling. It was a nice bit of adventurism. The Melds were led by Matt Sykes (drums), with Matt Lustri (synth guitar), Chris Pound (bass), Andy Campbell (guitar), Jo Lloyd (alto), Reuben Lewis (trumpet), Hugh Deacon (drums), John Wildon (drums) and Valdis Thomann (trombone).

Dub Dub Goose is equally capable, but very different, being a dub/reggae outfit led by Nick Combe. Nick’s impressed me over recent years with compositions for the Recording Ensemble. Apparently he has a penchant for reggae, and the opportunity to perform it with capable players. This was another big outfit that probably expanded on the day. Reggae (or dub?) is an attractive style, and indulgently stupefying. I enjoyed the start with tunes by Ernest Raglan, but I found it a stretch by the end of the set. They mercifully finished with something different which I liked and found refreshing, a 7/4 with lush orchestration. But it was well done, and my response says more about my preferences than the music. Nick Combe (tenor) led Reuben Lewis (trumpet), Sophie Chapman (trombone), Matt Sykes (drums), Matt Lustri (guitar), Chris Pound (bass), Austin Benjamin/Bucket (piano), James LeFevre (tenor), Alistair Clarke (trombone), Valdis Thomann (trombone) and Alex Raupach (trumpet).

The Lethals are a hot, funky, loud outfit led by hot, funky Leigh “Lethal” Miller (bass) with Neils Rosendahl (tenor), Aron Lyon (guitar) and Sam Young (drums). They were a big hit. I heard them twice. Obviously the darker evening hours suited the flamboyant performance, but he morning gig was good, too. These guys are supremely professional. No-one overplayed. There were lots of notes, but they fitted without being forced. There was Weather Report and Jaco (Teen town) and Soulive, and some originals, so the heads were challenging, but the essence of the band was tight, hard blowing, and they did it with panache. Niels always impresses, and Aron was fluidity and fast, smooth runs and loops and echo and the rest. Great fun, loud, engaging and popular. A blowout and terrible to follow!

Sally Greenaway toned things down with a lovely, arranged set and a capable band. Sally is renowned as a prize-winning composer, so we can expect new and original compositions when she plays. But these are not blowing tunes; they are emotionally satisfying numbers with apt and developed stylistic approaches. Tunes included an arrangement of Smile in 5/4, a funky Stefon Harris tune, a Vince Jones ballad, and several originals. Her band’s good too. The Sally Greenaway Project included Sally (piano), Raf Jurgen (bass), Ed Rodrigues (drums), Niels Rosendahl (tenor), Valdis Thomann (trombone) and Marie LeBrun (vocals).

What’s in a name?

On the week of a double murder in Canberra, the Lethals broadcast live from the Artsound studios for a Friday Night Live session. But I don’t imagine the name is related to this, or a run of crime-related deaths that Canberra has seen over recent months. Rather, I think the name is a punny reference to the leader’s name, Leigh Miller, so it could have been Leigh-thals in place of Lethals. In fact, the night was more concerned with start than end of life. But more on that later.

I heard just a little of the broadcast on the radio, being busy with other matters, but what I heard were several funky, groove-based tunes in different styles, but consistently satisfying. There were originals. Beginnings was penned by Leigh and was funky and gave everyone a chance to blow and warm up. A long number by Sam towards the end of the night hinted at the Bitches Brew era of jazz rock. A non-original was from Soulive. Soulive is a bass-less trio of organ, guitar and drums. The simple, descending lines on bass were evidence of the organ bass, but the unexpectedly hip melody put the tunes clearly in the jazz idiom.

The grooves supported frequent and inventive soloing. Leigh sometimes reminded me of that great rock bassist, Jack Bruce, with what seemed to me to be a similar soloistic conception, although he had a far more modern tone of deep bass and prominent highs rather than JB’s fat, middy Gibson sound. Leigh can play some hot licks and blistering runs and works the scales effectively and likes to colour his sound with echo and effects. It’s a little off-putting to think that he came to ANU to play classical bass and only recently entered the jazz stream. Niels is back from London and a pleasure to hear. Mature, considered, skilled and just plain musical. His melody playing is simple and true to the tunes, and his solos are clear and entrancing statements. Many soloists impress with busy-ness, but I found myself observing Niels’ long pauses and hanging out for his next line. I’m not saying this was simple playing: there are fast passages and obvious dissonances, but they arrive as clear developments of a solo statement and are not out of place. I’d noticed this with Niels at White Eagle a few years back, but he seems to have further refined this path. Lovely stuff. Aron seemed to be in his element. This was lithe playing, rich with echo and related effects (phasing or flanging or whatever). Strong solos, and I noticed some whiffs of early McLaughlin comping which just confirmed the Bitches Brew reference. I mentioned it to Aron and he just said he’d been playing that tune for years and it just felt right like that. Sam is a stalwart of this groove-based style of music with his watchful eyes and ears and steady reliability. You often hear him in this context around town. I missed any solos on the night, but then I didn’t catch most of the concert.

This is a new incarnation for the Lethals. They had their first night at Hippo just two days earlier. But the real start of life reference was to Aron and his wife who were expecting their second child any day. There was relief in his voice when Leigh mentioned this while introducing the last tune: the phone hadn’t rung and they’d got to the end of the broadcast with a guitarist. So the Lethals actually presented a much more positive life experience than the name suggests. Catch them at their next gig at Moruya, but expect Aron to be looking a little tired.

The Lethals are Leigh Miller (bass), Niels Rosendahl (tenor sax), Aron Lyon (guitar) and Sam Young (drums).

Lethal outing

Perhaps summer is the time for blues/funky styles, out-and-out blowing, pentatonics, danceable grooves and the like. It sounds just the thing for warm nights. If so, then last night’s set by The Lethals at Hippo’s was on the money.

The Lethals is Leigh Miller’s band. Leigh has impressed me over recent years with hot, funky electric bass playing in the ANUSM Commercial band and at Moruya over recent years. I was surprised to learn that he has only just entered the Jazz School, and that he was previously a classical bass student. Quite a change. Leigh’s a powerful and funky player for someone out of the classical tradition. But then classical is a good source of chops, and he displays them. He also displays a penchant for effects, and a readiness to experiment. I only caught one set, but that included an extended solo bass piece with a bass drum sounding on the beat accompanied by heavily echoed bass playing chords, harmonics, string bends, wah and more. The other tunes were more simple blows and pentatonic melodies. Scofield’s A go go and Jaco’s Teentown (admittedly a pretty raunchy melody, and a punchy groove) and two originals, one by Leigh and another by Leigh with Damien Slingsby (a capable pianist and one-time Jazz School student).

The solos were satisfying all round. Carl and Ben blew us all away as they always do with good solo development, interesting ideas and occasional meanderings outside, and the balance was good so we could hear all the ideas. Sam slogged away with solid and heavy drumming which matched the style, and played a nice solo where he held the heavy beat but interpersed it with some rhythmically contorted fills. The bass had that soft and toppy modern sound which suits slap. It seemed to get lost in unison lines with the guitar, but it worked a treat on solos. It was interesting comparing this sound to Steve Hunter’s very punchy, hard, middy sound when he played Teentown with Carl only a week or so before. I also enjoyed the overall band sound on the night. It was not too loud for the venue (Hippo’s is not an easy acoustic space), and clear and well balanced. The audience was not large, but at least that meant less background noise, so it had a benefit. I only caught the first set but much enjoyed.

The Lethals were Leigh Miller (bass), Carl Morgan (guitar), Ben Foster (keyboards) and Sam Young (drums).

And on (Moruya 4)

Moruya 3

There are still some players, usually older, who survive outside the Jazz school. Turner’s Antidote is a regular at the Moruya Festival. I’d seen them another year, but this year they were a particular blowout. They are a funk outfit, with a 3 part front line and four part rhythm section. Leigh Miller, as ex-Jazz School player, is on bass. I noticed him with some great performances with the Comms a year or so ago. TA were led by Peter Henderson (tenor), with Rod Harding (trombone), Reuben Lewis (trumpet), Wayne Millar (drums), Leigh Miller (bass), Leanne Ballard (piano) and Richard Manning (guitar). This line-up was quite different from that in the program and Peter told me they’d had only one rehearsal, but you wouldn’t know it. It was great, forceful, funk. Lots of fun; lots of volume. And music obviously runs in the family: Olivia Henderson (from No Standing) is Peter’s daughter.

I only caught two tunes from John Mackey’s performance on the Saturday night, but these were hugely impressive, as was to be expected. John Mackey (tenor) was playing with Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet), Carl Morgan (guitar), Chris Pound (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums). The first tune was a first outing: Tilba by Miro, written in dedication to Carl’s home town. This was a powerful and extended tune. Tilba was followed by a supremely beautiful ballad, with John playing full tone on melody and a tonal solo; a work of beauty. Performances by the Jazz School staff, and especially by John M, are looked forward to with anticipation by the students, and you can see why. This is the pinnacle of jazz in Canberra, and truly international in quality and approach.

Moruya 5