SoundOut 2024 / 4

I feel more informed in this SoundOut festival and maybe understand it better.  I peruse the program and realise (I think I'm correct) that day 1 has the performers playing in their normal combinations and later session mix and match for more new combinations.  And like people who have played together for a time, you see the comfort of the known and the challenge of the new.  All interesting.  I often find I prefer the known, but I respect and the new.  Next session for me was Saturday session 2.  First up was Ellen Kirkwood, Guylaine Cosseron, Maria Moles, Mark Cauvin and Richard Johnson. This started with voice and voice remained a major lead throughout.  Guylaine is seriously expressive and capable with her voice, so numerous sounds, vowels, groans, whistles even multi-pitch harmonised, running through highs, climaxes, recoveries.  Then nice ears for harmonies from bass and sax, even with surprisingly similar solo concepts, occasional percussion then trumpet tones later on and a final note that sounded of air raid sirens.  Whoah.  Next up was Bonnie Stewart, Guillaume Gargaud, Novak Manojlovic, Rhys Butler and sit-in vocals form Tony Osborne.  An immediate start from piano and vocals, leading to guitar with even country twangs.  Then waves of intensity, sudden explosions, with perhaps percussion or gentle alto or vox in between, rolling strings from piano and damped guitar plucks through extensive solos.  Another discovery?  That this music is more about dynamics than harmony let alone melody or even rhythm.   Then Jodie Rottle, Josephine Macken, Jamie Lambert and Peter Farrer.  Opening with a bell, then more mild, meditative, pensive, flautic (is there such a word?) with flutes of various sizes from Jodie and Josephine, bell-like guitar and bowed and even some violin from Jamie and alto and percussion from Peter.

Peformers for set 1 were Ellen Kirkwood (trumpet), Guylaine Cosseron (voice), Maria Moles (drums), Mark Cauvin (bass) and Richard Johnson (tenor).  For set 2 were Bonnie Stewart (drums), Guillaume Gargaud (guitar), Novak Manojlovic (piano), Rhys Butler (alto) and Tony Osborne (vocals).  For set 3 were Jodie Rottle (flute), Josephine Macken (flute), Jamie Lambert (guitar) and Peter Farrer (alto).

SoundOut 2024 / 3

Next was a morning workshop featuring two bassists.  How could I not attend?  We were in the smaller performance room, bare walls and very alive, with about 20 attendees.  First part was Helen Svoboda with Maria Moles.  They first performed, then discussed their approach, how they outline their performances and guide their improvisations, how they interpret an image or theme as parameters.  Parameters was from writings of Anthony Braxton, possibly otherwise expressed as expression and relevant to the theme you wish to play, so a rolling landscape may be interpreted as long, gentle notes and Jackson Pollock would be short or staccato.  And how players perform together conceptually and musically.  I particularly enjoyed the conversation and broader aspects of musicianship and their personal journeys, like, how Helen records lots of her practice and releases an albums each year (three so far on Spotify) or how Maria also plays pop/indie and how it's all relevant.  And the group finally played together with some guidance on parameters.  This was particularly relevant because Clayton Thomas took the second half of the session to prepare us to perform later as the Large Ensemble.  He introduced a series of rules to guide our performance which were later to become a little more complex with the addition of several of the performing players for performance that night.  Some rules were: only play in space; play short notes; look up and be aware of others' playing; long notes allowed when you respond to other/s; whenever you introduce a new phrase/note, play your previous notes/phrases first, thus 1, 1, 1-2... A later prep session would expand to include a structure: Miro introduces, all play the rules above, Helen starts quiet drone, Novak solos over drone as the ensemble crescendos very, very slowly to overwhelm piano then stop on signal.  Thus is experimental music.  I understand it better now.

A workshop was in two parts with Helen Svoboda (bass) and Maria Moles (drums) then Clayton Thomas (bass, large ensemble leader).

SoundOut 2024 / 1

Richard Johnson's SoundOut festival is back for its 15th incarnation.  It's presumably well known in these pages as an experimental and free jazz festival featuring Canberrans, Australians and a spattering of internationals.  And for that matter, sadly, just a spattering of audience.  This is not the most popular musical style: eclectic and authentic, yes, but popularity limited.  I won't get too all, but I do expect to get to one workshop and two or three concert sessions.  First up was Session 1 Friday evening.  I came in as Biomorph were performing.  This is the veritable core group of Richard Johnson and Rhys Butler playing tenor and alto saxes.  I heard flickering, moody, floating, whale calls, tonguing and horn staccatos and a closeness that comes with time playing together.  Then French internationals Animal Duo comprising Diemo Schwartz (electronics) and Guylaine Cosseron (vocals).  Sounds of cymbals, explosives, unexpected dynamics and more from synth and vocals that sounded of wind, grunts, animal noises and gutted with taped vocal chords.  Variously swelling, settling, floating, menacing.  Third up was a favourite for me, especially given I play bass.  Panghalina comprises an odd combination of bass plus two drummers, each playing another instrument, vocals or synth.   It comprised Helen Svoboda (bass, vocals), Bonnie Stewart (drums, vocals) and Maria Moles (drums, synth).  This sounded more ordered to my ears, but still mightily improvised.  They told me later of SoundOut being an opportunity return to improv roots given they are otherwise touring an album and playing those tunes which were originally productions of improv and remain improvisatory but with some structure.  I noted how "this has structure, thus some expectations amongst improv with huge intensity and high wordless vocals".  They later talked of parameters, being standard modes of expression (short note, long notes, staccato, etc) also a pictorial sense, as in long notes as landscape and short notes for Jackson Pollock.  Tech also took a role: Maria's synth but also TC Helicon over Helen's voice and a Boss RC505II to sample and loop Bonnie's voice, but more importantly, their voices found natural, improvised notes and merged through gentleness and harmonies.  Some structure over improv: how I like it.

Biomorph comprised Richard Johnson (tenor) and Rhys Butler (alto).  Animal Duo comprised Diemo Schwartz (electronics) and Guylaine Cosseron (vocals).  Panghalina comprised Helen Svoboda (bass, vocals), Bonnie Stewart (drums, vocals) and Maria Moles (drums, synth).