Sitting in

Just a few pics. Gossips had a great little gig last night with Mark Body sitting in on drums when Brenton was not available. I’ve played with Mark before, but the rest of the band hadn’t met him before last night. Mike joked that “it’s one of those gigs where you finish the night and ask again what’s the drummer’s name”. Mark played easily and steadily on a range of tunes that he’d played or not played or not heard. Drummers can do that more easily than most, but he did well to handle some extra 2/4 bars in one tune that could turn the beat. And several decent solos, too. This gig had another sit-in, this time from the floor. I hadn’t met Perrin Lionis before. He’s a pianist who’s currently at the jazz school. We chatted at the gig and Perrin took the piano stool for three tunes (Beautiful love, Ladybird and All blues). He’s a current student so has that seriousness of artistic intent and immersion that comes from playing and studying full time. Great stuff, much enjoyed. Thanks to both Mark and Perrin. Excuse the fuzzy pics – I only had my mobile.

Moruya 2009

It’s time for my annual run to the Moruya Jazz Festival. I got to play and I heard the Canberra locals get together in various combinations, some I hadn’t heard, most I had. I’ve reported on them often enough, so just a few comments. Obviously my gig is vital for me, so I take the liberty to start with that!

I got together a few mates for the festival, and we appeared at Deja Two. Deja Two was Cameron Smith (flugelhorn), Peter Kirkup (piano), Mark Body (drums) and Eric Pozza (double bass). Just some standards, but: Cam reads easily and plays a stylish and correct solo with a lovely flugel tone; Peter knows his jazz history and music theory and is a pleasure to play and chat with; Mark is jazz school so well trained and possesses a broad swing (so says Peter); and I continue to struggle with my change to the big, acoustic bass, but I’m enjoying the challenge. We rushed a bit and were harmlessly messy on a few starts and finishes (it’s just a blow, after all) but indulged in some extended solos, got some decent band dynamics happening and pleasingly held the audience. So we enjoyed the outing.

The Air Raid Tavern added a second stage in the Bar this year. It’s been the modern end of the festival and the home of the ANU Jazz School for years and remains so. I was only down for Saturday and didn’t manage to move beyond these two stages.

The morning started with the Kade Brown Trio. It’s a young local (Eurabodalla Shire) outfit led by Kade Brown (piano) with Josh Freestone (drums) and Mishi Stern (bass) playing a standard repertoire of jazz tunes.

Angela Lount and the Fedoras played the soft pop/jazz (read working) end of the jazz spectrum with supple smoothness and some interesting playing. They are classy and you can see why they get the corporate gigs. Angela Lount (vocals) sings with the Fedoras: Paul dal Broi (piano), Dan McLean (trumpet), Hannah James (bass, sitting in for James Luke) and Chris Thwaite (drums). I noted a classy solo from Paul and a wonderful growling plunger mute solo from Dan.

I just caught a few bars of my mates Kooky Fandango. They play a bluesy-jazz style, without a chordal instrument (other than Peter when he plays chords on his crystalline 6-string Alembic bass). It was a fore-shortened KF with only 4 players on the day, but they are entertaining and well rehearsed and it shows. Courtney Stark (vocals) fronted Cameron Smith (trumpet, flugelhorn), Peter Barta (bass) and Robert Nesci (drums).

As Famous as the Moon is an institution around Canberra. Dirk Zeylmans (sax) leads a very smooth, stylish band with Graham Monger (guitar), Lachlan Coventry (bass) and John Milton (drums). Dirk is a renowned local sax technician, so you can expect wonderful tone along with his pleasant and very direct and personal patter. This is cool jazz in the ilk of Stan Getz. Graham played some lovely blues-scale infested lines which fitted like the glove; Lachlan is a well-trained guitarist who plays a supple electric-bass style; John Milton played understated but steady and observant drums.

Soulfull farewell

I hear the Soul Bar is closing its Friday evening gigs next week, hopefully just for the winter months. It’s a comfortable little venue and short evening gig for a Friday afternoon, to entertain the Woden APS consort who drop in for drinks at week’s end. I played there last night with Toucani, and it was memorable for me – a first gig on the double bass. Double bass is a lovely sound for jazz, and really much more true: softly spoken and deep. It was a pleasant night with Daniel, John and Mark Body who sat in in the absence Brenton interstate, playing standards and several originals by Daniel and me.

I missed the ArtSound live broadcast, but heard a little of Dave Rodriguez (guitar) playing standards with Bill Williams (bass) and Ed Rodrigues (drums), playing as the Dave, Bill and Ed Trio. They are a great little trio with a long residency at the Belgian Beer Café and so considerable experience in playing together. This is their band to honour and explore the standards, in the tradition of Bill Evans, or the band they mentioned as a current influence, Gilad Hekselman Trio. Lovely, soulful standards played with the close interaction that comes from a regular gig. Sorry I have no pics of the night.

Daniel Wild (piano), John Baczynski (tenor), Eric Pozza (bass) and visitor Mark Body (drums) played as Toucani.

Musos clubbing

The Canberra Musicians Club launched this weekend with a 12 hour gig featuring numerous different musicians and numerous different styles. The weather was warm and sunny (too sunny early on, but more on that later). The Club has been formed so musos can gather to assist each other, eg, it can provide PAs for hire at reasonable rates, and very interestingly, provides legal indemnity for events held under their banner. That really is an interesting concept and should support independent, grass roots events. I expected a folk and indie scene, but there was a decent jazz contingent, thanks to Cam and the Folkus Room crew. My band, Toucani, played one set in the mid afternoon, under a scorching sun that everyone was complaining about.

I heard a mixture of bands over the afternoon, but couldn’t stay for the evening. Black Hat Band is a blues outfit including a mate from work, Dave Grey (guitar/vocals). The band featured several of the Kooky Fandango crew who were to appear later in the day. Kooky Fandango are stalwarts playing a smooth, sweet jazz style, with an interesting crystal clear chordal role for Peter Barta on his 6-string Alembic Series 1 (no guitar here). Otherwise, it’s Cameron Smith (trumpet), Tom Fell (alto sax), Nathan Sciberras (tenor and baritone saxes), Mario Gordon (congas) and led by singer Courtney Stark. My Toucani played a set of 4 originals (2 by Daniel, 2 by Eric) along with Sam River’s beautiful ballad, Beatrice, and Wayne Shorter’s hard bop Prince of Darkness. Mark Body (drums) filled in given the absence of Brenton, and played with Daniel Wild (piano), John Baczynski (tenor) and Eric Pozza (bass). I really enjoyed this gig, despite the radiant heat. We played fairly relaxed and expansively, I think with the assistance of a comfortable, informal atmosphere, and there was a double bass player doing the mix, so I could trust his work. And in the open air you never have balance problems: you can always hear, although it can be a bit thin at times. Most enjoyed.

Then a lovely cool jazz set by the Joseph Taylor Quintet. Joseph Taylor (tenor) commonly plays with Corey Booth (trumpet) and John Cohen (piano) and was joined for this gig by Bill Williams (bass) and Chris Thwaites (drums). Truly a lovely, cool set, harking back to Miles in the 50s, with the same instrumentation, some of the same tunes, and a similar feel and approach. I love a good cool set when I hear it, and they performed it with panache. Tunes included some originals, but also All of you and Wayne Shorter’s Backstage Sally. Great stuff.

To finish my day off, I finally caught up with Los Chavos. They are a lively latin band with some very good players and an entertaining front man, and they deserved the audience which they got: young, even very young (as in children), happy and dancing. Very enjoyable, tight, and capable. I also caught the Cashews in the underpass near Albert Hall for one of their famed guerilla gigs, but only for a few minutes. Well done, and entertaining, but not really my style.

And on (Moruya 3)

Moruya 2

I just caught the end of Madeleine Hawke’s set, and it was fabulous. Attitude is the word for this woman, with her powerful, very edgy but hugely expressive voice. I was sorry I missed the whole set. Madeleine Hawke (vocals) was accompanied by Wayne Kelly (piano), Hannah James (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums). I believe this was the line-up for a CD she recorded recently, so presumably it was well rehearsed. These were just standards, but so beautifully done. Maddy’s voice is powerful and sharp, but she’s also got huge presence, beautifully correct and restrained improvised vocal lines, and huge emotional strength in her interpretations. Wow! The accompaniment was equally stunning. Wayne’s clear, understated solos, Mark’s similarly clear statements, and Hannah playing at her best, with a lovely tone and true note choices. I only caught Comes love and I wish you love, but they were stunners. Catch Madeleine Hawke if you can; doubly so with this backing.

Wayne Kelly appeared several times in different band incarnations. Next was the WK Trio: Wayne Kelly (piano), James Luke (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums). What to say? A blowout! There were standards and originals from Wayne’s CD: some beautifully clear, deceptively simple playing by Wayne; strong, straight-ahead bass and solos by James; sharp, crisp drums from Mark. This is a master outfit; my mates were floored with their performance. He played one standard (I’m old fashioned) but mostly originals: Mr Hank Jones, What’s the number, Mt Condor, Dr Kirkland Blues. From this performance, it’s clear why Wayne is one of our local piano stars. It’s also interesting to hear the change from Wayne’s old trio. The trio with Ben O’Loghlin was cerebral; that with James more lively. Not a change in quality, but in style: interesting. Wayne is regularly out and about, although in various formats. His playing is always a pleasure.

No Standing was the next generation of the Jazz school. Less experienced, but the performance bodes well. NS are Rafael Jerjen (bass), Mark Body (drums), Olivia Henderson (piano), Reuben Lewis (trumpet), Max Williams (tenor). Reuben appeared in several bands during the weekend. Max is brother to the excellent bassist, Bill Williams. He played well expressed solos with real expression. Both Reuben and Max will be players to note. Raf also impressed with real rhythmic strength and involvement. Watch out for these players over coming years. Some are only in high school, so have considerable time to develop, although Reuben is already playing with a range of bands. I heard them a second time on Sunday, although with slightly different members. My impression then was of impressive performance of written parts (accurate timing and intonation on Chick Corea’s Spain and the Brecker Brothers’ Skunk Funk, no less) although leaving some room to improve on the improvisation. But that’s from school kids! It bodes well for the future.

Moruya 4