Career advice: study maths

Career Advice were a madly demanding mix of counts and permutations. So that we remember to count, John Gould, my Maruki conductor, jokes that everyone he's ever met knows how to count to four. Career Advice is full of much odder counts and permutations and repeats and rabid syncopations and unexpected unisons and it was spectactular and mesmeric. Think this against a solid rock drum groove, admittedly often adorned, a fat low octaver bass, richly embroidered, and electronically enhanced Rhodes. Leader Lewis composed the music and led from his piano and it sounded electric but also floating and airy. Coloured and changing, the product of echo, overdrive and ring modulation, so the piano functions not just as percussive chords but modulates rather than just decays. I mentioned low octaver on bass, and it was mostly deep and fat, but there were other effects there, too, and on cornet (Zoom something) and tenor (TCHelicon for echo, harmoniser, perhaps more). So this is a quintet with Rhodes and two horns but nothing like acoustic post-bop. This was processed, rich, full, ringing, contemporary. The insistent permutations and changes were trance-like despite the overlaid solos. The cornet took at least one quiet, meditative passage, virtually alone, and the playing was spacious, but mostly this was heavily grooved, expected but not due to simplicity. The set was a 30-min tune (perhaps a medley) then two more. "That got a little more hectic than we were expecting" said Lewis after the second tune, "I feel like slowing things down". The final was Deep expectations which started with a relaxed but searching unison line with bass harmony and cymbal colouration, but ended with a alternating twisted syncopations with swapped solo passages between tenor and cornet. Deep, heavy and absolutely involving in the way metal can be for its adherents. I was taken. Just fabulous.

Career Advice are Lewis Moody (Rhodes, compositions), Ben Harrison (cornet), Luke Minness (tenor), Marty Holoubek (bass) and Jacob Evans (drums). They played at Hippo.

Pleasurable beer on a hot day

What a good night was promised at Hippo and how good was it? It was a double bill, sharing a few players, all out of Melbourne. First up was trad from the Lagerphones. Cornet, trombone, clarinet for the concurrent soloing and various others. These three also sang, sometimes leads, sometimes in three-part harmony. Chordal accompaniment was the chuck-chuck of banjo, with bass and drums. I don't hear too much trad, but it can be a ball. This band moved over the years, I think. There were 2-feels with polyphonic solos, various solos with backing from instruments or perhaps voice, lines that were harmonically simpler, more arpeggiated than linear, four-on-the-floor kick and snare rudiments, cheesy lyrics, several originals. But there were also some touches of the modern: walking bass, a reggae tune, even Paul Kelly's song, Darling it hurts. Now, that was unexpected, but this is a Melbourne band and it's working and they mention "a desire to get out of the dimly lit jazz club and onto the sticky carpets of their favourite pubs". The swing dancers were around, at least for the more tradie or swinging tunes. But Hippo was full and people were smiling and the band was pumping. I didn't mention the capable playing all round. I particularly liked Ben's cornet and James' trombone and Jon had a particularly nice voice. But I took this as fun and it was that in spades. Great stuff and particularly great as a change for a died-in-the-wool modernist.

The Lagerphones comprised Ben Harrison (cornet), James Macaulay (trombone), Jon Hunt (clarinet), Louis King (banjo/ resonator guitar), Marty Holoubek (double bass), Jacob Evans (drums). The played at Hippo.

Out of the West

Lots of jazz good seems to come from Perth, but it's a long way away and we don't get it too often. It was a mid-winter Canberra Sunday night and the audience was far too sparse, but JC5 played at Smiths for their "Legit East Coast Tour Experience". JC is James Cross and he's the leader and trombonist and composer for much of the material. This music was essentially electric, richly effected, rock rhythmic and structurally complex. The two front horns, tenor and trombone, could be softly spoken, played in parallel lines for a head, or soloing with echoes and envelopes. The piano was Rhodes, but with a Moog pedal and more, so seldom sounding just of an electric piano. I could hear Herbie and the like, playing with tone, strongly played but also other-worldy. Bass was also a mélange of tones, sometimes through technique (fingers, slap, pick, thumb, chords), other times with a deep added octave, always with a Jaco punch of the bridge pickup and with a lovely edge. Nice bass and plenty of interesting solos. Just the drums were uneffected: just solid, rock rhythms with sharp fills and taps. Like the bass, working the octaves, syncopating the groove and filling with some lovely twisty bits. There were strange times, some ornery rhythms, unexpectedly dropped beats, patterns swapping in and out. I counted one tune as 12 split into repeating 3-4/2-3 changing to a standard 6 divided 3-3. I think that was just one part. Big dynamics, too. One tune dropped to the slightest of drums and bass, just audible, swelling so slowly through piano and sax solos. The penultimate tune was just a lovely ballad sitting unexpectedly in this program: echoing tenor with rolling drums and background colours from piano and trombone. Lovely. It developed into a pushing rock then a riff-based trom solo over drums. I thought of Josh Roseman or Dave Holland with Robin Eubanks and Chris Potter. This is rocky, riffy music with a sweet sound of sax twinned with trom. James said he listens to hip-hop and Kneebody is an influence. And Ellington. Whatever, it sounded fresh and interesting and well played and was considerable fun. Their smiles betrayed that they were having a good time, too. Great gig; too poorly attended.

JC5 were James Cross (trombone), Luke Minness (tenor), Lewis Moody (piano), Marty Holoubek (bass) and Jacob Evans (drums).