Never wearied

It's their 45th anniversary concert tour and CD and these are masters and seasoned of our jazz craft so it's so surprise that this was such a deeply satisfying gig to attend.  Sure, we see them in smaller groups but to hear the compositions, the solos, the personalities, the arrangements of little big band colours is a special thing.  I'm still thrilling at the precision of those colours; of the contemporary classical crossover of Kevin Hunt's piano outings; of the touching depth of Sandy's introduction to the gig and Miro's Ornette-infused Nostalgia (isn't what it used to be) to end it all, of Steve Elphick's understated but ever correct Hadenesque presence.  And they fit a space like this, theatrical, spacious, respectful, nicely amplified.  It was casual, too, compered by Sandy and a space and casualness that we could see, experience the personality, musical and other, of each of these players.  I was amused by the cool pleasure of Warwick Alder and his chat with Miro; ever gregarious and friendly James Greening and his quips and then floored by his trombone responses to a Sandy solo; the as-one pairing of Sandy and Andrew and offsider Paul; Matt filling in for John Mackey, blowing in this own style and verve.  Rease Cameron was new to me, but nicely effective.  Just 10 tunes over 2 hours and two sets.  A hugely mature set of musos and musical and compositional grouping ends in a fabulous and deeply satisfying night of music.

Ten Part Invention performed at The Street Theatre.  10PI comprised Miroslav Bukovsky (co-musical director, trumpet, flugelhorn), Sandy Evans (co-musical director, tenor, soprano saxes), Paul Cutlan (tenor, baritone saxes, clarinet), Andrew Robson (alto), Matt Ottignon (tenor, flute), Warwick Alder (trumpet), James Greening (trombone),  Kevin Hunt (piano), Steve Elphick (bass) and Rease Cameron (drums).

Neat flight

Volant was touring and they were playing at Smiths as their penultimate gig before a final outing at the Milton Festival.  Volant is fronted by Matthew Ottignon but interestingly it's otherwise a trio of women which still remains less common although there are now plenty of female jazz instrumentalists out there.  This was a delightfully precise and careful band and it was playing acoustic and at a very moderate volume.  I felt I was in a studio given great precision and restraint and correctness and I put it down to the membership, but I was wrong.  The penultimate tune of the second set got louder as they played on and the final was a blower and it sounded just like any similarly competent band of whatever composition.  But these were competent all round.  Hannah's an old mate and also a bassist so I especially watched her playing.  Just so reliable and apt and unpretentious and deeply serving the tune.  Serving the tune is a great skill and I loved this.  Matt was similarly careful and precise, although as the sax out front, he had a more outspoken role, but still very neat.  Lauren on piano played restrainedly, too, but there was a good deal of adventurousness there too, some dissonance, various interpretations or melodic takes in solos.  Hayley was mostly quite understated, lightly played, heavy on cymbals and hi-hat and kick, but then she too let go with sticks on skin and drama and drive.  So, I feel comfy in my concepts of second-wave feminism, that we can all do much the same thing in similar circumstances and we should have the opportunity.  But my-oh-my did I enjoy this calm precision.  Just lovely.

Volant performed at Smiths.  Volant comprised Matt Ottignon (tenor, alto, minor percussion), Lauren Tsamouras (piano), Hannah James (acoustic bass) and Hayley Chan (drums).

Happy

Happy is my favourite tune by Public Image Ltd.  Mr Ott didn't play Happy or anything like it, but they did produce it.  The Lord Anson was jumping within minutes and in ecstasy by the end of the set.  This was tight, infectious, classy, on top and joyous, with memories of Ethiopia and Sun Ra (to my ears and those of muso Darren beside me).  The whole place was dancing or tapping or, if not, looking out of place after a few tunes.  The tunes were tight, the movement were welcoming (Matt's steps and Ellen's claps), the band was hugely impressively ready to sit, and the solos by all were delightful and punchy and welcoming and playful and always apt and that bass could repeat and that's a skill in itself.  Jazz is all chops and serious study and we can too easily be serious and miss the joy.  Mr Ott does not do this and it's an infectious pleasure.  Loved it deeply.

Mr Ott entertained the Lord Anson as the last band on Saturday night.  They were Matthew Ottignon (tenor, baritone saxes), Ellen Kirkwood (trumpet), Dave Panichi (guitar), Daniel Pilner (keys), Jan Bangma (bass) and Hamish Stuart (drums).

To sit or not

It is one of the great skills of musos to just sit on a beat, I reckon.  It takes the most capable to just do less and enjoy the intensity of the groove.  This was probably my biggest takeway for Mr Ott (it's nothing new), but not the only one by far. Mr Ott is obviously Matt Ottignon, Sydney saxist, who's appeared several times in CJ.  His band is a sextet with influence from Africa (Ethiopia was mentioned) and the Americas North and South (jazz, of course, but one tune was very much of Cuba or Mexico or thereabouts).  Otherwise, solid grooves, odd times, neat heads played on bari or tenor sax and trumpet, thumbed and fingered bass, chords and all, sustained odd drums and times and lots of strange effects, dropping damped chords played with rapid strums and beat-aligned wah and echo and more wah and odd-sounding guitar solos, that 5-string P-bass thud softened with thumbs and the like, more strange sounds from keys, occasional grand piano but plenty of clavinet and dissonances and lovely synth noises, all playful and oddly placed but always fitting.  And always those grooves in difficult-to-count times, although plenty of threes or sixes but syncopations and added notes.  There were a few fours towards the end.  And the prancing and good-natured pleasantries.  Matt often brings a tray of single shots on stage, he said, but not available on the night.  Sad, that.  But he's lanky and jaunts around; someone suggested Peter Garrett as a teacher.  And the smiles and laughs as they moved out of the way of solos.  Nice to see the array to the right for the drum solo and the laughs and leading fills.  And the interval (strange, that, and so unlike a formally staged gig) and  the call for dancing in the aisles at the end of the night (standing at tables with a dance floor and beers would much better suit this band) and just the joy of it all.  Good sound at the venue, too, as noted (Thanks Street Theatre).  Not to mention the seriously satisfying playing throughout.  And back to the ability to just sit on a beat.  They had it and that's something special.  Yep, I enjoyed this one and I wasn't alone.

Matt Ottignon (tenor, baritone sax) led Mr Ott comprising Matthew with Ellen Kirkwood (trumpet), Ben Panucci (guitar), Daniel Pliner (keys), Jann Bangma (bass) and Carlos Adura (drums).

Playing it tough

Maybe it's the age of the audience and maybe it's the jazz they started out with but several said how much they enjoyed this gig by the Matt Ottignon and his Tough Tenors. Just straight ahead, blues-infused, heavily swinging, uncomplicated and earthy (which does not translate into easy to play). Median tempos or up-tempo (even the one ballad, Body & soul, was pretty quick), burning tenor sax with two tenors up front. Tonal, bluesy lines, steady swing and walks, neat piano comping, unison or harmony heads and steady drums. Dirty big tones and satisfyingly twisted lines from hot and sweaty tenors. This may be as serious as your life, but you can feel the joy and even humour. The tunes were from several gatherings of two tenors - Eddie Lockjaw Davis with Johnny Griffin, Dexter Gordon with Wardell Grey, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons - but also a few singles - Ellington, Diz, Clifford Jordan, Bennie Motin, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins. All formative players around the era of bebop and its offshoots. The band was pretty much a recent gathering but it didn't show: they were still blowing tight and together, obviously informed by the various traditions of this art as well as supported by their individual skills (these were some good players). Just a hard swinging night of hot playing with some humour amongst the pleasure. It's getting on to 60 or 70, even 80, years old by now, but how good to return to this formative era.

The Tough Tenors were Matt Ottignon and Chris O'Dea (tenors), Andrew Scott (piano), Tom Botting (bass) and Tim Geldens (drums) and they played at the Gods.

Java has history

Java Quartet have a history. Twenty years and seven albums and counting. They appeared at Smiths last week for the launch of their latest album, Together. Interestingly, last time I heard them was for the launch of their sixth album. The gig was the album, plus an encore or two, played in order. Starting gently as a quartet with The Hill song, a gentle groove with intense solos. That was the way with the outing. It's laid back, meditative; the grooves are unhurried. Solos grow organically from a limpid presence of relaxed bass and minimal, repeating melodic phrases. But there's development and power that appears with inevitability in solos. Greg's piano blisters with lengthy but tightly built scalar phrases that move through various dissonances. Matt is more open and his lines have bigger intervals, but there's a similar expansive modernity about it. I was trying to place bother these two and it's somewhere in the sixties. Mike's solos are more restrained, unfussy. The percussionists each take their features, and the blend of drums and tabla gives a rich undercurrent of rhythmic movement and colour. Tablas sing with absurdly quick tika and it was a pleasure to see up close how this is done. Bobby's not a core member of the quartet but features on this album and is a frequent collaborator. His hands blur as he lays down some of the quicker passages, of fingers flash to tap the different tones. It's a different sense of rhythm, expressed in vocalisations, too, and it was such pleasure with Mike's sympathetic drumming. I liked his solos, too. Morganics came on in the second set for a few DJ raps. They were pleasantly political, too; one about asylum seekers; one about Aboriginal land; another just about Canberra. It was claimed as freestyle but it seemed just too clever for an improv. I am a novice in such poetry, though, so I guess it was. If so, I am impressed. It turns out that Morganics has a Canberra connection too, so he may have been reasonably acquainted with his topic. Certainly, it was local. So, this was laid back in presentation but intense in release; nicely modern in jazz and ethnic in percussive colour and contemporary in vocal lyricism. Something old; something borrowed; something new.

Java Quartet are Michael Galeazzi (bass), Matthew Ottignon (tenor), Greg Coffin (piano) and Mike Quigley (drums). One their new album, Together, and at this gig, they added guests Bobby Singh (tabla) and MC Morganics (vocals)

Visiting Africa

Matt Ottignon and his Ethio Groove project are playing just one part of the spectrum of African musics. Matt explained some of the background. Ethio Groove is a new development of Mulatu Astatke and that it first appeared in his compilation called Ethio Groove. Mulatu had studied jazz in London and performed with Latino musicians in New York before he returned to Ethiopia to develop his Ethio-jazz style. To generalist ears, it’s based in the rhythmically intense musics of Africa, but Matt also talked of local scales (Wikipedia says modal pentatonic with long intervals and not tempered – Music of Ethiopia, in Wikipedia, viewed 14 Nov 2012) and styles of singing and specific rhythms. It’s certainly infectious and danceable. Matt himself stood rocking side to side, and although the audience were seated, there were plenty of tapping feet and nodding heads. Our Euro-reticence seems so out of place when this music gets a head of steam. It’s cleverly played and the solos are interesting, but it’s primarily physical and probably best appreciated on your feet.
Matt with his wildly syncopated heads and call and response solos. Luke S on the organ, with growling solos and choppy comping. Brother Eden O laying repeating lines, often oddly spaced, on electric or double bass and Luke K-B holding steady on some devilish repeated but irregular beats. We were introduced to a rhythm from Tigré that crossed triplets with straight beats. Like jazz swing, this is something you learn to feel and it’s impossible to write. It’s like a language: you have to learn and it’s best learnt young. I could feel an underlying beat at heart-beat speed (120bpm) under most tunes, often four-to-the-floor on the 1-2-3-4, sometimes on 1-3 (I don’t think on the jazzy 2-4), but I tried to tap the bass lines a few times and it wasn’t in my vocabulary. Interesting that; understanding requires time and immersion, as does Matt’s rocking gait. It’s dancy so the immersion would be fun. Matt introduced the tunes and the performers, but it’s all Ethiopian to me. Other than one tune that was sung by two women with the Ethiopian Army Band. Or a mention of an 80-ish Ethiopian saxist playing punk in the Netherlands. Or when they took a turn sideways for some originals from Luke S and doubly so when they played a Pharoah Sanders tune that floated with bowed bass and piano arpeggios and cymbals and a rich and deep tenor tone. That was a change. But mostly it was the triplet feels and funky but stilted beats of Ethiopian groove and it was indulgent and immersive and physical. This is really music for the body and soul, even if the intellect if satisfied. Matt Ottignon (tenor) led his Ethio Groove project which comprised Eden Ottignon (electric, acoustic basses), Luke Sweeting (organ, piano) and Luke Keanan-Brown (drums)

Seeing the gig the same

Michael Galeazzi of the Java Quartet was telling me of a mate and PhD studies in music. He was investigating how different performers in a band see the same gig in different ways. It’s an interesting study, and I guess any highly trained performance art person must have experienced it. Jazz can be quite an emotional roller-coaster, but it’s part of the commitment and fascination and seriousness of it all. The time the band was in accord, after this Java Quartet gig at the University of Canberra, as was the audience. This was a great gig. Michael was up front, happy and joking and enjoying every minute. The percussion section (here I include the beatboxer along with the more obvious drums and tabla) were throwing challenges back and forth and revelling in the different sounds and styles of each of their instruments. Greg on piano and Matthew on tenor were laconic and cool but their blissful interplay said it all. This was the first gig of the tour to launch the Java Quartet’s new CD, Rejavanation, and the quartet was accompanied by two of its CD guests, Morganics on beatbox and freestyle rap, and Bobby Singh on tabla. It’s something I like, this fertile, cross-cultural experiment. It worked a treat and the band’s response just confirmed it.

I wondered if rejavanation hinted at rejuvenation, because there were a series of tunes from older JQ CDs that had been reimagined for the new CD and this concert. The album cover describes each tune by a style: trance, ambient dub, boom bap, etc.. The CD’s press release explains the music as a component of Michael’s Master studies at the Sydney Con, exploring “notions of hybridity through contemporary hypnotic landscapes” through the “meditative aesthetics of contemporary dj/dance culture and Hindustani ragas”. Intriguing and different, interesting beyond the jazz field, and obviously entertaining for the band. Because getting back to the band, they were having a great time.

Firstly I noticed the wonderful rhythmic feels. Drummer Mike was intense at surprisingly low volumes, then letting go at the end with double kick pedal; fabulous interplays between the complex tika-tak of the tabla and jazz drums and even vocal percussion; the way the beat squared up for the beatboxing from the more swung jazz segments. Then the simple, repeating melodies accompanied by moving chordal harmonies or echoing piano lines and the rippling piano and fluttering tenor bursting into full blown sax solos over intense and busy grooves. And the frequent bass solos on a Whitehead SASE that were sharp and edgy, but surprisingly deep in the recording I made on the night. Not at all strict jazz, but obviously jazz informed, and one branch of where it’s heading as it touches on other valid forms. Solos that just appeared from a band that has played together for years, and shows an unspoken interplay. There was even a ballad in there, a deeply felt, sparse thing of synth swells then sax then a touch of percussion. The whole was structurally and chordally simple, but subtly mobile and with an underlying percussive intensity. And it was even political, perhaps more validly than the current election. I missed most of the rap lines, but caught a few that spoke of Brisvegas: “Visions, valleys, concrete”; and refugees: “sometimes / we find / that time”, “sometimes / the best form of attack / is defence” and then a rap in 15 languages.

It was an intriguing jazz for a modern ear, and a mix of styles for a modern world. Great stuff. And very much enjoyed by performers and audience. The Java Quartet are Michael Galeazzi (acoustic bass), Greg Coffin (piano), Matthew Ottignon (tenor sax) and Mike Quigley (drums). Their guests were Bobby Singh (tabla) and Morganics (beatboxing, freestyling).

Other worldly

The Space Cadets played at Gods the other night. It’s a strong combination of youth and long experience, presenting very earthy music from post- and hard-bop into the 70s: loud and hot and richly improvised, but at times gentle or expressive. John Pochee, that long-renowned drummer, was perhaps responsible for that (this drum seat is not a back seat). It made it a memorable night of originals and a string of tunes from several greats.

They started with Pochee’s opener by Matthew Ottignon: a hard bop tune which was Blakey-esque in commitment and go-ahead blowing and good, solid volume. Then another Blakey reference in Good for the soul, by ex-jazz Messenger Don Harrison, that was considerably more circumscribed and simply melodic. Then a gentle piece called Constant stream by Roger Frampton, the musical genius who is so often resurrected by the Sydney jazz establishment. I remember seeing him on piano and soprano; the respect is obviously justified; he was a giant of that era of Australia jazz. Then Freddie Hubbard’s Happy time, and a wonderful, comprehensively exploratory take of an Ornette Coleman tune, Trigonomety, in which all the players weaved through melodies and grooves with clarity and intelligence and aural communion. The second set mostly comprised a suite of 4 pieces by Matthew Ottignon called Space which travelled nicely through a range of feels and emotions, then a light and pleasant last number by Christian McBride called In a hurry. Looking back, it was a very successful combination of tunes that took the audience through both entertaining and profound musics with jovial comments from John Pochee to meld it all together. Very nicely programmed, and an indication of the maturity and experience of the band leader.

More on youth and experience: this band had it all. On the experience side was John Pochee, a drummer with decades of history in Australian jazz behind him. His story about how he first heard Ornette Coleman said it all: he and mates had read about him, and he finally got a listen to the first LP of Ornette imported into Australia sometime in the early 60s (and the landlord turned off the power part way through). John’s power and commitment from the first beats and richly varying rhythms pushed the outfit from the top. Warwick Alder is a similarly experienced and respected player. His playing was clear with beautifully formed trumpet tone and often punctuated but sweet and clear lines. Matthew Ottignon played a responsive tenor to Warwick, much softer in impact and with a different, more flowing and extended melodic sense, but still forming nice harmonies and interesting parallel solos. Earlier on, Greg Coffin seemed to me fairly tonal and mainstream, but he let go into varied harmonies and dissonance in a far more modern style as the night went on. And Mark Harris, bassist with the band for a first gig, was wonderfully impressive. He used a softly rounded tone and deadened sustain to play some outstanding solos, constantly high into thumb positions, fast, intriguing: a masterful performance, doubly so given this was his first appearance with a band and it was playing rabidly improvised music like Ornette’s.

Just a last bit of humour from the show as memory of a hot and inventive night. Miro had apparently provided an urgent fix to Warwick’s trumpet. The result? A snippet of 60s pop-latin, and the comment: “What have you done to it, Miro?”. Brilliantly funny on the night.