Multitudes indoors

Again it was at the Harmonie German Club and the event was called Australia in Harmonie : Collaboration of Cultures.  But these were the indoors acts.  It's different, indoors.  It's darker, cooler, there's a bar in the corner and people scattered at tables, seated.  The stage is big and the sound system impressive.  Noone on the dance floor, unlike some previous visits to this venue.  It's Covid, after all.  First up was a Maori Cultural Group, but I must have arrived at an odd time, for I only saw one guy talking.  Then a bit later, The Famouis (sic).  Pretty sure the spelling is correct, given the introduction.  This was a trio, all three males singing with two playing guitar and the core singer on cahon.  These were some truly lovely harmonies, most impressive, on pop tunes.  Then Anton Wurzer, our local exceptional piano accordionist.  I've heard him at CIMF, playing jazz and classical, solo and in groups.  He's a very capable player.  This day he proudly displayed his background wearing Bavarian lederhosen but his performance was more popular tunes done with wonderful authority.  All the hits, from Hey Jude to Sesame Street and Hava Nagila and then into a string of Aussie day hits, not least Waltzing Matilda and Still call Australia home, and a finish on Pier Gynt Hall of the Mountain King and Still talking about a revolution.  Now that's telling: a muted commentary played with authority and good vibe.  Great stuff!  Then a break and a return to Nancy Bates, solo artist, guitar and vocals, leading a string of singalongs (at least when we knew the lyrics), a strong voice and strummy guitar and wonderful presence with Aboriginal references.  Songwriter and singer with Archie Roach for several years, so there's experience here.  It shows in a genial presence but also a telling story.  That's one thing I am noticing of contemporary indigenous arties: the personal stories, not carping but honest and open and welcoming.  Then to a mate of Nancy's although they may have just met singing together on Aust Day stages in Canberra over recent days, Monica Moore and her blues band.  Well, I love the blues and I know these characters from Blues Society jams over the years and this was a blast (and I must admit my fave for the event).  Authentic, tight, loud blues.  What's not to love?  Sharp Strat solos, reliable, solid blues bass and drums.  The guitar gets the show here along with vocals; it's not a music of conspicuous virtuosity for bass and drums, as necessary as they are.  I liked how just bass and drums could hold the groove when guitar sat quiet and no vocals.  Then Monica with her firm and strong voice and telling interpretations.  All blues standards - Take me to the river and slow blues and Sweet home Chicago and the like - not originals that I noticed.  But so much a driving whole.  Great stuff!  It's a difficult act to follow but it was a different act that did follow.  Dale Huddlestone and the Riverbank Band was a big outfit, guit/voc, bass/voc, guit/voc, guit, drums.  Dale sang his own songs, stories of family and place, of his first nation parents moved from NT to Narrabundah for cuclones and more, about fishing with his grandfather (as I remember).  These are good and true stories as is wont with country music, and the band was tight and clean and satisfying, even if country is not a field I've yet discovered.  It was amusing that I noticed some warmup drum rolls that floored me, but they didn't appear in performance.  Not apt.  Neat and true and clear and again, telling.  So the indoors was a different world in some ways, more a listener's stage with more settled audience.  Even if the singalongs and joving in seats hinted towards other.  But an interesting way to while away some hours for Australia/Survival/Invasion Day.  Much enjoyed.  Thanks all.

Performers on the indoor stage at Australia in Harmonie at the Harmonie German Club were: Maori Cultural Group, The Famouis, Anton Wurzer, Nancy Bates, Monica Moore Blues Band and Dale Huddlestone and Riverbank Band.

Demo muso

Well, there was some music to report.  It preceded the Women's march as a lead in.  First up was a set with grunge rock band Matriarch.  I was mightily amused by their byline and couldn't resist the listen "...four 'mature' women who should know better. Matriarch have arcane knowledge on living a life of regrets, ageing disgracefully and not giving a f***. Come get enlightened."  They played nicely rocky numbers with social themes and not always too softly spoken.  Titles like: Sucks to be a girl; Messy house; Mansplain; Four mature women who should know better; Too much oil.  A band with themes and attitude; rock guitars and pushy vox and thumpy drums.  Great.  I liked it.  And just before the women's march, Monica Moore singing the feminist classic, Helen Reddy's I am woman, with guitar accompaniment.  That got some cheers!  And one last song, a solo Aboriginal voice singing a short but haunting piece passed down through generations of women.  Sadly, I missed her name.

Matriarch are Ana Key (vocals, guitar), Glenda Harvey (guitar), Lee Grunwald (bass) and Leanne Thompson (drums).  Monica Moore (vocals) sang I am woman accompanied by acoustic guitar.  They sang outside Parliament House for the Women's March4Justice.

Returning to Roots

I follow jazz and even fine music these days, but I still have a soft spot for blues-rock so a visit to the Pro Blues & Roots jam today was lots of fun. The Cherrypickers were hosting and what a great little band they are. No surprise there: they are made up of some of the cream of the local blues-rock scene and the songs were wide ranging and entertaining, the feels were solid and capable, Monica’s voice was in full flight - loud and powerful and often growling - and John’s guitar solos were busy and chordally full and often screaming. Just as this music should be. They had the dancers up, the feet tapping and a few heads nodding, and they were having as good a time as we were. John’s bass sounded great, too: hard and unyielding with playing that’s tight, rock-powerful and distilled. They didn’t strictly play the blues, although JVB sang on the classic, You don’t love me. The rest of the repertoire included Michael Jackson’s I want you back (this was commented on!), as well as Aerosmith(!)’s Walk this way, JoJo Zep’s The shape I’m in and Martha and the Muffin’s Echo beach. Not really the blues: more entertaining than impassioned.

The room was the same. This is not a young crowd – I don’t feel out of place – but all are welcome. The blues does have some young followers but I’m sure many of these people lived through the years of rock guitar. Cream’s Sunshine of your life was played and my guess is that the performer heard it when it released. But it’s a friendly, easy-going scene, beery but certainly more restrained than I expect these guys (mostly guys) remember from their youth. There were several other make-up bands, people having a jam, maybe friends who’ve played together here or elsewhere before. One was more a country blues style, playing JJ Cale and the like. One was led by the richly bearded ex-Canadian singer-guitarist Danny Mack aka the Cement City Cowboy. Chris Harland led another band with his hot blues guitar. I got to play a few tunes with JVB and Jon from the Cherrypickers and a few others.

It was an entertaining and sociable outing that I plan to revisit. The blues scene around Canberra revolves around the Canberra Blues Society with frequent events and Bucky’s monthly Pro Blues & Roots Jam sessions. There’s plenty of opportunity to hear the blues and it’s great fun. The Cherrypickers are Monica Moore (vocals) and the Jon/Johnnies: John Van Buuren (also known as JVB; guitar), John Coates (bass) and Jon Jones (drums). The Pro Blues & Roots Jam is held monthly at Holy Grail, Kingston and the MC is the garrulous and entertaining bassist Dave (Bucky) Buckmaster. Other players included Chris Harland, Peter Barta, Steve Hartnett, Mitch Preston and Danny Mack.

Danny Mack

Manuka night and day

Pronounce Manuka with the wrong accent and all Canberrans will recognise you as a visitor. Manuka is Canberra’s original upmarket nightspot even if it dates back only 90 years or so, and it can be pretty lively on pleasant evening. I was down there for SCUNA and dinner and was surprised to see bands sandwiching the concert at the local outdoor bar, Charlie Black. I didn’t stop to listen, but suffice to say the Funky Fedoras took the afternoon shift, and Groovilicious took the evening. On the day, the Funky Fedoras were Angela Lount (vocals), Dan McLean (trumpet), Paul dal Broi (piano), Phill Jenkins (bass) and Chris Thwaite (drums). Groovilicious were my dear Monica Moore (vocals), Hugh Le (guitar), Tim Power (bass), Scott Temby (keys) and Dave Sheville (drums). Here are just two pics.

Who? What!

Cognac Lounge played a particularly smooth gig on Sunday, and I was enjoying the lounge grooves and even the hipster-cum-nightclubby connotations of this music was amusing revelry. Playing hits of Sneaky Sound System (who?) and Barry Gibb (what!) and Leonard Cohen (revived blast from the past) and big names and mid-sized names that I’d never heard of that were newer than Miles and not as new as Me’shell.

We fitted in a few swingers, too: the commonly jazzed up ones, but also Joyspring (vibrant) and East of the sun west of the moon (delightful) and Lament (exquisite). Lots of bass solos, Peter playing some angular substitutions and finding ways back in, Monica in fine voice which I seemed to hear for the first time given better monitoring and Brenton loose and busy over a performance rich in (musical) vamps. I’m gigging a bit more frequently these days, so time to stop reporting the run-of-the-mill gigs here, but this one was great fun.

Ice ice

This was a nice little gig. Cognac Lounge played again at Adore Tea. It was unseasonally cold and raining, so ice ice is not inappropriate. But that’s not all. CL is currently moving to smooth lounge with Sadé grooves and music in the style of the pop jazz ladies, like Diana Krall and Madeleine Peyroux, and even some minimalist dance tunes like Ice Ice Baby and Tainted love. I like the simple chords (Ice… has two, but these tunes often have just one) and the miasmic repetition and the simple but insistent hook. I’m suggesting we harden up a little with interesting pop numbers from the likes of Prince and Nirvana. But either way it’s an entertaining diversion from the standards: fewer and simpler chords, more hypnotic minimalism, more popular and well received. Entertainment is meeting the punters’ preferences, and I’m happy to do it. Cognac Lounge are Monica Moore (vocals), Peter Kirkup (keys), Eric Pozza (bass) and Brenton Holmes (drums).

Now Cognac Lounge

I always enjoy gigs but I was concerned. I’d been away for over four weeks and hadn’t touched a double bass. Double bass is a demanding instrument, requiring stamina and exactness, thus practice. But in the end all was OK after a few days of considered practice, and doubly so as I resuscitated my glorious Yamaha TRB-6P. So it was a good day. The weather was generous, Adore Tea had a decent crowd that enjoyed Monica’s singing, and the band was in good humour (and covering a few mistakes pretty well). The music was jumping by the end with tight grooves and plenty of solo space (and lots of bass solos). Sounds like a good gig to me. Thanks, guys, nice one.

Cognac Lounge is the new name of this line-up. CL comprises Monica Moore (vocals), Peter Kirkup (keys), Eric Pozza (bass) and Brenton Holmes (drums).

Fever in the freezer

The predictions were for a cold weekend (Min -3C, Max 12C. Fine, early frost) and we were playing outside, even if undercover. I was dreading freezing up with cold hands on my double bass. But in the end it was sunny and free of breezes and the fingerless gloves did their job. Quiros Street Collective played Adore Tea with a singer this time. I like playing with a singer. The tunes settle better, the less that is more is much easier to achieve, and the message or wit of the song is manifest. It just feels as it should be, voice being the personal and human thing that it is. It suits gigs like this, too. The public connect with a singer in a way they don’t with instruments. Instrumentalists have their own technical fascinations and a closeness to pure sound and can forget that most people don’t share this fascination. They see the band as just the support for the story teller, the singer. And fair enough too, if they are your interests. Of course, venues often feel the same way, because their customers like songs, especially ones they recognise. So it was when we played.

Monica Moore was singing. Peter plays with Monica in a local pop band, but she also enjoys the jazz standards and the malleable structures of jazz. Musicians sometimes reject standards in the search for originality. That’s OK, but the standards remain huge markers in the jazz tradition, examples of the very best of song-writing, and people who play them seriously argue for their capacity as training vehicles. Whatever, I just melt with the beauty of some tunes, even if their ubiquity can make them seem kitsch. Nothing particularly unusual, but we had a great time playing tunes like Georgia, The look of love, Secret love, Recordame, Summertime, You don’t know what love is, Joyspring, Fever and the like. Nothing unusual, but every one a long established work that was closer to its original purpose due to the vocals. Thanks, Monica, much enjoyed. We’ll do it again.

This time round, Quiros Street Collective was Monica Moore (vocals), Peter Kirkup (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Brenton Holmes (drums).