A return and an end

Daniel Hunter played the last concert in the Canberra Grammar Gallery jazz series. And what a wonderful little concert, well attended and well played. Daniel is back for a visit after leaving for Europe around 6 years ago. He’s been in Paris for the last 2½ years; I think it was Geneva before then.
I heard him once interviewed on the Net by French radio. He tells of playing the boisterous and hot Parisian jazz scene. I remembered it for seeing an uberhot bassist, Hadrien Féraud; Daniel’s played with him. Small world when you’re in a world centre. He returned to play with old friends: Phill Jenkins, who he’d played with over the long term; Aidan Lowe, a few years younger, who he’d met through Phill and has had his own European jaunt; John Mackay, teacher, mentor, blasting saxist admired by all. The tunes were all composed by Daniel and many were from the CD he was launching at the gig, called The Twentieth, for the 20th Arrondisement, Paris, end of the spiral. I heard Scofield often enough; that was easy. I was not so sure of his other influences, Jim Hall or Kurt Rosenwinkel. Phill was lanky, simple, beautifully toned, studiously steady. Aidan was aware, volume controlled, varied and rich in fills and colour. John was a blast and fresh with the new tunes; world class, thrilling. Daniel was a little muted in front of family and friends, but extensive in solos, stunningly toned with Fender valve amp and overdrive and a touch extra distortion for some solos passages, and nicely varied and coloured in comping. These a tunes worthy of a another listen, contemporary and instrumental and busy but tonal. It was a worthy concert to end the series and a nice opportunity to catch up with Daniel after some years away. I’ll expect to report again in a few years time. And here’s a pic of Pauline getting thanked for running the series.

Daniel Hunter (guitar) led a quartet with John Mackey (tenor), Phill Jenkins (bass) and Aidan Lowe (drums) at the last Canberra Grammar Gallery concert and the launch of his new CD, The Twentieth.

Levity and Everymother

Thanks to Brian Stewart of Cyberhalides for the B&W pic

Jazz is such a diverse community these days. Only two days after Alcohotlicks and their instrumental pub-rock-jazz-chops-crossover, I heard the piano/vocal duo of Luke Sweeting and Rachael Thoms. Now, this is rabidly different music but there’s still plenty in common. Obviously, there’s the improvisation. Improv is normally offered as the defining point of jazz, but there was also plenty of arrangihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifng and written composition in each of these performances. For my ears, jazz is defined by its sense of Afro-sourced groove and time. Both these outfits displayed it in spades. But increasingly there’s crossover between styles and periods, and this duo was no different. Often enough I could hear classical pianistic styles in Luke’s left hand and Rachael is a lyric soprano from the classical/opera tradition who performs both jazz and fine music. Rachael told me she was just a little uncomfortable because she hadn’t performed much jazz recently. That’s how much crossover happens these days.

They started with an informed version of Skylark that struck me with its rich arrangement. The rest of the two sets were mostly originals, variously by Rachael or Luke, and a few covers. I remember hearing this duo several years ago at Moruya for a very early performance and being struck by their proficiency and purity. It remains this way. Just piano and vocals. Luke is always strong. I felt he played here with an earthy edge: unrelenting and never-faltering rhythm, clearly stated harmonies in left and right hands, occasionally some delicious fills but mostly a bluesy, human earthiness. The piano, too, sounded settled with a softly padded rather than sharply defined tone. Luke’s role as accompaniment left him busy and this was somewhat in contrast with Rachael’s more restrained melodies over the top. They could be soprano-high (but not shrill or warbling) and I also noticed some nicely low, throaty notes, but the essence was the melodies that were longer and slower than the busy piano. Mostly longer notes, quarter or half notes, just occasionally with quick fills that a trained singer can pull off. There were some interesting rhythmic effects. I picked up a nice 9/8 piano accompaniment, but I think it was just extended triplet accompaniment over a 3/4 melody. There was a vocal passage of four over three in Mother’s prayer. Rachael sometimes sang wordlessly so the voice became instrumental. I loved how she would hold a note that would dissolve into vibrato and I was often intrigued by striking intervals. But these were mostly songs, with words and stories and emotions. Mother’s prayer was a good example, where Rachael sings of her son who is growing up and will soon leave home. It’s everymother’s lament and it was obviously heartfelt: “Your love is like a beacon / leading me home / little angel, darling, little one”. This is intimate stuff and a few innocent notes of glockenspiel at the end were perfectly fitting. Likewise, Luke presented a song about travelling in China and being lonely but warmed by friendly, but unknown, people. I didn’t always catch the words. I strained for some in Miles’ Blue in green, but I’m pretty sure it was the story of a jilted lover. Was it blues as in sadness and green as in envy? But I easily heard the words of the final pop tune, My American boy. It’s a light throwaway but any mention of NYC interests me these days: “Take me on a trip / I’d like to go someday / Take me to New York / I want to see LA / You are my American boy”.

This was an involving and intimate concert of songs with just a touch of levity by a wonderfully capable duo. Luke Sweeting (piano) accompanied Rachael Thoms (vocals). BTW, it was the first concert at the new venue: Jazz at the Gallery at the Canberra Grammar School. It’s spacious and acoustically damped and boasts a Kawai grand piano and quality wine on tap. Join the group on Facebook for further announcements. Congratulations and thanks to Pauline Griffiths for starting it up.