Finally Merimbula 3

I caught one of two sets of the ANU Big Band under John Mackey. Big it is: 30 performers including eight singers. As you’d expect, it was lively and well turned out. I felt comfy from the first vibrant chords of a Bill Liston chart, and it was a roller coaster ride from there. Woody Herman played on bass clarinet and clarinet; a vocal choir performing Easy to love; a Bach cello suite performed on 6-string e-bass by Jack Schwenke. The Music School now joins students from jazz and classical backgrounds, so we get an idiosyncratic performance. Strange, yes, but also interesting.

Mark VI included several players I was to perform with in my own band, so I had to catch them. They are led by trumpeter Mark Durieu, performing hardbop and the like: David Sanborn, Scotch & soda, Sugar. It’s entertaining music and hardly profound, but I’m sure it doesn’t claim to be. These are good musos: good readers, good soloists, correct and capable. You can see the Army Band connections in the reading and accuracy and occasionally in the haircuts. I particularly enjoyed Noddy’s drive, Baba’s fluent solos and Barney’s easy reading. Barney had to do the set on double after he’d left his guitar strap in the car, but I didn’t notice anything lacking. Mark VI were Mark Durieu (trumpet), Rouslan (Baba) Babajanov (sax), Douglas Hill (piano), Richard Manning (guitar), Scott Temby (guitar – not sure he was playing this set), Barney (Benjamin) Briggs (bass) and Derrick (Noddy) Brassington (drums).

Don’t tell Megan, but I went to a jazz service. Well, actually an ecumenical gospel service, as I was informed by someone leaving a local Anglican church. It was in the Catholic church, an unfortunate ‘60s A-frame construction with a priest who mentioned Parsifal and his preferences for other than jazz. He railed against ideology and at one point even questioned Papal modernism. I can respect tradition, but I felt a chill breeze of Pellucid conservatism about this man. The readings were Psalms 158-160, all praise to the Lord. Some lines from the “responsive prayer” sounded like piffle to my ears: “Let us raise to the limits of time / And behold Your eternity / Let us run to the edges of space / And gaze into Your immensity”. I prefer words like “Blessed are the peacemakers”. I often hear music in churches these days; they can be some of the best spaces for music. This was jazz and gospel singing. Rhythm Syndicate was choir; Pippa Wilson was singer with a decent, mature, traddie band. The songs were Swing down chariot (what is it about chariots in gospel music?), Amazing Grace, God bless the child (lovely!); I believe (credulous pap to my ears); Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (deeply uncertain and earthy and a paen for our times); He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother (unfortunate); Put your hand in the hand (lively) and When the Saints go marching in (inevitable). I enjoyed this. I sang along and searched for harmonies, no doubt annoying the couple in front of me, but it was fun and it loosened the vocal chords.

Sweep of history 2

The second band at yesterday’s Folkus was a jump to funk and the seventies: more an offshoot of jazz than part of its mainstream. Turner’s Antidote performs at local festivals, but doesn’t seem to otherwise appear in the CJCalendar. But they are lively and fun, as in Brecker Brother and Commodores and the like, so worth the effort to catch them. Hot bass grooves with guitar, keys and drums form the back line, and they combine with three horns up front. All hot and sticky and sexy, as this style should be. Nice to see a combination of generations, with a few stars from the jazz school combining with the moderately age-challenged amongst us. Music’s a great leveller. I’d guess at least one of the players can remember the era. It was hard not to notice Lethal Leigh Miller’s bass and some raging solos from Dan McLean, but everyone had their space in the sun. Picking up the pieces was surprisingly cool, complete with chants. All blues was airy and on edge but worked. I particularly liked some tensions that just sat with wah-guitar or floating keyboard flitting through. And there was a theme from Billy Cobham’s classic album, Spectrum, in there somewhere. The ‘70s are a much maligned era, but it had its high points and unique visions … disco and punk and platforms and sequins amongst them. Catch Turner’s Antidote at the next Moruya Festival, or otherwise if you can.

Turner’s Antidote comprises Peter Henderson (tenor sax), Richard Manning (guitar), Leanne Ballard (keyboards), Dan McLean (trumpet), Rod Harding (trombone), Leigh Miller (bass) and Aidan Lowe (drums).

And on (Moruya 4)

Moruya 3

There are still some players, usually older, who survive outside the Jazz school. Turner’s Antidote is a regular at the Moruya Festival. I’d seen them another year, but this year they were a particular blowout. They are a funk outfit, with a 3 part front line and four part rhythm section. Leigh Miller, as ex-Jazz School player, is on bass. I noticed him with some great performances with the Comms a year or so ago. TA were led by Peter Henderson (tenor), with Rod Harding (trombone), Reuben Lewis (trumpet), Wayne Millar (drums), Leigh Miller (bass), Leanne Ballard (piano) and Richard Manning (guitar). This line-up was quite different from that in the program and Peter told me they’d had only one rehearsal, but you wouldn’t know it. It was great, forceful, funk. Lots of fun; lots of volume. And music obviously runs in the family: Olivia Henderson (from No Standing) is Peter’s daughter.

I only caught two tunes from John Mackey’s performance on the Saturday night, but these were hugely impressive, as was to be expected. John Mackey (tenor) was playing with Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet), Carl Morgan (guitar), Chris Pound (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums). The first tune was a first outing: Tilba by Miro, written in dedication to Carl’s home town. This was a powerful and extended tune. Tilba was followed by a supremely beautiful ballad, with John playing full tone on melody and a tonal solo; a work of beauty. Performances by the Jazz School staff, and especially by John M, are looked forward to with anticipation by the students, and you can see why. This is the pinnacle of jazz in Canberra, and truly international in quality and approach.

Moruya 5