Top 5 of 2010

This is a piece I wrote for extempore. It's a great site, and has been a great (printed) journal, published by Miriam Zolin. I'm not the only one to present their top 5 - see others online from Mike Nock, John Shand, Roger Mitchell, John McBeath and others including a few Canberra locals, Keith Penhallow and Brian Stewart. Mine are pretty local and intimate and perhaps plebian, but the choices spell variety and richness to me. Fascinating!

My Top 5 of 2010

It’s an interesting task to collect my five most significant jazz experiences of 2010. I can revisit my memories easily enough through my blog (CanberraJazz.net), which is as much a record for me as reports for others, but the selection is the hard part. These are my most intense memories as I scan through my blog, but there’s an inevitable subjectivity. They may not be the most renowned players (viz. Shorter, Patitucci, Jamal, Marsalis aren’t included) but they are significant and they all said something special to me on the night.

Steve Newcomb & Hannah Macklin Steve and Hannah visited Canberra from hometown Brisbane, which seems to be undergoing a cultural renaissance. Just a bar gig in a noisy environment, but I loved the intriguing lyrics and complex electronics that made a duo into a looped orchestra and harmonised choir. All confirmed on the CD which they were promoting. This is jazz training applied to electronica-cum-pop with considerable profundity.
http://canberrajazz.blogspot.com/2010/01/delightfully-different.html

Tina Harrod Spellbinding and touching singing with a fabulously capable and understated backing band of Matt McMahon, Jonathon Zwartz and Hamish Stewart. Somewhere in the area of R&B/soul but again with great jazz playing, including one of my favourite bassists (I have to admit that I play bass).
http://canberrajazz.blogspot.com/2010/02/underneath-your-spell.html

Roil An eye-opening visit to free playing. Chris Abrahams, Mike Majkowski and James Waples introduced one tune each and the developments were detailed and responsive and deeply communicated between musos and to the audience. I can struggle with minimalism and free, but this was clear and purposeful and deeply satisfying.
http://canberrajazz.blogspot.com/2010/03/roil-not-my-ales.html

Sandy Evans Trio Sandy started the night with her trio of Brett Hirst and Toby Hall, and these were great tunes and wonderfully played. But it was the performance of her CD-length suite, When the sky cries rainbows, that floored me. It comprises about a dozen pieces or themes that tell of personal tragedy around illness. It was obviously deeply felt and wonderfully played by a very sympathetic group. The trio was joined by Miroslav Bukovsky, James Greening and Luke Sweeting for my most touching musical experience of my year.
http://canberrajazz.blogspot.com/2010/06/when-sky-cries-rainbows.html

Anjali Perrin I visited London during the year and lucked on a great night of jazz. The first duo included a graduate of our own local Jazz School at the ANU, now playing the London theatre scene, pianist Mike Guy. The second band was a quartet led by singer Anjali Perrin with Ross Stanley, Davide Mantovani and Enzo Zirilli. The band was just thrown together but made up of some of the best on the London scene. I remember great grooves and intriguing solos, but especially intelligent rearrangements and reharmonisations of the most common of tunes (Autumn leaves, Love for sale, Never will I marry, etc) that played with the audience’s memories. These were standards performed with great invention and easy skills.
http://canberrajazz.blogspot.com/2010/08/lucking-out-later.html

That’s my five. But there’s so much more: Australian Youth Orchestra performances their summer camp; concerts by Jacam Manricks, Vocal Sampling, Vertical, Marcin Wasiliewski, Pan Francis, Java Quartet, Paavali Jumppanen and many others; Henry IV Pt 1 at the Globe in London under the rain; many gigs by local musos including staff and students at the ANU Jazz School and the performers at our Jazz Uncovered 2010. And thanks to the various players I perform with, because that’s the most fun of all: Brenton, Peter, Mike, Leanne, Richard, Monica.

Eric Pozza is a long time jazz lover, bassist and author/editor for CanberraJazz.net

Roil not my ales

They tell me there’s a TV ad for Coopers ales that has the bottles rolled by a bartender before opening. It’s an ill-informed service that I’ve struck several times recently. In my book, rolling just gives you a turbid drink by stirring up the sediments. Sediments are for filtering, not drinking, even if marketing agencies suggest otherwise. I’ll have my bottled-brewed beers unrolled and thus unroiled, thanks. But that’s no comment on the band, Roil, that featured at hellosQuare’s event last night at Street Theatre 2.

Roil is a piano trio comprising Chris Abrahams, pianist of the Necks, with Mike Majkowski and James Waples. This in another band in the free tradition, but considerably different from Chris’ Necks. There’s more a sense of free and other forms of jazz, and avant-guard classical, in this tradition. I was most taken with some passages that developed as highlights, where Chris was playing fast and extended atonal runs, against a rapid, almost walking, similarly atonal bass and a busy drum feel. But there was plenty of searching with quiet music and big ears and unconventional use of the instruments, too. Mike leaning over the bass, bouncing dowels off strings or tapping the bass body or strings, or plucking strings below the bridge. Chris doing similarly unconventional things, playing with exposed hammers and strings on an upright Yamaha. But he also played conventionally, and it was a delight: winsome lines, light, playful, mobile in harmony and gingerly in melody. The Yamaha upright sounded wonderful with his gentle touch in conventional styles. James seemed generally more conventional in technique, but I loved some of his strongly syncopated, even delayed beats that had me hanging in anticipation. They played three numbers which I noticed were introduced by the three members in turn. Chris started the first tune, then Mike, then Ben, so although there were no composers, you could identify someone for the initial concept. It was a fabulous display of excellent musicianship all round, terrific listening and inventiveness, and an inspiration to visit the world of truly free but profoundly educated improvisation. A stunner. BTW, my preferred definition of “roil (v.)” for this purpose is “make turbid by stirring up the sediments of”, from Princeton’s Wordnet. Roil: it fits the band perfectly (but not the ales).

Preceding Roil were two solo artists in the electronica field. Firstly Tim Dwyer appeared as ///âÂ?²âÂ?²âÂ?²\\\ with “dubbed out garage drone-tones”. It’s pretty new to me as a performance art, although I’ve heard this type of music on radio. I liked it. It’s got beats (rather than a groove) although I only noticed 4/4 rhythms; it’s got visuals with a projection screen for computer graphics; it’s got movement and chutzpah. Technically, it’s got loops and echoes and effects, simple keyboard lines and alto sax, and with recurrent vocal utterances. He presented in a matey, jokey, baseball cappy way that didn’t exude seriousness, but I liked it. The second presentation was by Robert Curvengen, resident of Germany and Northern Territory. This was a different approach using different technology: a calm, murmuring study of natural sounds; a constantly mutating mix of drones and various natural sounds played from three CD players and two turntables and carefully blended. It was mysterious and constant and only slowly changing, so a click or pop from the turntables (something despised in pre-digital days) or a similar forest snap or insect crackle from a CD was an essential statement. I found it mesmerising if a bit long, but I’m not an afficionado. A mate with these musical interests was impressed. It ended unexpectedly with a blown fuse, sadly for Robert.

So, a fascinating visit to other fields of music. I enjoyed the electronica, if that’s what these were, but I was blown out by the skills and detail of Roil: just fabulous. Their obvious high spirits after the set confirmed it as a successful performance. BTW, I was recording, so hopefully it will make it to ArtSound’s Friday Night Live sometime.

Roil is Chris Abrahams (piano), Mike Majkowski (bassist) and James Waples (drums). Tim Dwyer and by Robert Curvengen performed solo sets. HellosQuare Recordings promoted the event and are promoting more in coming months. Keep an eye on CJCalendar and arrive early. This was a well-deserved sellout.