So nice to come home to

It seemed a strange experience to hear James playing with Dial M.  I play with him frequently and yet I heard more when I was in the audience than when I'm playing.  Maybe I'm usually too busy with my own playing although hopefully responding in kind, or maybe he was just playing differently in this context.  Maybe it's a comment on my listening.  Whatever, he played wonderfully and hugely enjoyed  the complex and shifting colours in his harmonies and clear flows and structures in his solos.  Blues pianist Leo was there and commented on harmony and talked of more studies with more time and we both commented on the shelves of books we each had that probably held guidance on all this.  But back to Dial M, they were playing a Cole Porter tribute entitled Songs of love and Loss with five lovely players and some guidance from charts and just the pleasure of the Cole Porter songbook.  Melody Neilsen was singing, strong, involving, so intimately phrased.  She mentioned at the end that she'd dropped the refrain from Night and Day into the start of I've got you under my skin.  I knew both but just felt some incongruity; Megan had recognised the tunes.  Mostly the songs were played with the quintet of Melody and James and Barnaby Briggs and Stephen Richards and invited friend Rouslan Babajanov from Sydney.  Melody obviously enjoyed the interaction and we all felt the joyous playing and presence of Baba: not showy but beautifully smooth and expressive and nicely responsive, including between Melody's sung lines.  Then Barnaby on bass, fluent and beautifully tone (playing with a mic rather than pickup) and sometimes quite explosive with lines that floored me and one solo accompaniment for Melody in Love for sale and Steve, so nicely solid and present and delightfully fluid in one solo with brushes.  The backgrounds of these people showed, capable and easily understated but just delightfully right and apt for the night and the music of Cole Porter and just occasionally explosive for a solo or two.  Such a great songwriter and such a worthy tribute.

Dial M played a tribute to Cole Porter at Smiths.  Dial M comprised Melody Neilsen (vocals), Rouslan (Baba) Babajanov (tenor), James Woodman (piano), Barnaby Briggs (bass) and Stephen Richards (drums).

Entanglement with a silent 'b'

Scott chose an intricate name for his band, Tembtanglement, with a silent 'b'. It's tricky, like my canbjazz with another silent 'b'. But the band's not silent. It's a very clever outing by a string of trained and professional players, from the Duntroon band or otherwise, from ANU music School or otherwise. The repertoire is a mix of originals from Scott and an intriguing choice from the pop repertoire. The final tune, Nirvana Teen spirit is a a common choice and a great crowd pleaser. But Kendrick Lamar and Outkast featured with Beyonce and Justin Bieber and Eurythmics and Valerie by Amy Winehouse. Then a string of tunes by Scott, funky or swinging, all scored for three horn parts upfront. My wardrobe exploded on Yamba Drive was a wildy syncopated and odd-timed piece with a common time bridge. Spilt champagne could have been a US TV theme, all jaunty and lightly latin. The playing was solid and steady and strong. Baba was a blow out as he is wont to be, busy and flowing and melodically convincing. Capable solos all round, from Scott and Josh and Clare and a short one from Sim and a long, virtuosic one from Barney on his firmly wooded Warwick. I love a fat, middy-toned bass and this was middy but also niced toned. Lucy Ridge joined for a string of songs, Teen Spirit and Valerie and more. She was polished and neatly embellished and with one satisfying scat spot. A very professional workout on a range of jazz through funk and pop, with lots of obvious prior work on charts.

Tembtanglement played at Smiths. They were Scott Temby (trumpet, flugelhorn), Lucy Ridge (vocals), Josh Hart (trombone), Rouslan (Baba) Babajanov (alto), Clare Fitzgerald (piano), Barnaby Briggs (bass) and Simeon Staker (drums).

Goosebumped

Mike Dooley writes seriously good songs and not just out of the American songbook, even if he introduced one as "written in 2012, should have been written in 1942" and a bloke beside me said the music is timeless. They are both right. Mike has imbibed the styles and capability of the era, the changes, the lively grooves, the lyrical melodies, the witty rhyming lyrics. These tunes just sound right, never forced into a straightjacket by an ill-considered chord or uncomfortable line. Even when the words are slightly tortured, the phrasing twisted into a melody, it works, it's humourous, it's clever. But beyond the songbook, Mike's also written the mystical-sounding mid-Eastern Across the Gulf, several heart -on-sleeve sentimentals, Incurable and the immensely gorgeous Soliloquy, the funky Zymergy (the last word in the dictionary, to be the final tune in some future fake book), the latins Symbiosis and Kiss the sunrise, the ever-rising spine-tingling goose-bumping Upward spiral (a killer amongst gun-toters) and the immensely wistful theme (picked up for the local film, Locks of love) Edge of time. I've played these tunes and love them, but they took on a new life as I listened, with a mix of great support musicians: piano, guitar, bass, drums, a horn section for some tunes, a string quartet for others. And Rachel at the heart of it all, who has sung with Mike as the duo, In2Deep, for several years. She's such a good singer, lively, capable, interesting, great voice with long-term experience. And she and Mike make a great vocal pair, sweet harmonies over a satisfying musical conversation. I was not the only one tapping along. One couple danced with the excitement of it all, despite unlikely surroundings. This was a CD launch and Mike was chuffed that even the barman bought a copy. After all, this is not Sia's writing for Rhianon and Beyonce and Katy Perry; the writing may be timeless but not quite so pop-commercial current. But the crooners are still touring and there are winning songs here for more than just their ilk. This is the real deal. Mike, great writing; Rachel, great singing; band, great support.

In2Deep launched their new CD at the Dickson Tradies. In2Deep are Mike Dooley (piano, vocals, compositions) and Rachel Thorne (vocals). They were supported on the night by Camilo Gonz (guitar), Philip Dick (bass), Steve Richards (drums), Dan Bray (tenor, soprano), Rouslan Babajanov (alto, soprano), Mark Du Rieu (trumpet, flugelhorn), Rob Clements (trombone), Timothy Wickham (violin), Anne Horton (violin), Iska Samson (viola), Alex Voorhoeve (cello)

Finally Merimbula 4

Then there was my band. I just performed in one band, for two sets over two days. We had decent spots in the program: 9pm Saturday; 10pm Sunday; both at the Sapphire; the second on the main stage. What a blast!

These were seriously good musos and such a pleasure to perform with: Pearl Noire out front, a Jamaican / English / Australian with presence to burn; the renowned local Noddy on drums; Baba and Dan on horns, both great readers and excellent soloists; Mike on piano and musical direction and me. This was such a good outfit: tight as, lively and entertaining, joyful but with serious chops and driving grooves. All reading with just a touch of preparation and otherwise seat of the pants, but with decent players who can cover when the things get loose. The second gig was noticibly better after the practice that was the first. The tunes were virtually all originals, songs by Pearl with charts by Mike, and a few original instrumentals by Mike. This was great fun. And I’m proud (relieved?) to say I carried my part. Thanks to the band, and hope we can do it again. We were Jazz Republic with Pearl Noire: Pearl Noire (vocals), Mike Dooley (piano, musical director), Rouslan (Baba) Babajanov (sax), Dan McLean (flugelhorn, Saturday only), Derrick (Noddy) Brassington (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

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.