Revisiting favourites

Wang JF is mainly composed of the best of the Australian scene and it's a pleasure to catch up with them. In Canberra, I don't see them nearly often enough and Melbourne and Sydney listeners tend to see their own and not those from the other city. As for Brissie, Perth and the rest, I guess they see even less.

I'd recently seen James Muller and Steve Magnusson on two occasions in two different bands. They are such different guitarists and I was intrigued by how they'd work together. James is the ultimate smooth virtuoso; Steve the intriguingly divergent player. In this case, they were playing with Frank Di Sario and Danny Fischer. Scofield and Frisell were obviously on the program, and Solar (claimed by Miles as were many tunes), an original by Frank and some others. Apparently this was the third time that James and Steve have played together. James was breathtaking. I felt Steve didn't quite get the opportunity for his choppy and inventive style. Perhaps there was some competitiveness, conscious or not. I greatly admire each for his playing so I was a little disappointed by this outing. Interesting experiment, but in the end oil and water don't mix.


It's ages since I saw Sam Keevers at gigs with Jamie Oehlers and I've held admiration for his playing ever since. I admire the quiet and respectful with depths to be mined. Certainly his playing was like this when he played a set of tunes by Bernie McGann with his quintet. I felt these was clean, neat, steadily swinging period pieces somewhere around post-bop territory, lithe and steady and admirable as carriages for improv. Spirit song, Brownsville, Sweet Lucy, Mail, Twist. This is standard format with two horns out front. The fabulous pairing of Eugene Ball and Phil Noy were great together and strong apart in solos. Bass was Chris Hale, the first electric bass I'd seen at this festival. From afar, I didn't pick up on the subtleties, but up close this was pick and finger pick and chords with middle, ring and little fingers. This is six-string electric bass, which is an instrument that cries out for a new conception and Chris had one and it was well developed. Not at all standard in this context, but impressive. Craig on drums was steady as presumably required for this outing. Very well played and an admirable tribute and presumably particularly memorable for those who were close to Bernie, for Geoff and others.

James Muller (guitar) met Steve Magnusson (guitar) with Frank Di Sario (bass) and Danny Fischer (drums) supporting. Sam Keevers (piano) led a quintet with Phil Noy (alto), Eugene Ball (trumpet), Chris Hale (electric bass) and Craig Simon (drums) playing a tribute to Bernie McGann.

From Melbourne & Montreux

Jamie Oehlers was back in Canberra last night with his Quartet. It’s the same band that played so impressively at Hippos a year or so back. And the music was similarly passionate and committed, which suited an audience of mainly appreciative students.

Jamie is renowned as one of our best tenor players, having won a prize at Montreux Festival, and more recently, the 2007 Australian jazz artist of the year. I don’t much like prizes in art, but you have to be good to win and Jamie is. He’s fluid both in sound and body; mobile, complex, fast. His responses to harmonies are challenging and varying; his melodies are fleeting and embellished; his commitment intense. This is not music for the tame. Sam K seems more musically approachable and immediate at first sight. His solos articulate in a way that seems more obvious, and yet they too delve into constantly-changing dissonance, so perhaps the initial impression is just that: an impression. He was also blissful on solo piano at various times, with a Yamaha grand to confirm the tonal richness. Sam A and Ben are masters. I’ve heard them several times at Hippo. More recently, I was overwhelmed by their performances at Wangaratta as the support players for the guitar competition. They played all range of styles at the highest level, with aptness and capability, for both consistently impressive solos and reliable, propulsive support. They didn’t need to suffer contestants’ nerves and they were always warmed up, but this was challenging in other ways: constant variation, long playing, and great responsibility to the contestants, and they did them proud. Sam told me he’d been totally exhausted after the festival; I can imagine. On the night, they each played superbly. Comfortable walks and solid rhythms from Sam. He soloed on a Paul Williamson lullaby as the leader of a collective improvisation; expressive and integral rather than individual and out front. And my impression of Ben was similar. It was as if he just released solos and rhythms from the music, as if they were already there and just needed a cage door to be opened for freedom.

The Quartet played two sets, each of 5 tunes and each lasting about 60 minutes with no wasted time for chatter. Tunes included several from Jamie himself, as well as one each from Tomas Stanko, Sam Rivers (Beatrice), Paul Williamson, Coltrane (Dear Lord), and Ellington (Caravan). Caravan was mightily re-visioned with new time structures. The students were all discussing it in the break. Dave Rodrugues’s count of 17/4 as 7-7-3 was accepted; the timing on the bridge was deceptive and not straight but noone had a count for that. Beatrice was malleable, flowing, smooth, and somewhat veiled in performance: not veiled by arrangement, but by rich modern substitutions and harmonic flights obscuring the underlying chords. The other tunes were as rich. The Paul Williamson tune and Coltrane’s Dear Lord were ethereal and beauteous. The Tomas Stanko piece, and Jamie’s final original, Replicator, were hot and alive with energy. And I guess a final impression is of dynamics; from delicate piano to stomping swing, it was there and under control.

So, this was a challenging and rewarding performance for those who got there. Keep an eye out for more concerts at the ANU Band Room.

The Quartet comprised Jamie Oehlers (tenor sax), Sam Keevers (piano), Sam Anning (bass) and Ben Vanderwal (drums).

Jamie Oehlers Quartet

Jamie Oehlers came with a string of prizes and a matching reputation. He lived up to it. This was another of those magic nights of performance excess. I raved about Dave Weckl a few weeks ago. This was another show on this level, although in a very different genre.

I was sitting very close to the band and the bell of JO’s tenor, so I was able to catch every note. But what were they? Firstly, the sound was rich and rounded, surprisingly so in this field of hard post-bop improvisation. But the notes were the big challenge. He’d often introduce solos with long, fast diatonic flourishes, then launch into streams of harmonic invention that left me dumbfounded. I really was lost for understanding in these harmonies – obscure, changing, profoundly challenging. And patterns based on big intervals (much harder than small) and carried on over long ranges from the top to the bottom of the register. Then you’d arrive at an extreme and realise the tone on that low note was smooth, rather than the more common honk of lesser players, or that high note remained sweet. Amongst all this, his solo lines would cross over the bars and beats, in a way that matched the malleable harmonies. I found JO’s solo performance on a blues less convincing (fast but more obvious) and I felt the first set was the better (maybe the band was fresher – it certainly was intense playing). But this was a master at work, of obvious international standard. I read in the paper the weekend before the concert that Charles Lloyd had led the judging panel for the big sax prize JO won at the Montreux Festival. It was apt. This was a master at work, and of clearly international class.

But he wasn’t alone. I’ve seen Ben Vanderwal a few times recently at Hippo’s. He’s a great drummer – not so much for his chops; more for his immense and endless creativity. He plays a standard kit. It’s got a good sound: hard and full, powerful; smooth, not edgy but not that soft swing tone. And his playing is so much more that swing-style rhythms played well, although they are there too. He seems to have a sense of theatricality that has him playing latin, rock, trad, modern, any style from one bar to another. Just endless change and invention, and a drive and readiness to lift that matched Jamie’s creations. One minute toms, next cow bell (that old hoary thing), then mallets, whatever. Ever changing. Great solos too. This is someone I didn’t know of at the start of the year, but now he’s an icon.

The others were no slouches either. Sam Anning holds it together, as bassists do in this style. But his fills were neat and sharp, and his solos matched: well pitched and with a great woody tone. I was looking for his amp, and it was this little diminutive thing at his feet – uh, new tech! Sam Keevers was another name I knew of, but hadn’t heard live. He was a bigger guy sitting over this small, red keyboard, with a Roland 60w bass cube for his amp. But it was a great piano sound that he got, with occasional lapses into effected piano and synths. It reminded me of Herbie Hancock’s inventions in ethereality and groove.

The music was largely original – presumably mostly by JO, although one was announced as by Sam Anning, and they also played Coltrane’s Dear Lord, and I loved their rendition of Ornette Coleman’s Blues Connotation.

Jamie Oehlers (tenor sax) appeared with Ben VanderWaal (drums), Sam Anning (bass) and Sam Keevers (piano).

JamieOehlers.com