Aron amongst the tulips

Pics by Susan Smith

The Aron Lyon Trio is playing for several nights at Floriade Nightfest. Nightfest is primarily a short film festival, but there's some jazz intersperced through the night. Aron Lyon (guitar) is playing with Bill Williams (bass) and Sam Young (drums). Thanks to Sue for the pics.

What’s in a name?

On the week of a double murder in Canberra, the Lethals broadcast live from the Artsound studios for a Friday Night Live session. But I don’t imagine the name is related to this, or a run of crime-related deaths that Canberra has seen over recent months. Rather, I think the name is a punny reference to the leader’s name, Leigh Miller, so it could have been Leigh-thals in place of Lethals. In fact, the night was more concerned with start than end of life. But more on that later.

I heard just a little of the broadcast on the radio, being busy with other matters, but what I heard were several funky, groove-based tunes in different styles, but consistently satisfying. There were originals. Beginnings was penned by Leigh and was funky and gave everyone a chance to blow and warm up. A long number by Sam towards the end of the night hinted at the Bitches Brew era of jazz rock. A non-original was from Soulive. Soulive is a bass-less trio of organ, guitar and drums. The simple, descending lines on bass were evidence of the organ bass, but the unexpectedly hip melody put the tunes clearly in the jazz idiom.

The grooves supported frequent and inventive soloing. Leigh sometimes reminded me of that great rock bassist, Jack Bruce, with what seemed to me to be a similar soloistic conception, although he had a far more modern tone of deep bass and prominent highs rather than JB’s fat, middy Gibson sound. Leigh can play some hot licks and blistering runs and works the scales effectively and likes to colour his sound with echo and effects. It’s a little off-putting to think that he came to ANU to play classical bass and only recently entered the jazz stream. Niels is back from London and a pleasure to hear. Mature, considered, skilled and just plain musical. His melody playing is simple and true to the tunes, and his solos are clear and entrancing statements. Many soloists impress with busy-ness, but I found myself observing Niels’ long pauses and hanging out for his next line. I’m not saying this was simple playing: there are fast passages and obvious dissonances, but they arrive as clear developments of a solo statement and are not out of place. I’d noticed this with Niels at White Eagle a few years back, but he seems to have further refined this path. Lovely stuff. Aron seemed to be in his element. This was lithe playing, rich with echo and related effects (phasing or flanging or whatever). Strong solos, and I noticed some whiffs of early McLaughlin comping which just confirmed the Bitches Brew reference. I mentioned it to Aron and he just said he’d been playing that tune for years and it just felt right like that. Sam is a stalwart of this groove-based style of music with his watchful eyes and ears and steady reliability. You often hear him in this context around town. I missed any solos on the night, but then I didn’t catch most of the concert.

This is a new incarnation for the Lethals. They had their first night at Hippo just two days earlier. But the real start of life reference was to Aron and his wife who were expecting their second child any day. There was relief in his voice when Leigh mentioned this while introducing the last tune: the phone hadn’t rung and they’d got to the end of the broadcast with a guitarist. So the Lethals actually presented a much more positive life experience than the name suggests. Catch them at their next gig at Moruya, but expect Aron to be looking a little tired.

The Lethals are Leigh Miller (bass), Niels Rosendahl (tenor sax), Aron Lyon (guitar) and Sam Young (drums).

Wayne’s world

Wayne Kelly took control of the studio at ArtSound for this week’s Friday Night Live. It was pretty much the last opportunity to hear Wayne before he departs for a stint at the Venetian Macao, a 5-star resort/casino. I checked out the website. The Venetian is one of those mock-casino affairs, with its own Ponte Rialto and Campanile. But then, given that the original Campanile di San Marco collapsed in 1902 and the current replacement was completed in 1912, perhaps we can think of Macao’s version as almost as authentic. The entertainment is similarly impressive, with Cirque du Soleil bookings now open. We’re losing our local master pianist to the commercial glitz, but I’m sure he’ll do a great job in good company. Wayne will be playing with local Jazz School graduates drummer Nick McBride and bassist Scott Dodd and a US sax player.

Back to the studio. Wayne played two sets of original tunes that he had penned, and he’d gathered an excellent quartet to perform them: Eric Ajaye, Con Campbell and Sam Young. Eric arrived with minutes to spare after his regular gig at the Kurrajong. He was in top form with his smooth, glissando-rich, driving style and melodic solos. Con Campbell is a Jazz School graduate from the time when the school was at Manuka, in the very buildings currently used by ArtSound. He’s now based in Sydney and the experience shows. There were some expressive melodies and he let go for some blaring and harmonically adventurous solos on the up pieces. Sam was tight and swinging and kept a watching eye on the others throughout. He took a few solos too, passing around choruses on swing or taking charge against repeated motifs in a more modern style.

If you know Wayne’s CD, you’d recognise several of the tunes. There was hot swing (Dr Kirkland blues, So what’s the number), afro-latin grooves in a modern jazz setting (For the time being), arabic scales (King of kings), ballads (Mt Conder, Alone, In my quiet hour). There were also several stylish dedications to pianists: one was a quirky Monkish piece named for the time it was composed (1st of Feb 2004, 3.35 A.M.); others were obvious from the titles, hard swung Dr Kirkland Blues and sweetly melodic Mr Hank Jones. This was a strong set of satisfying compositions that Wayne has built up over the years.

Wayne introduced the sets with tongue-in-cheek humour in the jazz style. There was restrained laughter in the studio at times, and good and satisfied thanks all around at the end of the session. This was a good natured crew, and the comfortable but challenging playing just brought out the good will.

Best of luck to Wayne for this adventure, and thanks for the excellent broadcast. And remember to check out ArtSound if you’re free on a Friday evening. Eric Ajaye has a broadcast coming up in August, and many of the best student bands are playing over the coming months, as well as local live recordings from the ArtSound collections and some European concerts.

Great way to travel

We had London visitors last night at Hippo when Duncan Eagles and Max Luthert visited and played with some of our locals. London seems a mythical distant place at times and Duncan spoke with a lovely accent that reminds you of other places. But the language of jazz is universal, so it’s no surprise that the conversation on the night was capable and pleasing and the tunes mostly recognisable. Apparently, Duncan had met Bruce Hancock, head of jazz studies at Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium, when he was visiting London. Bruce invited Duncan to Australia and helped him find players for his visit to Adelaide although I’m not sure who they played with there. The travellers also visited Melbourne where they played with Ben Vanderwaal and heard local masters Sam Anning and Jamie Oehlers. Hereabouts, CJ helped them to find a double bass to borrow (thanks to Simon Daly at the Violin Shop) and players to perform with. They are off to Sydney next, not to play but to absorb the scene. The essence of good travel is to meet the locals, so jazz tourism like this is a great way to travel. They were enjoying it, and were talking of the next time.

The visitors teamed with Wayne Kelly and Sam Young on the night. They started with Softly as the morning sunrise, then Sam River’s Beatrice, so it was looking to be a comfortable evening. Duncan warmed up over the night to play with passion and a great fat tone on his black and gold tenor. Earlier on, he seemed more restrained, but later he turned to flurries and screams. He also picked up soprano for one or two tunes; these more melodic rather than extravagant exploits. Max was in the know, so set the stage for new tunes. He played a few solos, but concentrated on his support role of walking and other lines. Wayne started from the top with rich harmonies and constantly changing improvisations to glances of approval from the visitors. Sam played with comfort and reliability, but also with considerable authority. I especially noticed very clear statements in fours as they were passed around the band, but he was confident enough to leave space behind heads and elsewhere. Otherwise, it was ballads, bebop, bossa. Wayne looked very concentrated on a few tunes – perhaps originals or otherwise lesser known. Similarly, Sam was sometimes reading accents, but other times relaxed and just grooving. In all, it was a satisfying evening of mainstream/modern playing.

Londoners Duncan Eagles (tenor, soprano sax) and Max Luthert (bass) played with Wayne Kelly (piano) and Sam Young (drums).

Duncan Eagles'website

Godly tuba

Gareth and his mates performed last night at the Gods as the Gareth Hill Quartet. It was a return performance of the Sam Young Quartet which performed at Hippo’s a few weeks back, this time without Miroslav Bukovsky sitting in. As sometimes happens with jazz players, this band appears under different names when the bookings call for it. When they go incommunicado, they can also appear as Lookwell, a name taken from a favoured, but very short-lived (single episode?), TV program. Confused?

The performance was not so confusing. This was a quieter and more attentive environment for the band, and it highlighted the interplay and good natured friendship between the players. The playing was much as observed at Hippo, but it was all clearer and more evident in this listeners’ environment. Aron’s guitar was malleable, sometimes dirty, and often intriguingly indeterminate in pitch. Valdis played some lovely, often simple but always tasty solos and backed with interesting counterpoint or ostinato lines. Sam watched the others studiously, and played well structured solos and responsive support. Gareth is a keystone, at one time holding a 6 feel across 4/4 for a lengthy passage of melody and solos, and at various other times soloing and backing with comfort and solidity.

I caught more of the names and composers of tunes this time. They played Scofield’s Cool and Ellington’s African flower. African flower is a lovely, unforced Ellington melody (aren’t they all?) and it was a treat to hear it played on a sultry and sinuous trombone. The other tunes were all originals, roughly equally shared between Aron, Sam and Gareth. I heard post bop, New Orleans marches, fusion, lullabies, Wunderlust and more amongst the styles, so there was variety.

It was a worthy return performance, another satisfying concert at the Gods, and another recording to listen out for on ArtSound over coming weeks or months.

The band comprised Gareth Hill (bass), Aron Lyon (guitar), Valdis Thomann (trombone, tuba) and Sam Young (drums).

Tubal Hip

Trombone is having its place in the sun in small as well as large ensembles. But tuba remains a rare instrument, despite its outing when the Sam Young Quartet played last night at Hippo. Valdis Thomann (trombone, tuba) was the player who revived this big and impressive brass horn for us. His partners in the quartet were Sam Young (drums), Aron Lyon (guitar) and Gareth Hill (bass). And the quartet became a quintet when Miroslav Bukovsky joined in for later sets.

The tuba was fun. Big and clumsy, with a deep and sweet brass sound. Valdis played it both as a rhythm instrument (at times in unison with the bass), and as a pretty slow solo instrument. Nice to hear (and very difficult not to see) but totally obscuring the player below the bell.

But the night was more than tuba. The band started with John Scofield’s tight and simple tune, Cool. Then on to a range of originals by various band members. They varied in time and rhythm. There was 6/4; there was an occasional walk, but the bass lines were mostly syncopated and funked up. There was sharp and open and expressive drumming from Sam; good solid, ever-reliable bass lines from Gareth; dirty and distorted, middy electric guitar solos and some lovely airy soundscapes from Aron using wah and echo. Valdis pulled tuneful and fairly bluesy baritone sounds from the trombone, performing with real physical involvement. The tenor of the night changed somewhat when Miro joined in. The melodies obviously displayed richer harmonies, with that lovely sweet tonality of a brass front line. Miro’s solos were fast and challenging, and the band sounded just a bit harder and tighter and more intense. The tunes they played with Miro also seemed longer and more composed/arranged. For me, these were the highlight the of night. These were more worldly and meditative; I thought here of storytelling and even magic realism.

A nice night of restrained volume and comforable, worldly music. It will be interesting to compare the performance in few weeks when they appear as the Gareth Hill Quartet at the Gods.

Lethal outing

Perhaps summer is the time for blues/funky styles, out-and-out blowing, pentatonics, danceable grooves and the like. It sounds just the thing for warm nights. If so, then last night’s set by The Lethals at Hippo’s was on the money.

The Lethals is Leigh Miller’s band. Leigh has impressed me over recent years with hot, funky electric bass playing in the ANUSM Commercial band and at Moruya over recent years. I was surprised to learn that he has only just entered the Jazz School, and that he was previously a classical bass student. Quite a change. Leigh’s a powerful and funky player for someone out of the classical tradition. But then classical is a good source of chops, and he displays them. He also displays a penchant for effects, and a readiness to experiment. I only caught one set, but that included an extended solo bass piece with a bass drum sounding on the beat accompanied by heavily echoed bass playing chords, harmonics, string bends, wah and more. The other tunes were more simple blows and pentatonic melodies. Scofield’s A go go and Jaco’s Teentown (admittedly a pretty raunchy melody, and a punchy groove) and two originals, one by Leigh and another by Leigh with Damien Slingsby (a capable pianist and one-time Jazz School student).

The solos were satisfying all round. Carl and Ben blew us all away as they always do with good solo development, interesting ideas and occasional meanderings outside, and the balance was good so we could hear all the ideas. Sam slogged away with solid and heavy drumming which matched the style, and played a nice solo where he held the heavy beat but interpersed it with some rhythmically contorted fills. The bass had that soft and toppy modern sound which suits slap. It seemed to get lost in unison lines with the guitar, but it worked a treat on solos. It was interesting comparing this sound to Steve Hunter’s very punchy, hard, middy sound when he played Teentown with Carl only a week or so before. I also enjoyed the overall band sound on the night. It was not too loud for the venue (Hippo’s is not an easy acoustic space), and clear and well balanced. The audience was not large, but at least that meant less background noise, so it had a benefit. I only caught the first set but much enjoyed.

The Lethals were Leigh Miller (bass), Carl Morgan (guitar), Ben Foster (keyboards) and Sam Young (drums).

Jazz can at UCan

I particularly like it when I’m out and about and unexpectedly come on some nice jazz. It makes me feel the jazz scene is bigger and more invasive than I know of. I was out at the University of Canberra on Thursday and happened on Aron Lyon (guitar) playing with Sam Young (drums) and Gareth Hill (bass). It was just a short set as part of a celebration for the end of year. It may have been a throwaway set, with tunes like All blues, but it was not tame. The guitar was fluent and fierce at times. The bass gave some effective solos, and Sam was observant and responsive. It was also interesting to see that Aron was playing a guitar from a notable local luthier, Ray Berketa. Ray’s a nice and helpful guy and produces a magnificent product.

Berketa guitars

Symphonic to harmolodic

The last White Eagle offered another night of fabulous, but fascinatingly different performers. It’s almost de rigeur that the two sets are markedly different, and this night was perhaps the most extreme in this respect. The first set was the harmolodic.

Legedis Benz’s set featured a triptych of Ornette Coleman tunes (Peace warriors, WRN and a very stylised blues, Feet music), a Roscoe Mitchell number (Noonah), Zappa quotes and originals by all members. Needless to say, this was the challenging end of the spectrum. There were fast and furious unison lines throughout, and harmolodic invention abounding. Harmolodics? It’s the concept that underscores Ornette Coleman’s music. It’s somewhere east of free. We had a chat about it after the gig. Apparently it’s none too clear with anyone, but it seems to demand all players to perform as improvisers and to clear themselves from support roles, and for their melodic inventions to be free of limits of conventional harmony, melody and rhythm. Suffice to say, after furious intro melodies with rapidly changing keys and pretty indistinct tonal centres, the players perform free with no underlying key or even tonal centre. Challenging all round, but hugely satisfying (if done well).

LB comprises Jarrah Jones (guitar), Sam Young (drums) and Simon Milman (bass). Jarrah played like I’ve never seen him before: dischordant chords, sharp phrases, sustained atonal lines, bent notes and vibratoed chords, odd intervals, scraping strings. All short, sharp sounds. Oddly, I caught a snatch of the guitar tone from the Coupling theme at one stage. Sam was tight and played with a drum tone to die for. Perversely, he could be stunningly simple and clearly expressed, with solos that often dropped back to straight, sustained grooves, like an eye in the storm. Simon was unorthodox even in his choice of instrument: an amplified acoustic bass guitar. It imparted such a different tone, and surprisingly apt for this outing: acoustic, not rich, deep and woody like a double bass, but fatter, more middly, but still clearly acoustic. Interesting. Playing wise, Simon ran with the others, harmonically adventurous, freely moving over the fingerboard, sometimes playing with thumb and fingers in a softer slap style, but otherwise fingerstyle. Simon also introduced the music. There was a constant theme of nicer or nastier (which was even carried on in references later by Matt Baker later in the night). You couldn’t say any was “nice” in the sense of a beautiful ballad, but this was not the intention. This was extreme sport for musos and they carried if off fabulously. But I’m wondering where we’re likely to hear them again, given the demise of WE. Perhaps Moruya?

The Matt Baker Trio was literally the symphonic end of the night. The trio was Matt Baker (piano), Karl Dunnicliff (bass) and Dave Goodman (drums). Matt’s recently returned from Europe and his comments and compositions harked back to Switzerland. His latest album, “From an afternoon in the mountains”, has tunes like Les Dentes du Midi and Le Tour d’Epee as dedications to towns and mountains in this picture-card-perfect country. As for symphonic, there was talk of recording with a chamber orchestra, and a surprisingly successful performance of the main theme from the first movement of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto. Matt talked of trying to record jazz in a classical style, but then performed classics in a jazz style. I was intrigued by the similarity of these harmonic movements to those of jazz. (Perhaps this was just his interpretation). There were some classical piano playing that jarred with my jazz sensibilities, but I found the piece surprisingly satisfying. This was a crossover that worked. Continuing the lyrical side of the night, there was even a beautiful composed piece with no improvisation. Otherwise, this was very competent, mainstream-modern jazz with hints Bill Evans and the like. Syncopations, close interactions, convincing rhythms and rolling solos. Matt played lots big sounds. I noticed plenty of block chords and patterned solos. Karl played great bass accompaniment; always rhythmically strong with a rich and clear tone. I particularly loved Dave’s drums on this outing. It was standard mainstream style-wise, but it displayed perfectly timed triplet feels, beautiful rimshot work, and more, and was generally a pure and accurate performance in the style. As an aside, Dave was telling me he’s studying for a PhD in jazz. Dr Goodman … very cool. A jazz PhD … would this be a first in Australia? I wondered if you could achieve a PhD in performance. His is not performance, but deals with changes in drum styles over the modern jazz era. So the night finished was a very satisfying but very different performance.

Deborah and Ian Pavletich, local musicians and studio owners.

Thanks to both the excellent bands for this last evening at the White Eagle. Vale! White Eagle.

Hops and heads

I caught David Rodriguez and his trio playing at the Belgian Beer tavern in Kingston. It’s a pleasant, relaxed venue on a Sunday afternoon. Windy outside; nice food and boutique beers inside. The drinkers and eaters were mostly oblivious to the music, as is common enough in bars, but the music itself is competent and well worth a listen. David was saying he tries to achieve this – interesting music for listeners, but not obtrusive if you’re just there for a chat. It’s a sensible way to get work. David (guitar) was playing this week with Hannah James (bass) and Sam Young (drums). They played gently on standards and latins. Nice, interactive playing. David leads on heads and solos. He’s got a lovely woody tone. I guess heavy strings, given how hard some bends seemed. Hannah played several satisfying solos which were craftily formed and true to the idiom. Sam took several solo passages, mostly swapping with David’s solos on eights or similar. I didn’t have the camera on me so no pics.

Sam Young, Wayne Kelly, White Eagle

It was another successful outing at the White Eagle last night: two bands, several jams and another ArtSound recording.

The Sam Young Quartet opened the night with a guitar-based sound that you seldom hear in the jazz scene. That’s a shame, because this was an interesting and involving set, reminiscent to me of the 60s/70s electronic jazz of Miles (the era of Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson). SYQ comprised Sam Young (drums), Jarrah Jones (guitar), Aron Lyon (guitar) and Gareth Hill (bass). They played originals, variously by Gareth, Sam and Aron, as well as Wayne Shorter’s “Mascalero”. The music was mostly intense and pensive, but there were occasional dramatic flourishes (for example, Sam’s opening for his original, “The breaks”) and the final tune by Aron was more upbeat. Most guitar solos and melodies were played by Aron, accompanied by Jarrah’s chordal work. I’ve been impressed by Jarrah’s chordal work in several performances. His interesting voicings and free movement over rhythmic structures generally loosen up a band. They particularly suited this era. Aron was playing with rich effects and the combination with Jarrah made for a modern sound with complex heads and solos. Sam and Gareth are both highly capable players in their own rights, both as accompanists and as soloists, so the performance was a joy (if you can say “joyful” for this style of music). The sound was a little muddy at times, and there were some problems with hum, but otherwise much enjoyed.

The Wayne Kelly Quartet followed with a very different style of music. This was more straight-ahead rhythmically, harmonically more defined, instrumentally less effected and with more clear distinction of solos. So, it seemed more structured or patterned than the fluid style that SYQ played (although really it wasn’t). But these guys were so professional. They played tight, over complex tunes, and passed great solos around. The music was original – plenty of tunes from Wayne’s recent CD, and a few by Mike. WKQ were Wayne Kelly (piano), Brendan Clarke (bass), Mike Price (guitar) and Mark Sutton (drums). There were tons of high points to note. Amongst others, I remember: excellent accompaniment by Brendan (he’s a great bassist, with an unusual sweet and rounded tone); an excellent solo at the end from Mark; a very appropriate tune by Mike called “Young guns” (he’d see lots as the head of the Jazz School) with a very appropriate solo (including sweeps, patterns and sidestepping, which are outside Mike’s normal style); Brendan’s charts falling from his new music stand and him organising them with his feet while playing (funnier than most jokes you commonly hear on stage); Wayne’s great tunes from his recent CD. Wayne gave away some of his influences in the names of a few tunes: “Mr Hank Mobley” and “Dr Kirkland Blues”. Overall, highly professional and highly swinging.

The night finished with a few student jams. The next White Eagle session features the Jess Green Sextet with Neils Rosendahl on 7 Dec.

http://myspace.com/jazzatthewhiteeagle

John Mackey Quintet

Hippos hosted John Mackey’s band last night, and it was another demonstration of talent from the CSM Jazz School. The band comprised John Mackey (tenor sax) as leader, Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet), Michael Azzopardi (piano), Gareth Hill (bass) and Sam Young (drums). John and Miroslav are teachers at the school, and come with considerable reputations. Michael, Gareth and Sam are students, but highly capable.

John is a strong and emotive player in the Coltrane, early-60s, avant-garde mode. He will reliably blow complex and impassioned solos with a hard tonal edge, and lots of out playing; often long and demanding; often frantic or wailing, but always intense. He didn’t disappoint this time, and the tunes were suited to his style. They played several originals, and some covers, by Nat Adderley and others.

I have written before of Miroslav as a local Miles, in the sense that he gathers great musos to work together. In this case, he played the trumpet part in a 50s/60s-style small combo. He played melodies in harmony or unison with John’s tenor, and blew strong and well formed solos. He displayed more of a soloist bent in this formation than in Wunderlust or his own combos, and it was very impressive playing: few fluffed notes (common enough with the best of trumpeters), some harmonic backdrops, good internal structure and development in solos, occasional flourishes and fast runs.

Michael Azzopardi is everywhere these days, but he’s a great player and well worth the frequent listens. He played wonderfully as always, providing excellent backing with ever-changing rhythms and harmonies. He led a rich and changing rhythm section, often breaking into cross rhythms, or whole-note triplets, or similarly challenging the underlying rhythm. But he also provided numerous impassioned solos. I remember one especially when he followed one of John’s long solos. He told me after that he decided against trying to match this flurry of outside notes, so he played a lovely, rippling surface of steady, arpeggiated notes, which then developed into a softer and more thoughtful solo. It was a brilliant change of tack from the band, displaying a considerable competence in producing different styles on demand.

Gareth struck me from the start with a fast post-bop walk, and he held that throughout the night. He has a soft but present sound, and provided a steady, reliable undercurrent. He did several nice solos, too. Not flashy, but well conceived, tasteful and capable explorations of the harmonies. I especially liked some chordal double-stop work with accompanying drums and piano in the second set.

Sam kept the steady beat through the night, responded well to Michael’s explorations to the rhythm, and provided interesting changes and fills to underlie the heads and solos.

I only stayed for the first and second sets. To me, the second set was the more satisfying. It felt more settled, less frantic, generally more “musical”. But what I saw was a pleasure. Much more challenging than relaxing, but that’s how I like it.

This was classic 50s/60s avant-garde: John in his trademark long, leather overcoat, Miroslav cool beside him, Michael hunched over his keyboard; Gareth and Sam thrusting away underneath it all. Another great night of local jazz.

Julian Banks Trio @ The Gods

Julian Banks presented last night’s session at the Jazz at the Gods series at ANU. What an eye-opener! This was highly sophisticated and energetic modern jazz, varied in tonality, interesting in harmony and melody, rich in capable and inventive solos, and virtually all from original tunes. The trio is Julian Banks, tenor sax, Damien Slingsby, piano, Sam Young, drums.

Julian played with a lovely, rich tenor tone, moving freely into and out of solos, and sometimes playing time with repetitive phrases. He has looks reminiscent of Mingus, which was doubly odd given there was no bass on stage. Damien was highly accomplished on a Yamaha electric piano, often playing bass lines against solos, freely changing harmonic relationships and always soloing strongly. He performed with eyes closed and head rocking back and forth (impossible to get a decent pic!). Sam both closely followed and defined the rhythms. He played minimalistic but expressive solos, including pitch changes by pressing drum heads - common enough, but nicely done.

Their repertoire was all original other than 2 tunes (“Miles mode” by Coltrane was one), although they finally played another non-original as an encore (You don’t know what love is). Chris Deacon (from ArtSound FM) recorded the concert, and it will be played on ArtSound in a month or so, probably on the Jazzwaves program one Sunday night at 8pm.

Julian finished the concert by thanking the audience for being appreciative and knowledgeable, but my heart sank when he added that performing for such an audience is rare for a jazz player. As it is for many other serious and demanding (and non-commercial) areas of human endeavour these days. This is both another issue and a tragedy. For now, we just have to rejoice that we have such excellent music in our midst – and support and promote it as best we can.