Never wearied

It's their 45th anniversary concert tour and CD and these are masters and seasoned of our jazz craft so it's so surprise that this was such a deeply satisfying gig to attend.  Sure, we see them in smaller groups but to hear the compositions, the solos, the personalities, the arrangements of little big band colours is a special thing.  I'm still thrilling at the precision of those colours; of the contemporary classical crossover of Kevin Hunt's piano outings; of the touching depth of Sandy's introduction to the gig and Miro's Ornette-infused Nostalgia (isn't what it used to be) to end it all, of Steve Elphick's understated but ever correct Hadenesque presence.  And they fit a space like this, theatrical, spacious, respectful, nicely amplified.  It was casual, too, compered by Sandy and a space and casualness that we could see, experience the personality, musical and other, of each of these players.  I was amused by the cool pleasure of Warwick Alder and his chat with Miro; ever gregarious and friendly James Greening and his quips and then floored by his trombone responses to a Sandy solo; the as-one pairing of Sandy and Andrew and offsider Paul; Matt filling in for John Mackey, blowing in this own style and verve.  Rease Cameron was new to me, but nicely effective.  Just 10 tunes over 2 hours and two sets.  A hugely mature set of musos and musical and compositional grouping ends in a fabulous and deeply satisfying night of music.

Ten Part Invention performed at The Street Theatre.  10PI comprised Miroslav Bukovsky (co-musical director, trumpet, flugelhorn), Sandy Evans (co-musical director, tenor, soprano saxes), Paul Cutlan (tenor, baritone saxes, clarinet), Andrew Robson (alto), Matt Ottignon (tenor, flute), Warwick Alder (trumpet), James Greening (trombone),  Kevin Hunt (piano), Steve Elphick (bass) and Rease Cameron (drums).

Breathtaking

The Evans  Robson Quartet were on tour and they are royalty in Australian jazz and I was lucky enough to be free for their Smiths gig.  This was the last of their tour and it showed.  They are always capable and correct but this was the neatest and most precise that I could imagine.  I was in awe, hearing tightness and accuracy that seemed above any norm.  I noticed a quiet start from Hamish on drums, exploratory and informed by rudiments and that was a theme to continue through the night, so bass was equally perfectly timed and intoned and adventurous in phrasing, and those two matched saxes, Sandy on tenor or curved soprano and Andrew on alto or bari, just spelling harmonies but not chords as in piano or guitar, and always aware and responding to the other.  One interaction just caught my breath, but many more deserved it.  This was the final night of their tour, so we heard skills and seriousness but also inventiveness combined to explain the perfection, all with a joyous stage presence.  Complex heads of interweaving lines, not showy and sometimes understated but always satisfying and telling.  Do I have to say I was enamoured by this concert?  Perhaps not.  Just beautiful works of a deep musical maturity.

The Evans Robson Quartet toured thei latest ablum Zenith and appeared for the final performance at Smiths for Geoff's Jazz.  Evans Robson Q comprises Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano saxes), Andrew Robson (alto, baritone saxes), Brett Hirst (bass) and Hamish Stuart (drums).

Penultimates

It was pretty much the ending but we had some seniors of the SIMA scene in the Sandy Evans / Andy Robson Quartet with offsiders Brett Hirst and Hamish Stuart.  Well, that's a mighty team and it showed with a range of original compositions in all manner of modern styles, latinish, dedications, ballads, memories of James Greening and Ornette Coleman, some simple and folkloric, some burning modernist, all done with grace and joy and immense competence and commitment.  It was a pleasure to see the interest and smiles from Andy at a Sandy solo and Sandy at an Andy solo.  Great and not unexpected but always appreciated and welcomely imbibed, melodious and entertaining, good mannered and inviting, stimulating and challenging and rich in references to other cultures.  And devastating with chops that were quick but purposeful.  Do no wrong; present no hype.  How can you not love this music?  They've all played together for yonks through all manner of bands and are now preparing for another album in this formation, I guess with these tunes.  One to get.

Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano sax) and Andy Robson (baritone, alto sax) led a group with Brett Hirst (bass) and Hamish Stuart (drums).

OWJF2022-7

Good and bad here.  The bad was that I could only hear Sandy Evans Trio or Andrea Keller solo.  Well, I could walk between venues but how much would I miss.  I mentioned this to manager Zoe but I understand the problems with programming.  None-the-less, it's my greatest disappointment of these days.  I'd heard the two the day before and adored both and Andrea Keller is in Melbourne so more difficult to catch.  But life is like that.  The good? 

Sandy Evans Trio was my favourite event of the festival.  Not something new or unexpected. I'd heard them all before together and apart and admired all their playing.  Together, despite few gigs over recent times due to Covid, they just excelled.  To some degree, the style is a preference of mine, as we all have preferences given what's hot when we discover something.  For me, it was '70 modern jazz much like this.  I could have hiked down to Andrea K but I melted and decided to stay.  The sound was to die for and this was also part of the pleasure.  The bass was pickup into Ampeg and otherwise unamplified, so levels fitted to bass.  The sax was one large diaphragm, with distance nicely controlled by Sandy; the drums were one overhead and one kick mic.  And the space was good.  Brett sounded so solid and expressive, double stops and more and Toby laid deep grooves, but was also loud and explosive or varied and fluid.  Sandy played over, moving tonalities, delirious long phrases or reticent and restrained, always gloriously toned (I felt I could hear the bell itself this was so intimate; thus the pleasure with the sound), intellectually questing, grunts or space or abstract melody.  Then a tribute to Bernie McGann and wife Addie.  My god, so beautiful.  Then a quick tune with unison sax/bass and something "so you can contemplate your own identity" and then Invasion day at the beach, introduced as a "punk rock thrash disco yobbo feel".  Loved'm all.  An important band playing a gem session expertly and with integrity. 

 The Sandy Evans Trio played at the inaugural Orange Winter Jazz Festival.  They were Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano sax), Brett Hirst (bass) and Toby Hall (drums).

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And then to finish day 1 I attended two concerts and stayed throughout.  First up was The Vampires.  They are favourites from some time back and no less today even if they started a little wary on the day.  They've changed and interestingly, as drummer and sole original member on the night, Alex, said, there are many Vampires out there.  This time three of four were unavailable, two overseas and one with Covid.  Noel was new to me on bass but apparently he'd filled this role often enough and looked comfortable.  Tom had some warning of his call so seemed pretty prepared.  Tessie had very little, being a last minute Covid cover.  So it was a tentative start but by the end they were blowing with relative comfort and great joy.  The Vampires are like that.  The grooves are steady and lively and even mesmerising and the heads are genuinely attractive melodies with playful twists.  Tom played with effects which gave a studio feel.  I much enjoyed the interplay of Tom and Tessie and their capable listening on collective improvs.  Collective improvs are not too common, being  trad-styled, but I like the sense of danger and throwing caution to the wind and the challenge to players.  I also enjoyed how Noel approached his solos, not so much creating melody or counterpoint, but exploring and emboldening the rhythm.  Nice playing, increasingly settled and that sense of playfulness that I enjoy from The Vampires.

And finally, The catholics.  Note the spelling, of course.   Here's another band that's been around for yonks.  And another band that entertains, playing attractive tunes with virtuosity but keeping the pleasure in the listening.  But I was somewhat surprised by a meditative, pensive band this night, less excitable than I remember.  Just gloriously soft and pensive to start, although they wound up to Wes Montgomery later.  Hilary Geddes was sitting in and her inventiveness and versatility were self-evident.  Sandy was her eternal joyous and virtuosic self as is ever our venerable James on trom.   Fabian and Hamish lay a more rich rhythmic underlay given drums and percussion and it's always pleasant and strange that more don't take this path.  I guess there's more to pay, though.  Gary mostly played accordion but took to the grand piano beside him occasionally.  Lloyd oversaw the group as host and bassist.  There is always joy in a catholics concert and this also had a pensive side.  Lovely.

The Vampires and The catholics played at the inaugural Orange Winter Jazz Festival.  The Vampires comprised Alex Masso (drums), Noel Mason (bass), Tom Avgelikos (trumpet) and Tessie Overmeyer (alto).  The catholics comprised Lloyd Swanton (bass), Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano sax), James Greening (trombone), Gary Daley (piano, accordion),  Hilary Geddes (guitar), Fabian Hevia (percussion) and Hamish Stuart (drums).

OWJF2022-2

Off to another church for a paring that was much longed for and much loved.  Andrea Keller playing with Sandy Evans.  Two stars of the Australian jazz firmament, female to follow the blokes of the dark patterns.  Yes, this was more hopeful but that wasn't particularly what I heard.  Rather, it was occasionally playful and meditative, somewhat visual and explicative but deeply mostly communicative and open to each other.  I needn't say they were musically inventive and capable, they are renowned for this, but I melted with Sandy's clearly spelled melodies and rich flourishes (sadly sometimes quiet so could be lost) and varied tonalities and I was floored by Amanda, who I have only seen rarely, with her chordal plays, not arpeggios but phrasings repeated and moved, like birds, spelling a phrase then repeating, altering, developing.  Just stunning playing and done with such intimacy and joy.  And to top it off, a piece written for and dedicated to Miro Bukovsky called Polar bird.  I have no idea how the title came to be, but it was a lovely tune.  To be so honoured!  An endearing, personal, intimate concert by two deeply telling players.

Then Hilary again for something very unexpected, Visions of Nar.  If I'd kept up with news for Sydney I shouldn't have been so surprised.  Margossian was a name I'd noticed but I didn't know of her band with Jeremy Rose playing music of female energy and Armenian mythology.  All grooves and mind blowingly quick phrasings played unison, dotted 16th notes (or thereabouts, with the dotted note following if I heard right; quite odd to Euro ears) in scales that also sounded odd to my ears, and those tabla-like percussion outings, sometimes steady, often with glorious rhythmic and tonal percussion colour.  I was entranced, not least by Hilary's versatility and sitar-like effects and Zela's leadership and presumably compositions.  And interestingly, the crossover to jazz which seemed most evident in later track/s. Too bad that Jeremy Rose was absent with Covid and was to be missing for some other outings, too.

Andrea Keller (piano) and Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano) and Visions of Nar played at the inaugural Orange Winter Jazz Festival.  Visions of Nar comprised Zela Margossian (piano), Hilary Geddes (guitar) and Adem Yilmaz (percussion).

Ta ka di mi

I missed Sandy Evans and band in concert the night before, but I did make their workshop on the Saturday. They introduced the session with an intriguing tune, Robben Island, a response to the South African apartheid movement and its personalities. We heard of its structure as mixing passages of 9/8 and 4/4 and use of transpositions against the Bobby Singh's tabla tuned in C; bassist Brett plays ostinatos on 3 chords, all including C#; Sandy solos on an unusual pentatonic of 1-b3-#4-5-7. Then on to hear of the band, how they work together, an introduction to the tabla and a paean on commitment to craft and a simple introduction to vocalised Northern Indian rhythms (Ta ka di mi, etc; each vocal tone is a type of tabla hit with consistent patterns underlying group improvisations) which we sang along to. These rhythms are commonly 7-9-11-13 ... 21 but can reach to 108(?) and a tabla player must hit the 1 with a "full stop" to precede that. We mused over differences from Western polyrhythms (multiple rhythms played concurrently; this Indian technique is a single, if complex, line), over approaches to composition, over differences between electric and acoustic bass (not least the calluses), how the band collaborates and creates together, and more. Then an opportunity for attendees to play. I had to go so missed that. The session was sadly short and I had too many questions and these are such informed and thoughtful players. What a pleasure and an opportunity. Thanks to Sandy and offsiders but also to the ANU Open School of Music for making this available.

Sandy Evans (tenor), Bobby Singh (tabla), Brett Hirst (bass) and Toby Hall (drums) presented a workshop at the Ainslie Arts Centre.

Challenges

It was Geoff's Jazz@Lab outing, this time at AlterEgo, with the most incredible band comprising some of our most renowned Aussie performers: Sandy Evans, Andrew Robson, Lloyd Swanton and Hamish Stuart. Stars in their own right and a work of bliss together. The room wasn't the best - the smallest of stages split a long room in two - but the fabulous playing and compositions defeated all that. I was amused to watch passersby passing the door behind the stage where you could hear all pretty well. Some noticed and responded, perhaps challenged or perplexed; some just walked by; a few came in. This is not the stuff of commercial radio and this was the commercial heart of Civic. Andrew's compositions channelled Ornette to my ears: spiky and twisted but also an inevitable fit. Sandy's works went off, but in a different way. I was all smiles and admiration listening to the group dissolve into free then recompose itself just before the interval on one of Sandy's tunes. This was Sandy with Andrew's trio but these people are friends and have played together forever so it's a knowing coming together. As often, they featured one tune by Sydney jazz mentor Bernie McGann, Salaam, inviting Miro to sit in. His solo was different again. As were Hamish' and Lloyd's, on their different instruments, both setting down the most delicious and inevitable extemporisations. At this level, it all sounds so right, not fast or flashy (although speed makes its appearance when it fits) but with that feeling of continuity, inevitability, correctness that the great improvisers display. This was a great concert with intimacy despite a difficult room. Maybe that even helped, as challenges can. I missed Ornette at the Opera House so this will have to suffice, and suffice it will, with ease. A fabulous display. Many thanks.

Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano) played with Andrew Robson (alto, baritone) and his trio comprising Lloyd Swanton (bass) and Hamish Stuart (drums) at AlterEgo for Geoff Page's Jazz@Lab series. Thanks to Bob Howe for some pics from the night.

Another day, another suite

And here I am thinking jazz suites are rare. This was Lloyd Swanton's composition, mostly music, but with accompanying and explanative spoken word and projected photographs. Again, with a collection of some of Australia's best jazz-oriented musicians and even a classical mate of mine, James Eccles, of the Australian Haydn Ensemble and Noise and more. The Ambon suite told the story of Lloyd's uncle, Stuart, who was sent with Gull Force to Ambon Island in WW2 to protect against Japanese invasion. It was a woefully inadequate response, a doomed action, and Stewart and Gull Force ended as prisoners of the Japanese, enduring harsh treatment for several years, Stuart dying of beri-beri just the day before the end of the Pacific war. Tragic and sad for family. Interestingly, while researching, Lloyd found webs of connections, not least that the father of legendary Melbourne jazz drummer, Brian Brown, had also been prisoner and died on Ambon. It's a small jazz world. We have heard much of military matters recently as the Abbott Government lavished on the centenary of WWI, and I just hope this worthy project got some of that funding.

So what of the performance, of itself and inevitably with some comparison to yesterday's jazz suite by Stu Hunter? There were spoken words but not singing; music that was both more traditional (mirroring the music of the time) but also noise, of dismantled wind instruments and tapping various other instruments and bass with rattling metal attachments; the playing on all was impeccable; I drooled over the silver sheen of Michel Rose's pedal steel guitar (more complex than I'd imagined: 20 strings, 9 pedals, 8 knee levers? I have loved this instrument since hearing MR with the catholics - he told me that was early '90s; he'd left to play with Lee Kernaghan); I enjoyed the classical and authentic touch with James E playing uncle Stuart's actual viola; I was entranced by yet another solo by James G played with his uncommon abandon; I enjoyed some heavy beats in the second half, although these were not common, and some exquisite four part wind passages, and otherwise some delicate percussion; a passage of tunes by the strings was lyrical, just bass, viola, pedal steel, ukelele and guitar; I was intrigued by the uncannilly authentic sounds of tropical birds and forest in one passage; I was blackly amused by some stories, like the unknown brother flying low over Ambon Harbour for sheer bravado and surviving Japanese ack-ack, or of the meat-case bass. This was aural colour and historical song, religious faith and humour in adversity all in a true family story. There were even pics of Stuart's gravestone, now updated with military honour, and of his diary now resident at the War Memorial. This was touching, educative and musically satsifying, so a great success all round from a wonderful set of mature, communicative musicians and a emotionally touched composer. A second wonderful jazz suite.

Lloyd Swanton (bass, composer) led the band in the Ambon Suite at the Street Theatre. The band was Lloyd (bass), Paul Cutlan (saxes, clarinets, recorder), Sandy Evans (saxes), Alex Silver (trombone), James Greening (trombone, cornet, tuba, baritone horn), Fabian Hevia (percussion), Ron Reeves (kendang, percussion), Hamish Stuart (drums), James Eccles (viola), Michel Rose (pedal steel guitar), Jon Pease (guitar), Sam Lemann (ukelele).

Glee

There was much glee around James Greening (there usually is). This time it was about his frequent gigs here recently in Canberra. It's too bad that Andrew Robson and the rest of the band haven't been here so often of late. This was an eclectic outing, intelligent and varied and unexpected. Several times Andrew's baritone sax gave a funky Mingus or New Orleans groove when he took that up. But then another time he played a trio with bari, bass and drums and this was smooth, sleek, melodious. He liked to vary the instrumentation, too. It wasn't at all surprising that the front liners played bari/alto, tenor/soprano and trom/pocket trumpet. But it was surprising that James or Sandy left the stage for various tunes, and even more surprising when bassist Steve left. That was on Flex, a Jackie Orszaczky funky-blues dedication, where the bari took the bassist's role. There were some other dedications, too, to musicians Andrew has played with. Two watch Bob was a dedication to fellow 10 Part Inventionist Bob Bertles from a quip by Miro Bukovsky. This was a slow, lumbering groove with a jauntily lyrical melody (played without Sandy). A march, Sound the trumpet ring the bells, was also introduced with a story of Jackie Orszaczky. I heard Jackie O too infrequently, but he's one of those musicians with immense admiration amongst his peers. John Pochée was recognised with the opening tune called The Alchemist. This one featured two solos, alto then tenor. Against the alto solo, the band dropped out to leave just drums in support before returning; against the tenor solo, the remaining support was bass. Andrew wrote something similar in the piece I found most impressive for the night, Texas Ranger, which was bluesy with some fast bop, and twisted and playful like Ornette. What little I've written has been most successful when I used an idea, even an arbitrary idea, as a formulation, so his palindrome doesn't surprise me. It's called Glenelg and it's a musical palindrome (spelt the same forward and backward). It's a busy 8-to-the-bar on bass with a slow melody over and solos that decay to free then to recover the melody with drums taps on 3,4. BTW, we learnt that Steve is a cryptic crossword filler and he'd recognised the palindrome immediately. Combover was a light take on early jazz with frequent changes. These tunes were from a new CD that this quintet has just released. Unlike his previous albums, this was unthemed; Andrew just wanted to record a group of favourite tunes, so the varied nature is no surprise. I reckon I'd heard a few before. It was a joyful band, too, led by Andrew's smiles and James humour and Sandy's good will. James has been a total pleasure to hear so often of late: wonderfully lyrical while playful and wearing dissonance so lightly. I enjoyed Steve's understated firm and restrained bass playing and Hamish's presence and sympathetic playing. Andrew's presence is light and friendly, but his playing is intelligent, as is Sandy's expressive sax; I especially enjoyed the soprano this evening. Andrew is a Cnaberra boy and we need to see more of him. This was a great outing with a varied repertoire of pleasurable performance and underlying intelligence.

Andrew Robson (alto, baritone) led a quintet with Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano), James Greening (trombone, pocket trumpet), Steve Elphick (bass) and Hamish Stuart (drums).

Spot the difference

There was something amiss on stage when Sandy Evans' Sydney Women's Jazz Quintet played at the Gods: Jess wasn’t wearing black. Of course, there were numerous differences you could identify. I particularly noticed that bassist Karl had a clean shaven noggin. I only noticed that Karl was the one bloke in the band because of the band’s name. Apparently Zoe and Hannah couldn’t do it, so Karl filled the spot. It was nice to appreciate that women on a jazz stage no longer seemed a big deal. Just recently I noticed the imbalance of the sexes, but that was when the band was all blokes. It was different in the past. In the ‘70s, I remember being surprised to see a single woman instrumentalist on stage. We’ve clearly turned a corner (admittedly after 40 years), even if women still remain as singers and are instrumentally outnumbered. Julia would know that it will take a bit longer to reach the prime ministership.

But what of the gig? It was a lovely thing. Sandy is a monster saxist but also such an inviting host, so the vibe was both purposeful and friendly. Given our recent loss of Bernie McGann, this concert also a dedication. Geoff Page was Bernie’s biographer and introduced the gig with a poetry reading. Then we heard various McGann tunes amongst originals by Jess and Alex and Sandy. There was modern post-bop with complex heads, an interesting airy, harmonised arrangement with voice from Jess, plenty of worldly feels and an inevitable Monk tune. No surprise that Bernie liked Monk. I loved the grooves, especially Jess’ clean and choppy Tele chords and Karl’s vigourous bass. The time was rock solid. Several people mentioned how easy and steady were the feels. Alex’ solos were explicit in intent and melodic form; very nice. Sandy’s were clearly structured but more turgid, busy, passionate with some searing streams of, I guess, 16-th notes. Jodie blasted through with an incendiary solo at one stage which I hadn’t expected. Some tunes reminded me of Dave Holland with loping grooves and crisp piano-free accompaniment and the trombone/sax counterpoint. With three Jazz Rutherford award winners and Sandy and Karl, this was a serious and intelligent gig, but it was also earthy and entertaining.

The Sydney Women’s Jazz Quintet comprised Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano sax), Alex Silver (trombone), Jess Green (guitar), Karl Dunnicliff (bass, honorary female for the night) and Jodie Michael (drums).

Chalk and cheese

It’s chalk and cheese but I love it all. Last night was the Andrew Robson Trio playing with Sandy Evans. Andrew at one stage talked of Ornette Coleman’s influence on his playing and having heard and met him in Sydney. Ornette is not pre-bop, so you can imagine how far this concert was from my last report. The band also played a series of originals from Andrew and a blues by Coltrane. I particularly noticed the ease and beauty of the harmony lines from the horns when they appeared although they weren’t frequent. Otherwise this was a night of Andrew’s angular melodies and great solos against a syncopated and responsive rhythm section.

Andrew’s solos struck me as oblique, intellectual affairs of long intervals, uncommon scales, changing harmonies and truncated notes, but he surprised me with occasional smoother scalar runs. Sandy was more legato in her lines, more smooth and rounded and deeper in pitch and tone from her lower pitched sax but also from her musical conception. The rhythm section was modern syncopated and wonderfully strong in presence and responsiveness. Steve played one fast walk, but mostly the beat was divided, playing once on 1-2 or syncopating freely over the bar or playing obligato lines or even devolving into free along with the rest of the band on a dedication to Ornette. Toby was just sitting in but did an admirable job, eyes on charts and responding quickly to snippets of melody or to a line of solo. There was an easy enjoyment on stage for their annual visit to the Gods. Andrew is a local, having studied at the Jazz School, so was happy to have family in attendance, but the whole band was good-willed and chuckled frequently. Mostly, the tunes were originals by Andrew. There were a few dedications. That one to Ornette was called Texas Ranger and was clearly in his style, a bluesy open melody that dissolved into a passage of free jazz. Another dedication was to Don Johnson, now deceased but head of the Jazz School when Andrew was studying. The Coltrane blues was Locomotion. Otherwise there were some urgent moderns, Combover was a early bop-style, Silk Road was mysterious and floating, there was a ballad with a bass solo that was precisely pitched and rich with double stops, Children in the aisles was a reference to a catholics gig in Paddington.

It was a demanding but also satisfying gig. I wondered if Andrew’s family frequently attended jazz gigs, because it was complex, but it was also clean and professional and wonderfully played and quite insinuating. Andrew Robson (alto) led a band with Sandy Evans (tenor), Steve Elphick (bass) and Toby Hall (drums) at the Gods.

Cyberhalides Jazz Photos by Brian Stewart

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

When the sky cries rainbows

It’s always good to hear Sandy Evans, but this night was special. The evening started with a set from her trio, comprising Brett Hirst and Toby Hall. This was wonderfully impressive playing on a range of tunes. A few po-mo-influenced modern pieces that were ironic and entertaining platforms for some great soloing. The first was the night’s starter, Hungry Head Shuffle, with its loping jollity and wildly syncopated bass and open drums that moved into interrupted walks and otherwise played with sparseness. HHShuffle morphed somewhere during solos into Mountview. Then a raga played initially by Sandy on soprano sax against a sitar-like drone from what is presumably the Indian equivalent of a drum machine. I was surprised to hear Brett on bass soloing here, but it was informed and apt. Then an end with unison instruments playing a devilishly difficult head. I’d heard this raga before, when Sandy appeared at the Gods with Citizens of Earth. Technically, it’s mostly Phrygian, but any note is playable subject to some rules of repetition, so some notes can only be played once an hour. Sandy warned we wouldn’t get to these notes. The last tune was back to po-mo fun and Toby controlling solos with a whistle. James Greening came on for this tune and he obviously enjoyed the humour of it all, but it was also hot soloing. But for all this great playing, it had nothing on the second set.

“When the sky cries rainbows” is a suite by Sandy lasting about an hour. I can write of it, but I didn’t take notes and its beauty and seriousness really have to be experienced. It comprises around a dozen pieces or themes that tell of personal tragedy around illness: the shock of diagnosis and coming to awareness; changing moods, depression and optimism; the journey to dealing with a major, irreversible illness; the strength of the ill person and the relationships of husband and wife in going through the experience. The rainbow is a symbol of hope, and the journey is ultimately hopeful but it’s an honest view of the strongest of emotions around despair and resignation and acceptance. Sandy’s trio was augmented by Miroslav Bukovsky, James Greening and Luke Sweeting for the work. There was a good bit of reading, and it’s not something they knew intimately, but the band played it with passionate embrace. I was stunned by Luke’s maturity in several important piano parts. By Miro’s beauteous strains of trumpet played to resonating piano strings. By James’ virtuosic fluency on trombone in various parts. By Sandy’s intent and honesty and openness, to speak nothing of her playing. By the congruent playing by Brett and Toby. It was not a large crowd in attendance and the music had some roughness from last minute learnings, but this was a work of honour and honesty and profundity that is rare in any medium. It was one to savour with closed eyes and sturdy emotions. If you get a chance to experience this, don’t miss it. I recorded so it should be on ArtSound’s Friday Night Live in the next few weeks or months. Keep an eye out for the broadcast and stay in for the night.

Sandy Evans (tenor, soprano sax) led a trio with Brett Hirst (bass) and Toby Hall (drums). She supplemented the trio with Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet, flugel), James Greening (trombone) and Luke Sweeting (piano) for “When the sky cries rainbows”.

Collective variations

Sandy Evans returned with the Sydney Women’s Jazz Collective last night at the Gods. Sandy was loosely identified as a leader, but convenor would be a far better term, because this was truly a collective effort. It’s evident that they play together often enough, because there was a level of ease and informality that carried the night over with occasional chuckles and a sisterly good will, but they are not a formal band. Nonetheless, there were some original tunes that I felt were pretty intimately known by several members, such as the shared vocals in tunes by Zoe and Jess. Maybe they use the tunes as platforms at the SIMA Jazz Workshops for Young Women where they have all taught.

The good will on stage was both infectious and pretty unusual. Sandy exudes familiarity and supportiveness and it obviously carries over, with Jess bopping to the rhythms, and good humour all round. But musically, the collective label was also clear. Sandy introduced the band, but promptly passed the mic to whoever had penned the next tune for its introduction. There was that added familiarity of each muso talking to us so we know them as more than just performers. We felt knew these players as we know someone in a café rather than someone on stage: it’s a generalisation, of course, but women are good at that and I reckon it holds the world together. And the styles were very different. Jess with her intimations of Scofield; Zoe with her jazzabilly and pirate songs (“every band should have a pirate song”); Alex reincarnating hard bop in the tradition of Blue Note and Sidewinder sessions; Monique with a lovely bossa with those twisted chordal cycles and slightly unexpected intervals we hear from Brazil; Sandy with her searching modern style and stunning soloing. I was also taken in the second half by several pieces with vocals. It wasn’t song and it wasn’t scat, but vocal tones sung by Zoe and Jess (and others?) in harmony with each other and with instruments. It worked like a harmonised horn melody, but sounded very differently: intimate and clear and bell-like with the high female voices.

The playing all round was capable and professional. Sandy’s solos were all stunning: apt for the style of tune, clear analysis of the chordal structure, and flowing melodic statements. But not soft or easy or relaxed: she always seems to be testing herself, at the hard edge of her creativity, giving all. I’d just heard her latest CD, The edge of pleasure, with Brett Hirst and Toby Hall, and you hear it there too. She’s well renowned and with good reason. Jess is another identifiable soloist: a fabulous, edgy Telecaster tone that she uses for thoughtful, sharp soloing. She’s not a shredder, despite occasional fast runs, but these are solos built with unapologetic tone and unexpected intervals. The tone says blues emotion, but the concept says jazz thought. And she digs the music, too, bopping freely to the beat. Alex was typical trombone. It’s not the slashing instrument that sax or guitar is, but the slide seems to enforce a considered awareness of harmony for heads or melody for solos. It’s she of the hard bop tunes, and there was that vibrancy and simple joy in her style. Sandy joked that she and Monique had done their jazz studies together, “when was it, 1876?”. I particularly enjoyed Monique’s bossa. Piano lends itself to an ear for chords at a profound level, and this tune clearly displayed it. Zoe was her eminent presence on bass and in person, if a bit soft (Acoustic Image amps are true to the acoustic tone, but there's little punch or presence). She was always involved and propulsive in her bass accompaniment, did a lovely solo, and I love her quirky country-rockabilly take on jazz. Drummer Ali was less revealed than the others given she didn’t provide a tune or introduce one. But it was a capable performance with an outspoken solo later in the night. She’d played admirably quietly earlier on, so this took me back a bit. It shouldn’t have; after all, she is a drummer. Finally, a sit in. These players actively support young female jazz performers, so it’s not at all surprising that one of Sandy’s Canberra students, Stephanie Badman, sat in on alto to perform Sam River’s lovely ballad, Beatrice.

Women aren’t so rare in jazz these days, but women’s jazz ensembles are, so this had a bit of the sociological as well as the musical. Add that it was also a fascinating trip through a wide variety of jazz styles and an affable interaction with the musicians, and you can see why I found it such a wonderful outing.

The Sydney Women’s Jazz Collective was Sandy Evans (tenor and soprano saxes), Alex Silver (trombone), Jess Green (guitar), Monique Lysiak (piano), Zoe Hauptmann (bass) and Ali Foster (drums). Stephanie Badman (alto sax) sat in for one tune.