Transposition

It could be 55 Bar, as least it could have been 55 Bar a few years back when it was still open and Sean Wayland was known to play there.  This is the 55 Bar next to the famed Stonewall Inn on Christopher St in NYC and just near W4th St where we once stayed and a few steps from Smalls and Village Vanguard and Blue Note.  Those were the days.  But this was Smiths and Sean Wayland was in town playing with an old sparing buddy Nick McBride and Chris Pound who gigged with him on a visit to NYC.  And it was a madly ecstatic outing.  There was some fully understandable wariness from the offisders for some quick syncopated tunes and the reading therewith.  That immensely witty and busy songwriting that's accompanied by a prog rock synth presence and Moog fatness and gloriously melodic solos.  This is a music of speed and humour and virtuosity of an outgoing nature with perhaps a few soulfully embellished vocals speaking of shortened humdingers (Dinger) or wedding gigs (Club sandwiches)  or homemade synths (G2X Daisy) or failed promises of the Net (Shitformation superhighway) or modulations of some sort (Fried chicken modulations, or locally, Chick roll...) or a cover or two (Men at Work Overkill, Mondo Rock Cruel world) or even a solo ballad (We'll get through).  All with virtuosic fluency and glorious synth tonality and some degree of trepidation in Chris' eyes.  But Chris was funky and impressively on cue in some madly syncopated reads and just a blowout otherwise, and Nick was driving and exemplary and, well, our ex-Sydney NYC- resident of 25 years was just a blast as leader and keyboardist and tone-searching melodist.  Just wow.  A fabulous, infectious, overwhelming outing, in Civic, at 4pm in the afternoon.  Just a blast.  And I heard someone complain that they played a cover.  I couldn't get that.

Sean Wayland (keys) led a trio with Chris Pound (bass) and Nick McBride (drums) at Smiths.

Sweetly analog

I have friends who don't feel at all this way but funk and synths are bliss bombs for me. I love those analog-like tones bent with pitch and modulation like a digital mouthpiece, varied in tone yet electronic and new worldly. Not that it's so new worldy these days, of course. Analog synths date from the '70s in common band usage even if they still don't enter the worlds of the some connoisseurs. But they are wild fun and intellectually delicious in the hands of a capable player who understands harmony and degrees of tonality or other like Sean Wayland. And doubly so with a funky bassist playing e-bass, this time Brendan Clarke after several weeks playing for The Book of Mormon where he's been switching through e-bass, fretless, double and bowing and where he found a refreshed enjoyment with the electric version, here a JB as in Marcus Miller. And a great young drummer who hits firmly and decisively with driving time and quizzical double time fills, Alex Hirlian, recent winner of the National Jazz Awards, this one obviously for drums, at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival. So it's not just me who's impressed. This was funky and exciting and musically satisfying.
The tunes were mostly originals from Sean, but two from Sydney's renowned and oft-remembered altoist, Bernie McGann, obviously by players who knew him. And one tune from Nick McBride, played by Nick McBride who was in town and sat in for two tunes. The other amused me in the guidance given by Sean on stage, to Nick, before playing: "Anything, just play". Hardly clear guidance but it worked a treat. It was obviously a little prepared gig, as only jazzers can carry out with panache and convincingly like this. Perhaps that's not fully true because jazzers prepare for just this eventuality, with knowledge of harmony and theory and the rest that others seldom learn. To end, I laughed at Sean's aside: "Right, we did it, we did a giggle". Relief and sly humour. And how easy to travel these days with keys! Here it was a keyboard controller, perhaps 5 octaves, with a second tiny controller (~1.5 octaves) to add accompaniment, a laptop and a small Yamaha PA for amplification, but the sounds were huge and fat and the complexities of accompaniment and solos were delicious. Interesting also to see and hear the difference in drummers: Alex more firm and unyielding and spacious; Nick more gentle and full and liquid. Both to die for. And Brendan, funky to a tee and deep and busy but always purposeful. A fabulous outing for lovers from the '70s to now.

Sean Wayland (keys) over from NYC to play with Brendan Clarke (bass) and Alex Hirlian (drums). Nick McBride (drums) replaced Alex for two tunes.

Relentless

Sean Wayland got a great turnout at the Band Room for his gig last night and the audience got a great show, although it was a strange mix of entertainment and the unexpected with some fabulous playing.

The night started with wunderkind guitarist James Muller going missing due to a car breakdown and a poor bus service. Sean rang him during the gig and we heard the chatter on speakerphone over the PA, to everyone’s amusement (except maybe James’). Then there was the singing. I liked it lots, with Sean singing within coo-ee of his highest pitch, with his own humourous lyrics and in a style that reminded me of Georgie Fame. (In one tune, he’d predicted the GFC, but he’s not the only one). Sean was concerned that singing wouldn’t go down at a University Jazz School, but it seemed pretty well received to me. He even performed a few musical comedy snippets between tunes: they raised a decent laugh and leavened the mix of much more intense and unforgiving jazz tunes. Because his tunes were intense, and played with a relentless energy that speaks of NY. Sean writes daily, but his tunes take more time to come to fruition. He spoke of one he’s only now starting to play after working on it for 6 months. The tunes impressed me more as chordal movements than melodies, with a natural but busy interpretation on piano. His playing told a story of the harmonic structure, endlessly working the chords, moving between chordal solos and fast, long one-note lines; steady and sustained rather than strongly dynamic. The busy-ness was supported by hometown New Yorker, Mark Giuliana, who was a feature star performer on the tour. Amongst others, he’s played with Meshell Ndegeocello, Avishai Cohen and Branford Marsalis, so we were expecting something special. He was fabulously involved and intense and busy: those words that speak commitment to me, and make me dream of the jazz meccas, and especially NY. A face deep in concentration and a performance on the edge: missing some figures and challenging himself to respond with ever more sharpness. This is improvisational creativity at the take-no-prisoners level, and exhilarating to hear. His long solo in the last tune was final confirmation of our opportunity to hear a top rung drummer in full flight. Memorable. But none of this is possible without the foundations, and Brett Hirst was admirable too, although perhaps less on the edge. A firm tone on double, and a nicely thumpy tone on his semi-acoustic electric bass for the funkier numbers. There was one that I could hardly count let alone sing the bass line of, but he held it with comfort.

So despite the absence of James Muller, we got a powerful and intense concert from our Sydneysider now New Yorker with his local and visiting offsiders. It wasn’t the easiest of concerts to listen to, but it was clearly worth the investment and effort. Sean Wayland (piano, vocals) led a trio with Brett Hirst (electric and acoustic basses) and Mark Giuliana (drums).

And more (Wang 5)

Wang 4

You hear loads of music at a festival. I didn’t take notes so all I can give is some remaining impressions rekindled by looking at pics of the various outfits. Here are some of those favourite pics, and perhaps some short comments on the various outfits. Apologies to the worthy bands I missed, but you have to leave some for next time.

Sean Wayland (piano) played a quartet set with James Muller (guitar), Matt Penman (bass) and Jochen Ruckert (drums). Sean is much respected, and I’ve heard at least one tune dedicated to him by other players. He’s now based in New York. This gig presented his NY trio with the addition of James Muller. Always a pleasure to hear guys like this. James is never a disappointment. Matt was a common sight on stage at this festival. It’s interesting watching players at this level, especially bassists. They don’t necessarily impress with chops, but more with style and substance. This was deceptively simple playing with real class.

Dan Rader presented straight bop and post-bop using very competent players and led by a performer with a long history. The Quintet was Dan Rader (trumpet), Willow Neilson (tenor), Gerard Masters (piano), Brendan Clarke (bass) and Tim Firth (drums). I was particularly taken by some more modern, out soloing by Gerard. Obviously, so was Don as he looked on with respect. Some originals and plenty of known tunes.

Judy Bailey is a blast from my vinyl past. I’m sure I have an album from the 70s by JB. Capable, post bop playing in a trio with equally competent Craig Scott (bass) and Tim Firth (drums).

Jex Saarelaht (piano) led a quartet with Julien Wilson (saxes), Sam Anning (bass) and Danny Fischer (drums).

Julien Wilson (tenor sax) reappeared with Stephen Grant (accordion) and Steve Magnussen (guitar) in the Elana Stone (vocals) Quartet playing sea shanties and similar songs.

Doug DeVries (classical guitar) played a solo session on nylon strung guitar in the local Holy Trinity Cathedral, and benefitted from the acoustics.

At the more challenging end of the scale, Ren Walters (guitar), Chris Bekker (bass guitar), Niko Schauble (drums) appeared as Tip with guest Tony Hicks (sax). Tip is a improvisational trio for frameworks provided by Ren. Challenging, yes, and very addictive as complex emotions and interplay grow before your eyes. And the first electric bass I saw for the event. Good, solid, middy tone which matched the music well.

The Pascal Schumacher Quartet featured all-Euro players: Pascal Schumacher (vibes), Jef Neve (piano), Christophe Devisscher (EUB=bass) and Jens Duppe (drums). This was a competent outfit playing original music, as I remember, with considerable variations in time signatures and grooves and quite a deal of arrangement. The grooves were in the Euro style, which always seems to me to be softer and less frantic than the US counterpart. I put it down to the influences of folk and classical music that are often so strong in Euro jazzers.

Another Euro band was actually an international collaboration between Melbourne and Denmark: Jakob Dinesen-Eugene Ball Quartet. This one displayed more raunchy US-style rhythms and harmonies. Danes Jakob Dinesen (tenor) and Guffi Pallesen (bass) and Melbournites Eugene Ball (trumpet) and Rajiv Jayaweera (drums) have played together several times in recent years. I liked this more anglo style, with good hard swings and attractive ballads.

Mark Isaacs (piano, composer) performed with James Muller (guitar), Matt Keegan (sax), Brett Hirst (bass) and Tim Firth (drums) as Resurgence. Mark is a significant Australian musician with considerable classical/jazz crossovers to his credit, having composed works for orchestra as well as playing with major jazz artists including Dave Holland and Roy Haynes. I found the music interesting in a fairly soft, arranged, Deodato style. Solos were mainly on one or two chord structures, and it was all done superbly professionally with excellent players.

Gest8 (as in gestate): only a woman could lead a band with this name. And so it was. Gest8 played the final concert of the festival program on the Sunday night. Gest8 is a musical vehicle of Sandy Evans and Tony Gorman, with Sandy up front leading on stage. It involves some interesting, new, experimental sounds and approaches. As well as more traditional jazz instruments, there’s a koto player and a computerist cum programmer on stage. The computer (Mac, not PC) was obviously processing sounds with echo and the like in real time. Interesting, but only obvious to me on one trumpet solo passage. I was amused by the tune Kaleidoscope, which is more in a straight modern jazz style. It’s a melody overlay over the chords of Giant Steps, so now it seems we have Giant Steps changes to match Rhythm changes. Gest8 comprises Sandy Evans (tenor, sporano saxes), Paul Cutlan (saxes, bass clarinet), Phil Slater (trumpet), Satsuki Odamura (koto), Carl Dewhurst (guitar), Steve Elphick (bass), Simon Barker (drums), Greg White (computers), with compositions and shared leadership by Sandy and Tony Gorman. Interesting, often gentle, always fascinating, frequently experimental jazz.

Wang 6