Double shot

It was the opening night for Smiths Alt upstairs and I was interested.  But a quick look at NPC had Rafael Jergen in town playing with Greg Stott and Mark Sutton.  I caught the first set, all standards as is the style of NPC Fridays, and an awe-inspiring set all round.  Of course from Raf, who studied in Canberra, then in Luzern and now teaches at the HSLU Hochschule Luzern.  A story of commitment and the outcome is evident.  Wonderful playing.  Quick and correct but also relaxed and responsive.  So good.  Nice to see Mark back from the coast for some gigs, too.  Both he and Greg played effective and communicative solos, playful to Raf's ever-wide smile.  (OK, so I caught them in a moment of concentration!).  And I met Raf's family.  These visits for so many overseas-based players are family visits with some gigs thrown in.  Since COVID and those imposed music school antics, we haven't had the visiting players as before, so glad to see any and especially Raf.  Then a quick visit to Smiths upstairs.  It's been on the agenda for some time and now established.  Two decent rooms and a balcony upstairs.  One room is smaller with bar, upright piano and electric organ and a comfy hangout atmosphere.  The band on the opening night was Leisa Nicole (organ), Stephen Richards (drums) and Ben O'Loghlin (guitar).  Lovely tunes, organ tones, left hand organ bass.  The other room is more an upstairs concert-cum-events space, larger, with a stage, a grand piano (!), a pipe organ (?) and a small but decent PA.  It's early days yet, not too much furniture (despite a string of pianos throughout), but it bodes well for an extension of Nigel and Beth's lovely, laid-back and inviting, exploratory and bohemian atmosphere.

Rafael Jergen (bass) performed with Greg Stott (guitar) and Mark Sutton (drums) at the National Press Club.  Leisa Nicole (organ), Stephen Richards (drums) and Ben O'Loghlin (guitar) performed upstairs at Smiths.

So nice to come home to

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

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