Caterpillar chronicling

Text by Geoff Page

It is not often one gets to hear a big band these days, especially in Canberra. Their dominant moment in the history of jazz is long gone even though a number of jazz clubs around the world still feature some sort of rehearsal big band on Monday nights. Thus to hear a big band at all at the moment is intrinsically surprising - especially when we are so used to listening to small groups, sextets at most.

New York-based Steve Newcomb's concert at the ANU School of Music Band Room on August 18 was even more surprising than expected - and gratifying. The evening began with a solo piano performance by Steve based around "There Will Never Be Another You", after which John Hoffman from Brisbane joined him for a duet ballad on trumpet. The short first half then concluded with Billy Strayhorn's "Take the A Train" with sensitive, understated solos from Hoffman, Miroslav Bukovsky, John Mackey and Steve himself. The Ellington/Strayhorn reference was probably deliberate, foreshadowing as it did the second half of the evening where Ellington's style of orchestral writing was one of several beautifully integrated influences.

Given the importance of improvisation in jazz, the term "jazz composer" may seem oxymoronic but with his new multi-movement composition, "Caterpillar Chronicles", Steve Newcomb, showed that this is far from the case. Although the piece is loosely programatic (following the development from caterpillar to butterfly) its main interest lies in the sonorities used and in the integration of its improvised and composed elements. After an impressionistic introduction on piano, Steve conducted the orchestra from out front, leaving Andy Butler to the piano role. Although the orchestra included several of Canberra's top young improvisers (Niels Rosendahl, Matt Handel, Reuben Lewis and Alex Raupach among them), most of the improvising was done by senior figures - John Mackey, John Hoffman and Miroslav Bukovsky). In each case the solos were satisfyingly integrated with the music as a whole - and occasionally involved antiphonal elements, especially between Hoffman and Bukovsky.

Although Steve Newcomb appeared disconcertingly youthful out the front conducting such a large assembly, he clearly knows his jazz history very well. In addition to Ellington, it was the arranging innovations of Gil Evans which were the most strongly felt. Like Evans, Newcomb did not use the brass and woodwind sections by turn or against each other but combined their timbres in sonorities that often hovered at a compelling mid-point between harmony and (relative) dissonance. There was a strong sense throughout of both tradition and of never having heard anything like this before (not even from Evans or Ellington). At times I thought an influence of French twentieth classical music could also be detected. It made one feel that this orchestra, its composer and its (mostly) young musicians should also be heard in a larger hall by the audiences who flock to classical concerts. It's hard to imagine they too wouldn't have enjoyed it. Nevertheless, the experience of hearing such a sophisticated and original piece up close and so well played was certainly a satisfying one.

Sitting in the front row, I was able to notice just how much the young musicians were enjoying being part of it - even though, I was told later, there had not been extensive rehearsal time. The feeling was even more obvious in the sections where they were "laying out", as it were. I could see how they clearly understood why they were not playing in those particular bars and how even their silence at that point contributed to the total effect Newcomb was aiming for. Fortunately, the concert was recorded but when, or if, it becomes available is not known at this point. It's unlikely that even the best recording techniques could in any way duplicate the experience of hearing such a concert live.

Caterpillar Chronicles was composed by Steve Newcomb and premiered by the ANU Jazz Orchestra at the ANU School of Music Band Room on 18 August 2011. John Hoffman (trumpet) visited.

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

Delightfully different

I’ve been trawling different arts and musical forms recently in these pages – pop/rap for NY Eve and AYO is in town and a blow out. But from the jazz side, Steve Newcomb and Hannah Macklin were visiting Canberra from Brisbane and fit the bill. They performed for the first new year gig at Trinity as part of their CD release tour, and this was delightfully different. I knew what to expect. Steve had sent me a copy of the EP/CD, and I was enamoured with the delicacy and complexity of the voice, the worthy and absorbing lyrics and the ethereal accompaniment, and some whispy and musically demanding harmonies that were to-die-for. I’d wondered how they could present this out of the studio, with just two performers in a live situation. I shouldn’t have doubted. There was not a load of tech, but it was clever stuff. And the performers were a dream. Despite unplanned accompaniment of bar voices and laughter and occasional cocktail-shaker percussion, the duo carried off a subtle gig with aplomb and goodwill. Great show.

Voice and words are particularly human expressions, so it’s not surprising it’s the first thing I noted. Hannah’s is a wonderfully trained and flexible voice, slipping over wildly varying intervals with pitch and precision, each note carefully formed with musical purpose, and melodic and soloistic lines that linger or move within scales and substitutions like a horn. This is not just emotion, but a clear display of high level intellectual craft. And not just written, because you hear it in her improvised interplay with keyboards, where the pair bounces fiendish little responses back and forth, each line morphing as they chatter. And finally those divine harmonies I’d heard on the CD; they appeared towards the end of the night, as Hannah played an effects unit with her left hand, looping and layering vocal lines as harmonies that seemed not quite so complex as those on the CD (but may have been). And not just harmonies, but also looped clicks and whistles and later mic taps for a percussion intro to one tune. Human expression but hinting of electronica.

Steve was even more the electronics dabbler. Maybe he does the right hand solo thing (I think he did once last night) but he seems to me to be closer to the tune than that. I could say accompaniment, but not just that. This is interpretation where the sounds and movements of the inherent chords are explored, not just set down and played over. And not just with piano. Although he mostly used Nord and Rhodes tonalities, there was a deep organ bass that often appeared in the left hand. And then later, perhaps looped, portamento slides and robot whistles and echoey squeals and squeaks and things percussive and toylike in the right. Again, bouncing from the voice, not featuring, but closely pairing for a Bjorkian otherworldliness. In fact, they played one Bjork number, Unravel, and the style of left hand riff and ethereal, rhythmically indeterminate overlay appeared in this and a few other original tunes from their CD. They also played Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and even Otis Redding with a vocal style that I found authentically bluesy-gospelly and even growly, although the vocal timbre would have been unusual at the Blues Club. But mostly the night was originals from the EP/CD. Genuinely interesting lyrics from a mobile voice with deep grooves and that ethereal overlay. All strangely open and childlike at times, and sometimes anomalous (“Buried in the closet, underneath the vacuum cleaner … lies are skeletons” or “my heart comes undone, the devil collects it with a grin, he never returns it”) despite frequent lyrics of love and emotion.

Mate Andy Campbell sat in for two tunes, but he played it appropriately restrained, so the essence of the music changed little with the addition of a few guitar solos. It was all a refreshing change, and an authentic and intriguing voice of modern Australian culture. Much, much enjoyed. Hannah Macklin (vocals) performed with Steve Newcomb (keyboards) and Andy Campbell (guitar) sat in for two tunes.

Fine and tragic

The West End Composers Collective visited Canberra last night on a national Sound Travellers tour. Fine was for the music: it was truly splendid. Sweet and precise harmonies, interesting tunes and complex arrangements, a sound that was beyond the 10-piece format, strong voice (this was a big band with frequent vocals) with playful lyrics, some great soloing. What more could you desire? Audience. That’s the tragic side. Up with the best gigs I’ve heard, and the band almost outnumbered the audience. Perhaps it didn’t help that jazz students are on holidays, or that Sound Travellers had a double booking with Trio Apoplectic at Hippo on the same night. But it’s a good path to being ignored. Watch footy; ignore the yartz.

I’ve been reading blogs about the resurgence of creative Brisbane. From a distance, there seems to be a vibrant, fresh, new injection of creative energy. WECC has to be part of this. It was lively and inventive, a glowing conception of the small big band format. The voice had much to do with it. Hannah Macklin was strong up front, with a powerful voice and great control to manage bop-like complexity, but she’s also a compositional wit. I didn’t catch all the lyrics (there were many and they rolled over each other with boppy urgency), but her Jack seemed a story of lost love built on an underlying parallel with of Jack and the Beanstalk. Clever. She had similar references in another tune, Starlight. They both harked back to the wry lyrics of standards jazz. This was faithful to tradition, but modernised and relevant to our current times. Fabulous singing but also clever writing. Not just by Hannah, but also by Rafael Karlin and an earlier band-member, Laura Karl. But it was not just the words and compositions that were clever. This band was slick, and playing a storm after touring together around Australia for the last week or so, and after a reportedly memorable performance at the Promethean in Adelaide the night before. Playing and touring together makes for tight, and this was. Despite busy arrangements, the whole sat together with real class and comfort. There were signals for planned changes; there were arranged hits and contrasts; there were feels that merged and twisted, or otherwise just sat behind solo or instrumental passages. I noticed Joe Marchisella on drums who massaged these rhythms with intelligence and feel. Mingus was never too concerned about how his bandsmen soloed as long as they interpreted his writings effectively. This band did that with panache, but there were some capable soloists, too. James Sherlock on guitar was frequent and outstanding. I took particular notice of solos by Graeme Norris on baritone sax and Mikael Strand on trombone, but it’s probably unfair to mark them out. Both Steve Newcomb on keys and James Sherlock offered complex and mobile accompaniment. James seemed unusually fluent on chordal accompaniment, and Steve was just plainly inventive, sometimes with synth-like sounds from his red Nord, and other times busily but subtly accompanying and guiding the outfit. These two played a lovely little duo at one stage with solo guitar over keys that was everything a big band isn’t. That’s how it was. An inventive approach and a modern sound; a wry voice with traditional horn harmonies and modern rhythms and a personal approach to composition. This is a little big band with a big sound that suits the times. Fabulous.

Alas, that’s what you missed if you weren’t there. And probably you weren’t.

West End Composers Collective comprised Steve Newcomb (piano), Rafael Karlen (tenor sax), Hannah Macklin (voice), James Sherlock (guitar), Gerard McFadden (bass), Joe Marchisella (drums), Mark Spencer (alto sax), Graeme Norris (baritone sax), Mikael Strand (trombone), Shannon Marshall (trumpet). They played at the Folkus Room, and toured with the support of Arts Queensland, Sound Travellers and Griffith University.

Visitors from NY: Jacam Manricks

New York is a gathering place for jazz players from around the world. It has something like 10 major jazz clubs, and perhaps 100 venues for jazz. It’s still a mecca for advanced players, and the home of many famous jazz names. So jazz visitors from NY are something to look forward to.

Hippo’s NY visitors were Jacam Manricks (alto sax), Steve Newcomb (piano), Jasper Leak (bass) and Danny Fischer (drums). Jacam is the leader and composer, originally out of Brisbane. He’s the son of professional orchestra-playing parents and has a impressive history of awards in Australia and OS. In NY, he’s currently working on his doctorate in composition, and earning as a jazz educator. So, he arrives with lofty expectations. But these are all Australians with NY connections. Danny and Jasper have been in NY for several years; Steve was in NY but has now returned to Brisbane.

So what is it about NY? I feel you see immense commitment and seriousness (that classic book of modern jazz, “As serious as your life”, comes to mind). Also, I hear original compositions with a hard, exploratory and energetic edge. I imagine that’s partly an expression of the individualist, live-or-die, competitive world of the US (which is presumably at a frenzied pitch in NY) and modern jazz itself. And obviously, high levels of musicianship and vigorous renditions of standard tunes.

JM’s band didn’t disappoint. JM’s original compositions were spikey inventions, with big intervals jumping up and down through sinuous melodies, often with syncopated, written rhythm section accompaniment. The piano solos were thoughtful and adventurous; the sax solos were initially non-legato, and developed into long, atonal flourishes; the drums solos were frequent, fast and disjunctive, with lots of rolls and rudiments finishing with frequent staccato slaps. I only remember one bass solo, but it was highly competent and interesting. I’d heard Jasper Leak’s album, and, as a fellow bassist, I was very happy to hear his name mentioned when the band started up. He was absolutely solid in underlying these hard charts, and an immensely interesting foundation. There were a few walks, one which appeared spontaneously in UMMG, and another lovely walk throughout Countdown. Otherwise, he played syncopated, rhythmically diverse lines throughout the night. I discovered something when I noticed how he would break up the rhythm, playing on -2-4, then perhaps 2-41-34-2-4, so the beat moved from the 2-4 to the 1-3 then back again, usually at unexpected times. It’s like a rhythmic version of playing substitute chords: not wrong but quite disconcerting. Great playing.

The non-originals were Sam River’s “Beatrice”, Stayhorn’s “Upper Manhattan Medical Group” and Coltrane’s “Countdown”. Otherwise, the show was all original. As I remember, the played Numbers 7, 3, 2, a medley of 4/5, and 1. Trust me; the compositions were more creative than the titles. There was some complex reading and writing demanded of all the players: good and interesting stuff. Check out Jacam’s website for a generous collection of his original music.

JM is playing at Wangaratta in a few days. I hope the band gets a larger audience there than last night’s disappointingly small one. They deserve it.

http://www.jacammanricks.com/