OWJF2022-10

Emma Pask was a big name in the big room, the Holy Trinity Church.  Nice singing of standards and musical theatre songs, Here there and everywhere, They say it's wonderful and the like.  Classy and popular, if not so much for a more adventurous audience.  No names of accompanists in the program, but she played with piano, Phil Stack (bass) and drums.

Then some locals for this Canberran, the ANU School of Music Recording Ensemble.  Before its "restructure", the School once had a Commercial Ensemble, a Recording Ensemble and a Big Band and they played for the public regularly.  Miro ran the Recording Ensemble.  Members would write material then perform it.  The approach is the same but with John Mackey as leader/director.  This was a hot band, perhaps too hot and racing at times, too excitable, but seriously impressive playing and complex interesting tunes.  Apparently they will be recording and touring in future.  I was impressed.  Again no names in the program but working with John Mackey.

Then another quick visit to the Vampires.  I was wondering if they were that much more confident than the previous night.  I missed the start and couldn't tell, but again, I love these tunes and these grooves.

Then another big name, again in the unbalanced Holy Trinity Church, was Asteroid Ecosystem.  Now this was interesting.  They had visited Canberra and I'd missed them so they were one  reason for attendance at this festival.  It's an odd combination and apparently one that came out of a recording.  Ed Kuepper was the lead guitarist of The Saints and other post-punk and grunge groups; not jazz.  Alister explained that he'd recorded a string of albums with guests, the Alister Spence trio was one and thus this band.  Well, what was it?  A strange mix of improv set to charts and eclectic guitaristic tones and various noise and grooves and bass lines.  I didn't think the venue's acoustics did it justice and after how many bands in two days I wasn't up to it.  But there were some seriously good players here.

Emma Pask, ANU School of Music Recording Ensemble, The Vampires and Asteroid Ecosystem played at the inaugural Orange Winter Jazz Festival.  Emma Pask had Phil Stack on bass.  Asteroid Ecosystem comprised Alister Spence (piano), Lloyd Swanton (bass), Toby Hall (drums) and Ed Kuepper (guitar, electronics).

OWJF2022-5

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).

Bringing the world together

There were many representatives of the Australian world jazz community at the Loft when the Vampires came to play. Normal Vamp bassist, Alex Boneham, was not available so the catholics were represented by Lloyd Swanton and Wanderlust by Fabian Hevia (who happened to be in town). So we could expect reggae and Latin American pulses. I hadn’t expected Stanwell Park. I love the eclectic crosses of styles that we call world jazz - this blend of jazz sensibility with rhythms and grooves and melodies from beyond the Euro traditions. The visitors did a great job. I was floored by Lloyd, lightly played and fed by profound reading and easy playing chops. These were not easy charts to sit in on. Fabian mentioned 13 and 7 and perhaps 9 and I heard some very complex and unexpected syncopations and contorted ostinatos. Lloyd pulled them off with relaxed glances at the charts; stunning. Drummer Alex is all eyes, watching with a blank face and spelling out understated but nicely contorted rhythmic responses to the front line. Fabian was restrained. He’s never too overstated, and a few passages on cajon were richly defining of the tunes and enhancing of the grooves, but he seemed pretty unobtrusive this night.

The Vampires front line comprises the two composing horn players. Jeremy, on alto, had written most tunes; Nick, on trumpet, several others. They played 12 tunes in two sets. The tunes were short and purposeful but also richly embroidered and worldly attractive. Life in the fast lane could have been written by Ornette, and thinking back, Ornette’s influence was clear elsewhere, in rabid free, unison calls and a bluesy perception. The first tunes were warm-ups: few chords, easy changes, lovely simple and attractive melodies. I’d been surprised by the first tune starting with solo bass, given Lloyd was sitting in, but he is a master. The third tune was all Dave Holland to my ears: slower, less bouncy, thoughtful and opening up with rich solos and a counterpoint melody. Chellowdene was a bouncy uptempo 2-feel. Chellowdene is a street in Stanwell Park. I don’t know the reference but the patter suggested it’s shared, at least by Fabian. Euro schmarp was a take on adopting Norwegian fashion. Heston was rich with collective improvisation in the front line over a call-response bass line. On through the second set to the Ornette references. Jeremy’s alto was embroidered, frequently running solos with chords that moved chromatically, sidestepping the harmony, so plenty of dissonance. Nick was less dissonant but fast, clearly spoken and passionate. Trumpet and sax each lend themselves to their own statements and melodic inventions.

The Vampires were on tour for their third CD. I’m on tour as I write this, the day after the gig and on the XPT to Melbourne. The Vampires seem a long way away, but the world is all around us and the melodies and sympathy of this music, and the sheer skills and musicianship are still in my ears. This was wonderfully attractive music, wonderfully played, but also with skills to dream of, to luxuriate in the grooves and dream with the melodies. How deceptively easy it all is.

On this occasion, at the Loft and on this tour date, the Vampires comprised Jeremy Rose (alto), Nick Garbett (trumpet), Alex Masso (drums) with Lloyd Swanton (bass) and Fabian Hevia (percussion).

Vamp

I thought I had the Vampires sorted. Dub and reggae rhythms with highly syncopated melodies and some fairly short but very sweet and capable jazz solos. Despite their name and a relaxed readiness to settle on a groove and several clear vamps against drums solos, I didn’t particularly feel the Vamp-ires’ vamps defined the band. This was more a broad contemporary crossover. An all-ages band (tongue-in-cheek alert) appealing to jazz aficionados along with a pub set. There’s a lot of this around, partly to earn cash and partly to merge catholic interests of creative musicians into their more esoteric jazz studies. Nothing new, really: Diz crossed to latin; Miles crossed to rock; Herbie crossed to funk; Bad Plus crossed to grunge. Contemporary jazz is a melange and all the better for it. So I’d set them in the reggae camp, but there were the delicious trad-style collective solos, a fairly free outing during the second set and to top it off, a clear rock feel to finish. I’m chastened and promising not to put bands in boxes in future, but I’m elated. Great stuff and eminently entertaining and intellectually satisfying to boot.

The Vampires are a quartet of alto and trumpet fronting bass and drums but this outing added a Melbourne mate, Shannon Barnett, on trombone. So the front line was that much richer in harmonies and solos and tonal and conceptual contrasts. Trumpeter Nick Garbett was a wonder, playing with embrochure and squeels and squeaks, or blaring with rapid-fire lines that flared easily over changing chords. He was a finalist in the recent Australian Jazz Award at Wangaratta for brass, so I’m not the only one to recognise these skills. I’d caught Shannon Barnett at Wang but not in so intimate a setting, and was looking forward to this gig. She didn’t disappoint. Her solos were authoritative and nicely developed, with clearly-imagined melodic lines, often as calls-and-responses, and displaying intervallic and rhythmic intelligence and rich with dynamics. Jeremy was on alto for the night, less proud and bell-like than the brass, but equally inventive and humanising the harmonies with the more carnal reed tone. This was modern jazz dissonance meets pop sensibility: medium tempo, mobile, constant, often atonal. Alex 1, Masso, was all eyes and ears, quiet and admirably controlled for a drummer, but constantly aware of his surroundings and playful with those out-of-synch reggae beats. Some deliciously odd little fills caught my attention as did several solos played against front line vamps. But as bassist, it’s no surprise that Alex 2, Boneham, was the vamp master of the night, holding some very demanding bass ostinatos. I was surprised that his bass was so present given it was not amplified. It was miked through the PA, but that had little effect where I was sitting and the bass was easily heard for solos and accompaniment. Some nice solos, too, reaching right up high then easily moving the length of the fingerboard with pleasant and talkative ideas. All this over original compositions from Nick and Jeremy. Lots of syncopation in the heads; some extra bars thrown in here or there; some vamps or easy chord changes; some fairly short spaces for solos. There was a love song, and a doleful tune for Haiti, and a playful song for a dancing mother, and a few that were just clever and attractive, with their mostly off-beat reggae grooves.

Sydney met Melbourne via Jamaica with a touch of US and it was great entertainment and much satisfaction. A very promising start to another season of jazz at the Gods. The Vampires are Jeremy Rose (alto sax), Nick Garbett (trumpet), Alex Boneham (bass) and Alex Masso (drums) and good mate Shannon Barnett (trombone) sat in for the night.

Cyberhalides Jazz Photos by Brian Stewart