Jazz Rocks

I recently caught some of the Canberra contingent in Sydney at a daytime performance at The Rocks. Carl Dewhurst (guitar) and Brendan Clarke (bass), both products of the Canberra Jazz School, were playing with Bernie McGann (alto sax) and Susan Gai Dowling (vocals). It was a freebie performance in Rocks Square, presumably for the Festival of Sydney. It was easy-going music for the tourist masses (including me) on a lazy Sunday afternoon, but there was plenty of talent on show and it was always interesting.

Carl was playing with a lovely semi-acoustic tone. These were clear unadorned solos with chordal sequences, long controlled and sometimes geometric or patterned lines, and occasional lapses into dissonance. It was masterly playing, and it was recognised by the audience. Bernie was always his expressive self, with never an unnecessary note. Above all, I find his playing honest, at times simple and melodic, and at other times contorted and challenging, but always true and investigatory. I guess this comes with such maturity. Brendan laid down as solid a rhythm as you could have dreamt of, and soloed freely and intently. This was a band without a drummer, but the beat was so, so strong. Brendan, sometimes assisted by Bernie tapping on his horn, was always rock solid. No hesitation here. Susan Gai Dowling was new to me, although I’ve heard her on CD. She had a strong voice, occasionally overpowering the others through the PA, but great control, clear and emotionally appropriate renditions (as befits a Sunday afternoon, of course), some very nice reworkings of melodies, and an easy stage patter.

They played a repertoire of swing and latin, eg, Just in time, Lover man, Yesterdays, Serenata, Cottontail. The format was also pretty standard: vocals, solos for each instrument then vocals to end. But it was well played, relaxed and precise, and probing at times. It was a relaxing but classy afternoon interlude.

To end, there’s an amusing story. It was spitting lightly when Susan GD announced the band, so she introduced them as “The Rainmakers”, saying it always rained when they played in the Rocks. Within a few hours it was pouring in Sydney city, so maybe this band does good for the parched environment as well as the soul and the intellect.

Jess & Niels

Last night’s White Eagle was a night of maturity in several ways. In the musical sense, it was a homecoming for two wayfarers and ex-Jazz School students, and both presented mature, developed music. In the performance sense, it was a big night at the White Eagle, with perhaps 150 people in attendance at the last show of 2006.

The crowd celebrated the end of a great first year for the White Eagle sessions. Earlier this year, several jazz students took on the task of presenting themselves and developing their own venue. Like Jazzgroove in Sydney, they’ve taken control of their own art through a cooperative venture. It gives Canberra a venue for performances by its own peripatetic offspring jazzers, and gives the current crew of developing musos a venue to perform, meet and jam. And the big turnout included the families of some of the visiting players as well as lovers of the art. So congrats to Ed, Phill and Hannah for the White Eagle success.

The first players of the night were the Niels Rosendahl Quartet. Niels has just arrived back after a year travelling in Europe and SE Asia, and further studying his tenor sax. He instantly impressed me with a new calmness and sureness in his presence; with clear and purposeful improvisations; with understated but nonetheless fast and complex lines; with clear and impassioned articulation. What he played was necessary, not just impressive. Niels had recommended a book to me the previous night, “Zen guitar”, as a good read, so it was no surprise that exuded a zen-like bearing on the night. He’s obviously developed immensely after time in SE Asia and Europe, mostly in Edinburgh. From the rubato start of “God bless ye merry gentlemen”, to another rubato section on the final tune, “Silent night”, the selections were apt and the performance was convincing. Otherwise the band played various original tunes by Neils and Michael A.

From left, Niels, Michael, Ed and Bill

The band was an impressive unit: Michael Azzopardi (piano), Ed Rodrigues (drums) and Bill Williams (bass) accompanied Niels Rosendahl (tenor sax). Michael played with incredible energy and commitment as always; Ed was connected and interpretive; Bill was a rock with strong walks, and intriguing solos with a hard, clear tone. Ed told me afterwards that he felt all was inevitable and correct while playing with Neils. It showed. Niels finished the night by inviting John Mackey up for a minor blues, so it all ended with the local tenor masters at play. Niels continues to improve and impress; watch him.

The Jess Green Septet was totally another proposition. Jess composes and leads a band with a broad, inclusive, world style. There were infectious rhythms borrowed from all over the place (rockabilly, blues, garage bands and reggae were in there, and she has a connection with, and influence from, Ghana). There were varied time signatures (7/4, 5/4, lots of triple times, 3/4 or 6/4, as well as the old standard, 4/4). There were varied harmonies and counterpoint in the 4-part horn section. So this was orchestrated music, of a modern, global style, with jazz leanings, and plenty of improvisation. What got me about the improvisations was the appropriateness of the solos to the musical context. As well as actively leading the band, Jess plays guitar. She did several wonderful, understated solos with soft picking and a bell-like tone on her Telecaster Thinline (the semi-acoustic model with humbucker pickups), as well as holding lots of rhythms with riffs or even simple chordal work. All the horns played solos, as did drums and bass. In one spot, there was an unusual combination of trumpet soloing against drums, then becoming more standard as the bass joined the action. Zoe Hauptmann is a great bassist, and I loved her immensely fitting solos on two tunes. Her match with the rhythm and groove and horn-based harmonies, and the spaces she left for the horn parts, were immaculate. I was taken by her great, solid tone, too. She works the strings hard, and the resulting sound is solid and dirty and endlessly reliable. I also particularly liked the varied harmonies from the horn section. The writing was good, and the players combined beautifully. And Chris T, sitting in for the night of drums, did a great job. So this was another mature offering; this time of original, contemporary, world-style music.

Jess Green with her Dad and brother

The Jess Green Septet were: Jess Green (guitar, composer, leader), Matt Keegan (tenor sax), Dan Junor (alto sax), John Hibbard (trombone), Simon Ferenci (trumpet), Zoe Hauptmann (bass), Chris Thwaite (drums, replacing Evan Mannell).

It looks like there’s no White Eagle session in January, but expect a return in February.

Jess Green's new CD, "Singing fish"

Niels Rosendahl's MySpace site

Bernie McGann plays Hippo

Bernie McGann is a legend of Australian modern jazz, and his performance at Hippo’s was confirmation, if confirmation was needed. Bernie is now aged 69. His experience and history was evident in the honesty of his playing, and in the individuality of his style. His style is very much his own. He gets a mention in Stuart Nicholson’s excellent recent book on modern jazz, Is Jazz Dead?: (Or Has It Moved to a New Address), in a discussion of styles of music being different in different countries. He was given as an example of an Australian sound in jazz, that he was dry like the Australian bush (or something similar)**. I mentioned this to Bernie, and also to a few other musos on the night, and they could see the fit. Bernie seemed to take it as inevitable, given he is Australian. Others commented how unique his sound and style are. One sax player described his playing as like his voice: beyond thought of chord and structures; always responding to the other musicians; intimate and immediate like singing.

His alto has a sinuous quality: twisting, fluid. He plays with seemingly indeterminate pitch and time, moving phrases over the beat structure, and bending notes at will. There are lots of long, multi-octave scales and arpeggios at different levels of dissonance and different substitutions. There were simple lines, perhaps repeated with changing discordance. Always with loose rhythm and pitch which makes everything a personal and intense statement, and always honest. He’d be playful, toying with the underlying structures, but there was always a connection to the underlying tune, and always an intense, ongoing rhythm. After the gig, he mentioned that he’d be happy to see people up dancing. It was a confirmation of the centrality of swing to his jazz; there was always this intense beat amongst all this exploration.

Bernie was accompanied by Eric Ajaye (bass) and Chris Thwaite (drums), Graham Monger (guitar) and Dirk Zeylmans (tenor sax). They all played well and were thoughtful in how they responded to Bernie. I expect his unique style makes for a demanding outing for his band. I’ve written on them all here; this report is one for Bernie.

The tunes were bop and standards: My little suede shoes, Scrapple from the apple, Body and soul, Tenor madness, Night and day, and the like. There was no chat with the audience. Despite plenty of informed listeners, it was a noisy, chatty environment, so perhaps it didn’t lend itself to stage patter. Just two sets of intense jazz interpretation with a long, intense history behind it. Great stuff.

Bernie McGann at Wikipedia

Geoff Page's biography of Bernie McGann

** "His sound reminds me very much of the Australian landscape. Dry and brittle and almost Coocoboro-like [sic. I guess the transcriber meant "Kookaburra-like". ed.] about the way he plays ... if Jan Garbarek is a fjord man, Bernie is the opposite of that, he is dry, witty". Paul Grabowski on Bernie McGann in Is jazz dead? : or has it moved to a new address / Stuart Nicholson. NY : Routledge, 2005, p.188.

John Mackey CD launch

John Mackey launched his new CD the other night with a fabulous night of impassioned, Coltranesque exuberance at Hippo’s. John, of course, is the sax teacher at the Jazz School and a product of Perth. He recorded his CD in Melbourne with some excellent sidemen, and John’s brother Carl, who also plays a mean tenor. The launch at Hippo’s only shared 2 players with the CD (John and Eric Ajaye), but it was a spirited band and they played several of the tunes from the CD.

The band on the night comprised John Mackey (tenor sax), Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet), Carl Morgan (guitar), Eric Ajaye (bass), Michael Azzopardi (piano) and Chris Thwaite (drums). It’s amongst the crème of the local jazz scene and I’ve written on all these players over the months here at CJ. John is out front, with plenty of original blowing tunes, and hugely passionate and intelligent solos, with a massive 60s-Coltrane-influence. Miroslav provides harmony trumpet lines and great bop solos, and several excellent originals. Carl Morgan is all the rage at the moment, as a young (1st year) guitarist at the Jazz School who’s blowing with great confidence and competence and genuinely interesting, unfaked lines. He’s obviously a talent to watch. Eric Ajaye is, of course, our much-admired bassist with years of experience in the US with the big names. After looking at the liner notes of John’s CD, I realise John has plenty of names to drop to match Eric’s (Nat Adderley, Richie Cole, Dionne Warwick, Roy Hargrove, Toshiko Akiyoski and others vs. Bernie Maupin, Sonny Stitt, Gary Bartz, Victor Feldman, etc) but that’s another story. Michael Azzopardi is the master of frantic, dissonant soloing, and challenging, similarly altered and substituted accompaniment. And Chris Thwaite is the strong drummer in the corner, always with a strong and intimate connection with the others.

The tunes included plenty of John’s originals, largely from the CD (Contemplation, Pressure cooker, See what happens, It’s the only thing to do, etc), a solo sax interpretation of Ellington’s “In a sentimental mood”, one of my favourite latin tunes, “Invitation”, and several of Miroslav’s excellent compositions (Delicatessen, For Woody, and that theme from Radio National’s Country Hour and an ever-popular tune for Wunderlust, the infectious Bronte Café).

John’s bands do not make for a light and easy evening. He always plays with a barrage of notes, and screaming, passionate intensity, and there’s volume to match. But it was a thrill to hear this band, and every player was obviously enjoying the challenge immensely. From what Eric said about the recording session, it was similarly demanding. So take any chance you get to hear John and one of his outfits, and get a copy of his CD. Take it easy; it’s not one for the faint-hearted. But if you can handle the intensity, you’re in for a treat.

John Mackey at MySpace

Bones exposed at Hippo's

Exposed Bone’s performance at Hippo’s last night reminded me of why I love jazz. It was an energetic show, with humour and intelligence and great skill covering a range of modern, popular styles (rock, blues, groove, calypso, klezmer, etc) in various standard and odd times. It’s so much not just history (although, at times, there’s reverence to traditions) or a defined and endlessly repeated canon (despite continued exploration of the standards repertoire). Jazz today is a melange of influences explored by highly trained and skilled artists, with energy and joy to boot.

Exposed Bone is Jeremy Borthwick’s band. It plays original music in a world/groove vein. I missed their last performance at Hippo’s, when Jeremy played with the Hauptmann family (Zoe on bass, James on drums and Ben on guitar). This time, EB comprised Jeremy (trombone), James Muller (guitar), Brendan Clarke (electric bass) and James Hauptmann (drums). The fact that the band can change almost totally and still play these difficult arrangements (some even read by sight on the night) is just more proof of the skill levels in modern jazz.

Jeremy plays trombone with fast, post-bop and bluesy lines which seem so hard on this instrument. I’ve mentioned before the current interest in trombones in front lines and EB are a perfect example. It’s a smooth, lithe sound and I guess this matches the modern, sophisticated, lounge/groove audience. I wonder whether synths have brought about the resurgence of the trom, because they do have similar sounds … just a thought. But Jeremy is a master.

James Muller is now an Australian guitarist of world stature, given his recent sojourn in New York, and his recording with Bill Stewart, John Scofield’s drummer. He lifted the band (as guitarists are so capable of doing) every time he started a solo. What amazed me was how he displayed expertise in so many styles. There was rock guitar to die for, sleezy and down-home with wah, volume and other effects, but then he’d morph to fast, clean dissonant pentatonic jazz lines or the broad arpeggios and sweeps of fusion. And to end the night, he played a blues tune with the minor pentatonics and bends you expect in that form. He raised a great flourish of cheers after every solo. I was just a bit disappointed when each solo ended, so I would have liked them to be longer. But what displays of expertise they were!

And the rest of the rhythm section was right there with the front line. It was the first time I’d seen Brendan Clarke on electric bass. He had a fat, soft tone with a high-mid edge and it reminded me of his sound on double bass. But it was that syncopated right hand finger work that propelled the band so strongly. He was obviously having a good time, frequently smiling to James’ flash soloing. He also had a great knack with building tension – eighth notes on one note for one whole chorus at one time, and several other high tension segments with the whole band. And he was no slouch at solos.

James Hauptmann on drums was no slouch, either. He plays a soft rather than sharp sound, and a non-intrusive style. To me, this is a more traditional style, viz. his trading fours in an early tune. But again, he was exciting and energetic with plenty of busy solos and he pushed the band along with incessant rhythms in a style reminiscent of early Weather Report. Great stuff.

BTW, Brendan and James H are local boys made good: both are products of the local jazz school.

I had an interesting discovery. I found when I was tapping along with the beat, it was always on 1-3 rather than 2-4 as in swinging jazz, so I guess that’s a feature of these more popular or world styles. I’d welcome any comments on the theory behind this, and whether the musos out there agree. Just add comments under this post.

In summary, the players were superb, the audience had a great time, the tunes were presumably original, and the vibe was energetic and fun. So, another great display of Australian modern jazz-groove at Hippo Bar.

Stange happenings with CJ feeds

It seems all posts on the CJ home page were redated to 11 Nov when I upgraded to the new Blogger software (betaBlogger). It's obviously some interface issue with Blogger/Feedigest, but it should be OK for any future posts. In the meantime, visit the CJNews page for recent News announcements.

Vale Michael Foster

The Canberra Times reported this morning (Canberra Times, Sat 11 Nov 2006, p.4) that long-time jazz afficionado and jazz reporter for the Canberra Times died yesterday (10 Nov). Appropriately, he died in Wangaratta, shortly after the recent Festival. Michael was a strong supporter of the Jazz School, and has funded various awards and, with his wife Bronwyn, a visit by the the Big Band to the Monterey Jazz Festival. The attached pic is Michael at a recent session at White Eagle. Thanks, Michael, for your long-time support of jazz in Canberra.

Jenna Cave recital, 17 Nov

Jenna Cave has advertised her Graduation recital at the Jazz School, so it seems we're welcome to attend. Jenna will present her compositions played by the ANU's Big Band and Recording Ensemble and also perform on alto. This may be the last time to see these bands in their present formation. Band Room, Peter Karmel Bldg, ANU School of Music, 2pm, Fri 17 Nov.

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/

Sam Young, Wayne Kelly, White Eagle

It was another successful outing at the White Eagle last night: two bands, several jams and another ArtSound recording.

The Sam Young Quartet opened the night with a guitar-based sound that you seldom hear in the jazz scene. That’s a shame, because this was an interesting and involving set, reminiscent to me of the 60s/70s electronic jazz of Miles (the era of Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson). SYQ comprised Sam Young (drums), Jarrah Jones (guitar), Aron Lyon (guitar) and Gareth Hill (bass). They played originals, variously by Gareth, Sam and Aron, as well as Wayne Shorter’s “Mascalero”. The music was mostly intense and pensive, but there were occasional dramatic flourishes (for example, Sam’s opening for his original, “The breaks”) and the final tune by Aron was more upbeat. Most guitar solos and melodies were played by Aron, accompanied by Jarrah’s chordal work. I’ve been impressed by Jarrah’s chordal work in several performances. His interesting voicings and free movement over rhythmic structures generally loosen up a band. They particularly suited this era. Aron was playing with rich effects and the combination with Jarrah made for a modern sound with complex heads and solos. Sam and Gareth are both highly capable players in their own rights, both as accompanists and as soloists, so the performance was a joy (if you can say “joyful” for this style of music). The sound was a little muddy at times, and there were some problems with hum, but otherwise much enjoyed.

The Wayne Kelly Quartet followed with a very different style of music. This was more straight-ahead rhythmically, harmonically more defined, instrumentally less effected and with more clear distinction of solos. So, it seemed more structured or patterned than the fluid style that SYQ played (although really it wasn’t). But these guys were so professional. They played tight, over complex tunes, and passed great solos around. The music was original – plenty of tunes from Wayne’s recent CD, and a few by Mike. WKQ were Wayne Kelly (piano), Brendan Clarke (bass), Mike Price (guitar) and Mark Sutton (drums). There were tons of high points to note. Amongst others, I remember: excellent accompaniment by Brendan (he’s a great bassist, with an unusual sweet and rounded tone); an excellent solo at the end from Mark; a very appropriate tune by Mike called “Young guns” (he’d see lots as the head of the Jazz School) with a very appropriate solo (including sweeps, patterns and sidestepping, which are outside Mike’s normal style); Brendan’s charts falling from his new music stand and him organising them with his feet while playing (funnier than most jokes you commonly hear on stage); Wayne’s great tunes from his recent CD. Wayne gave away some of his influences in the names of a few tunes: “Mr Hank Mobley” and “Dr Kirkland Blues”. Overall, highly professional and highly swinging.

The night finished with a few student jams. The next White Eagle session features the Jess Green Sextet with Neils Rosendahl on 7 Dec.

http://myspace.com/jazzatthewhiteeagle

TTMaker – scheduling software for jazz festivals

If you’re planning on running a jazz festival, or similar event, this software looks like a real timesaver. It keeps a record of musicians, bands and venues, and provides options which avoid scheduling conflicts. You input list of musicians with their details, the bands they play in, venues with available equipment and setup details for the event (dates, daily start and end times, length of sets, time between sets, etc). TTMaker provides programming options for bands taking into account musos playing in different bands. When you’ve chosen the best program from the scheduling options, TTMaker provides web pages or prints of schedules, bands and members, etc.

Click on image to view full size

It’s a pretty simple concept but it seems eminently helpful – in avoiding stress for organisers, and in saving time. I watched the process of fitting my band into the Moruya program at the last minute. It was obviously difficult for the scheduler, Michel, to finalise a workable program, given that one member was playing in the Jazz School Big Bang, another was playing in two other bands, and I was playing in one other band. So, it seems to me to be a good investment, at least for an event of the scale of Moruya.

It also stores personal details of musicians and bands. So as a by product, it can produce a variety of relevant lists, eg, musicians with instruments and phone numbers, bands with members’ names, bands with contact details, bands by style.

TTMaker is developed by Roots Software in Melbourne and was built in conjunction with the Wagga Jazz Festival. The proprietors can be emailed and they respond quickly and seem helpful. You can download a demo version which will manage a small event, or pay for standard or professional versions. It seems well worth investigating if you’re toying with organising a festival.

http://www.rootsoftware.com/

Wagga Fest program created with TTMaker

Moruya Festival 2007

Moruya staged its annual jazz festival over the weekend. Moruya’s a small and pleasant town on the South Coast. Like the town, the event is intimate and entertaining. It’s a relaxed atmosphere with as many musicians as audience (or perhaps more musicians), esp given the presence of the full Jazz School and several large ensembles and choirs. The ANU School of Music is the mainstay of the festival: they presented their three large ensembles and lots of smaller bands. But there are also various other regulars, several school ensembles, a surprising number of vocal groups, and a few feature acts.

The ANUSM (ANU School of Music) Big Band played on Friday night and wowed the crowd at the local Golf Club. The played a sleek, professional performance. They’ve been playing out a lot recently, and it shows. Their upcoming performance at Wangaratta should be a worthy one. The Commercial and Recording Ensembles played in the Air Raid Tavern. I saw only parts of each performance. The Tavern is a smaller venue, and the volume was pretty intense, and I thought maybe some members were a bit tired after plenty of playing, but both gave powerful and interesting performances. (In case you read my earlier post on the three ensembles, my current favourite is the Big Band :->)

Isomorphism was a drum-free trio led by Hannah James (bass) with Patrick Hutchins (tenor sax) and Matthew Lustri (guitar). They played nice versions of standards and latin tunes, and opened the festival for me with good straight ahead soloing.

Team Zissou were an interesting piano trio comprising Phill Jenkins (bass), Ben Foster (piano) and Ed Rodrigues (drums). They started with the beautiful and touching Beatles tune “She’s leaving home”, so it was an obvious winner for me. I spoke to Phill later about playing modern pop songs in jazz, and he mentioned several CDs which were influential for this band: Herbie Hancock’s “New standards”, and Brad Mehldau’s “Day is done”. Team Zissou are gentle and inventive, with solos moving smoothly between the very competent players. I liked this one.

Swinging Affair was another Jazz School band. They played standards, mostly vocals-based, but with a few instrumentals. On the day, SA comprised Alison Flett (vocals), Matt Sykes (drums), Joseph Lloyd (alto sax), and two players who sat in: Carl Morgan (guitar) and Hannah James (bass). Alison has a strong voice, and selected some great songs. I especially liked “End of the love affair”, previously performed by Billie Holliday and others and Wayne Shorter’s Black Nile. This band created and held a steady, insistent swing, and performed some great solos. Carl shows real talent, despite only being a first year student, and he’s obviously being watched by other students with admiration. He’s playing fast and interesting solo lines with odd but satisfying twists. Hannah, too, is playing great, solid bass lines, and is ever-reliable in that role. Matt and Jo were also impressive. This was enjoyable and it kept a good-sized audience for the whole hour, despite some very cool winds blustering around the Monarch Beer Garden. Nice one.

Overhead Project is Jazz School-related, being led by, and made up partly of, ex-students. OP plays a smooth style of modern jazz that I associate with the US West-Coast: smooth guitar; gentle tempos; laid-back but exploratory soloing. Michael Coggins (guitar) leads the band, with Valdis Thomann (trombone), Gareth Hill (bass) and Ben Braithwaite (drums). This was music to loll you into musings and deep thought: very satisfying and very far from post-bop. As a bass player, I’ll single out Gareth Hill. His solos were perfect for the context, and he was later to impress in a few other bands as a very able bop player (at breakneck speeds for long durations) and a tasteful electric bassist. My drummer mate loved Ben’s subtle drumming in this band, and I enjoyed both Michael’s soft and supremely tasteful solos, and Valdis’ well-structured solos showing considerable chops on this difficult instrument.

Straight Up performed brilliantly as always. I’ve written elsewhere about this trio, and I can’t help but rave. Eric Ajaye (bass) is the leader and a revered player around town, as are the ubiquitous Michael Azzopardi (piano) and Chris Thwaite (drums). No attitude here: all supportive smiles, intense activity and great performances. Michael bends over the piano, working it with his immensely fast solos, classical overtones of flailing hands, occasional synth slides and frequent outside playing. Eric matches with fluent bass support and fast and complex solos at the highest level of the art (he played acoustic double bass for this set). Chris accompanies the others with sharp and apt playing and always smiling and watching and aware of the others. These guys are masters. My piano mate wondered how the piano stands up to the beating, and my drummer mate commented on the pertinent drumming. As a bassist, I just sit in awe! Straight Up performs the festival circuit. See them if you can.

John Mackey’s quintet became a sextet when Miroslav Bukovsky was able to arrive earlier than expected. It was another eye-opener of intense, loud, sometimes frantic post-bop. John Mackey (tenor sax) was leader, with Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet) in the front line, and a rhythm section comprising Michael Azzopardi (piano), Sam Young (drums), Gareth Hill (bass) and Carl Morgan (guitar). John played with speed and rabid, screaming passion, as always. But he opened my ears again with a long and more gentle closing solo passage on a ballad (don’t remember which). It was intensely beautiful, and a reminder of the more soothing side of 1960s impassioned jazz. Miro played lovely fast solos, and contributed several wonderful originals, including one modal piece that I loved. (I didn’t keep notes on the night, so can’t provide titles). I’ve written above of Garth’s hot bop playing (it was impressive, and displayed that incredible stamina needed for a bop bassist), and Carl’s great playing over the weekend (hard to believe he’s a first year student), and Michael’s always hot. Sam’s playing impressed both me and my drummer friend. He was playing his heart out with triplets and interesting forms and a great solo at the end. So, this was a powerful performance at the end of the night that left everyone elated, stunned and a bit exhausted.

I heard a lot of other bands for short periods, but not enough to provide an opinion here. Llama were a soul/modern band fronted by a sister and brother pair: Jenny Lee (vocals, trumpet) and Rob Lee (trombone). Pierre’s Dream Banned featured some old colleagues, Pierre Kammacher (saxes) and Ron Lucas (piano). Pierre is a regular on the festival scene and I’m always amused by the punny band names he uses. The Strange Weather Gospel Choir is another regular at Moruya. It’s a big mob, which had to be broken into three separate parts to perform the small Monarch Lounge, and so lost some of the power of ~50 voices when I saw them last year. Nonetheless, they are impressive. Moondance played a hard-swinging Euro-folk set, as I remember, and it went down well. Mike Hallam’s Hot Six is the patron of the Moruya Festival. It’s a very competent trad outfit comprising some members with international tours under their belts. Mother’s Ruin are mates of mine. They played an interesting set comprising several originals in the Ragtime tradition – quite a change for me, mired as I am in modern, and seldom hearing anything earlier than bop. I also caught the Radford College Band at the Saturday picnic in the park, and was impressed by its competence. I was sorry I missed the band called New Vibes Express. They are a group of middle-aged jazzers out of Sydney with long experience. My drummer mate caught a few minutes and spoke well of the drummer’s brushes technique and the vibrophonist’s dual mallets. The drummer’s broken left leg (!) meant his hi-hat work didn’t match his brushes, but high praise none-the-less. I was also sorry to miss Madeline Hawke’s Madeline 4, but I wasn’t surprised to hear good reports of her singing.

George Washingmachine, Psycho Zydeco and Al Davey’s & the monStars were feature bands. I saw a few minutes of the first two. They both impressed as entertaining and professional, as you would expect, and had great followings. I missed the monStars.

I played with two bands. I was happy with my playing on the day, so all was right with the Moruya world. Deja Who played one set of modern jazz with a nod to the more adventurous. DW were Liam Wilson (piano), Scott Young (drums), Michael Cleaver (alto sax, midi wind instrument), Alistair Clarke (trombone) and Eric Pozza (bass). The band was thrown together for the event, and only Michael knew Alistair before the day, but it worked, and was fun. I’ll remember this episode with amusement. When I introduced Nirvana’s “Smells like teen spirit” as “something more adventurous”, a trad/mainstream audience member sounded surprised. She obviously thought our pretty standard version of Coltrane’s “Equinox” was daring enough. But she stayed to the end, and we got some interested glances from a younger audience through the windows, so “Teen spirit” was at least a moderate success. I also played twice with Sandias, another project of Oliver Hague. Sandias are a jazz/latin outfit with Oliver Hague (saxes), Margaret Hancocks (flute), Liam Wilson (piano), Mike Smith (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass). We played well, and better than our Wagga outing, and did some interesting experimental rhythmic variations on Chameleon. It was fun. And congratulations to Oliver Hague for his excellent original tune “Mujer Holgada” which I’m always proud to play.

So, Moruya was a relaxed outing in a pleasant little town with lots of good music especially out of the Jazz School. Recommended.

Moruya Jazz Fest website

Women fused in concert

I don’t understand the “Fused” theme, but a concert featuring this group of women from the CSM was a great idea, and it provided a varied, fascinating and entertaining evening of considerable musical depth.

From left, Anna, Ruth, Sally, Jenna

Ruth Lee Martin is a musicologist and MC for the night. I understand she gathered the concert together after hearing the excellent CD “Take it in colour” (see the CJ recent review). There’s a bit of feminist pride here, and good on them. There aren’t as many women as men in jazz or at the Jazz School, and perhaps they can be overlooked. Jazz can be pretty blokey and it’s a highly individualistic art, which perhaps advantages the guys. But it’s also intellectual and highly respectful of excellence, so the paths are there for the best to shine through. And there are some great female role models to show the way (some personal favourites are Joanne Brackeen, Carla Bley and Sandy Evans). Knowing the CD, I came with anticipation and high expectations, and went away very satisfied. So congratulations for this highly successful celebration of some of our local women of jazz.

Let’s not forget this was a “composition showcase”, so all the tunes on the night were originals. We have some considerable compositional talent here, and mostly from women who are students or only very recently graduated. It bodes well for the ongoing development of the art, and pulls the rug from the feet of the conservative traditionalists.

Anna Thompson (violin) started the night with the Straight Up Trio, Eric Ajaye (bass), Michael Azzopardi (piano) and Chris Thwaites (drums). Anna is influenced by some names that I haven’t heard of for a while (Jean Luc Ponty, Didier Lockwood) and it showed in her playing. Violins are strung in fifths, and I was trying to identify whether the lines she plays in solos are different from guitars, basses, etc, which are strung in fourths. I didn’t hear a difference in melodic lines played, but the double stop work was harmonically different from guitar chords. And I really noticed the different control of sound in the violin: the bowed attack and ability to control a sustained note. Anna played very capable solos, led well, and provided an interesting mix of jazz rock, funk and Caribbean/Calypso. Straight Up performed their usual excellent set, with solos all around, and great, solid, inventive rhythms. I’m still wondering about one song title, “Yollop & the Trollop”, but it was a nice start.

Ruth Lee Martin (vocals) followed with a set of original tunes in the Scottish folk idiom. This was quite a change from the jazz normally played in this room: a new musical approach, and intriguing sounds. Words with serious intent: telling stories of poverty-stricken families evicted from Scottish villages, migrant experiences, boats and seas, and of course whisky and freezing temperatures. Also different were the fiddle (rather than violin) styles, the mono-chordal, world-music structures. Ruth was accompanied by her band Eilean Mor: Bill Grose (guitar), Chris Stone (fiddle), and several “ring-ins” from the Jazz School, Bill Williams (bass), Ed Rodrigues (drums) and Anna Thompson (fiddle, in this context). For me, an eye-opener and much enjoyed.

Sally Greenaway (piano) followed with a diverse range of pianistic styles. She opened with a piano/percussion piece with Phoebe Juskevics (percussion; also a composer on the “Take it in colour” CD), then played a larger format piece off the CD, called “E11eventy” and finished with a largely improvised solo piano piece. The first and last pieces exposed more classical and soundscape approaches to playing, as well as being more inward-looking. But I’d loved the bigger piece on the CD, and enjoyed it immensely live. The band for E11eventy was Sally, Phoebe, Gareth Hill (bass), Sam Young (drums), Anna Thompson (violin), Rob Lee and Valdis Thoman (trombones) and Jono Apps (trumpet).

Jenna Cave (alto sax) finished off the night with several of her impressive and complex compositions played by the Recording Ensemble. Jenna’s compositions really are impressive. I hear she may be continuing these studies overseas, so good on her, and best of luck. Jenna led the band from the middle of the horn line. She only led 2 tunes, but they were profound, and well named: “My life, a work” and “Odd time in Mali”. Both have odd timing: the first has bass playing 4/4 bass lines against 6/4 swing on drums; the second alternates 5/4 and 4/4 bars. Interesting! The players Recording Ensemble comprised Jon Apps and Julian Barker (trumpet), Al Clarke (trombone), Michael Cleaver and Jenna Cave (alto sax), Jo Taylor and Bill Williams (tenor sax), Carl Morgan (guitar), Luke Sweeting (piano), Garther Hill (bass), Sam Young (drums), and Phoebe Juskevics (percussion) sat in.

So, a great night and well received by a moderately large attendance. Congrats to these four women, and I hope there are more of these.

White Eagle double barrel

Another great night was had at the White Eagle last night. This is only the third night, but these sessions are developing well, and promise to create quite a stir over time. Last night it was a double bill with the Gerard Masters Trio (Sydney) and the John Mackey Quartet, followed, of course, by the jazz jam session.

First on was John Mackey (tenor) with Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet), Bill Williams (bass) and Ed Rodrigues (drums). John and Miro are teachers at the CSM, so considerable talents with lengthy histories. The tunes were originals, I think mostly from John’s portfolio but including some from Miro. The style is probably best described as hard bop, in the idiom of Art Blakey: solid rhythms, fast walks, sharp unison heads, long structured solos and dynamics rising and falling with the solo changes. John plays challenging solos in the style of Coltrane. Good, authentic, inventive stuff; in and out of the harmonies, all over the beat, and lots of impassioned sounds. Miro was a bit of a surprise to me. I usually picture his playing in the context of Wunderlust rather than in a bop-style, but he did this admirably well. Sharp playing, fast runs, clean playing. Bill and Ed are students (only 2nd year, I think, but it doesn’t show). Ed’s playing with great confidence these days – he was lively and busy and relevant both this night and the night before with the large ensembles. Bill has a great reputation. Just the other day, someone was praising his 300bpm walks at a recent concert practice. He put down a solid and reliable undercurrent, and played interesting solos, and fitted comfortably with Ed. This was a nice band, presumably put together for the night but very capable.

The Sydney import in the second set was obviously awaited with anticipation by the CSM students. They have been saying for some time (in awe, it seemed to me) that Gerard Masters was coming for the next White Eagle session. This was no let down. It was a sublime performance by a piano master with an elite pair of offsiders. Gerard Masters has been selected to contest the Piano prize at this year’s Wangaratta Festival, and we could see why.

The trio was Gerard Masters (piano), Cameron Undy (bass) and Dave Goodman (drums). Again, the music was mostly band originals by Gerard, but included one from Cameron’s sister, Fiona, and another by Sean Wayland. This was subtle and complex music. There was a good deal of swing at times, but it also had Euro elements; no II-Vs here. Gerard plays incredibly mobile interpretations of the harmonic structure. His substitute chordal work is constant, ongoing and convincing; sometimes hard-on soloing, other times gentle and intuitive. Cameron is also a master in this style. He could freely move over the fingerboard, but he’d play simply, then intersperce with incredibly fast and complex little runs. He’s a master of that fingerboard: fast and comfortable and always appropriate. And Dave was there with a big grin, and similarly relevant playing. Dave’s grin was a bit of a symbol for the band – they communicated well, enjoyed each others’ playing, and it showed. But to me, the defining issue was how they could portray the essence of a tune. They were not just running chords, but voicing the very character and meaning of the pieces they were playing. They are trained - that’s clear - but I was surprised by their young age and real musical maturity. These are guys to watch. Too bad about the poorly-tuned piano, but nothing in life is perfect.

Both these concerts were recorded by Chris Deacon of ArtSound, so they should appear on radio in coming weeks.

Big Band, Commercial Ensemble, whatever…

I’m at a loss. I remember hearing the Recording Ensemble several times in the last few years, and thinking their music was contemplative, sublime and clearly my preference amongst the larger ensembles at the CSM. Then a few nights back, CSM Big Band and the Commercial Band performed together, and now I’m not so sure. The Big Band started off the show; how I loved the insistent swing of Basie and standards and the more modern styles like Bob Mintzer. Then the Commercial Ensemble showed; it blew us out with funky styles and hard, clamourous bop and pop.

So, it was a great night at the Big Band Room at the Jazz School. There were lots of musicians on stage, and a good sized audience to view them, probably lots of friends and family. We were in for another night of big ensemble jazz. We’ve been lucky with these bands in Canberra recently – Bob Mintzer, Mothership, now this.

John Mackey introduced the Big Band. As its leader/tutor, he’s moved the Big Band over recent years to more modern charts, and even managed to get Bob Mintzer over to lead a performance of his own charts just weeks back. This is a band of about 18 players at any one time (there are several changes during the night, esp on drums, bass and piano). The lineup is piano, bass, drums, guitar, 4xtrumpets, 5xsaxes/flutes, 4xtrombones, and vocals. On the night, the charts covered modern (including Bright lights, Original people and Latin dance by Bob Mintzer), the Basie-style Hayburner, L.O.V.E., a great old standard with vocals, and an original by Jenna Cave, an advanced student at the CSM who is composing some very interesting and mature tunes. There were good solos all around. Again, I found some hard to hear – there’s plenty of volume in such a large ensemble, especially when the rhythm section gets worked up, or the brass provides fills, and individual players can easily get lost. I loved the changing tonalities as lines moved between sweet flutes, sinuous saxes, smooth troms and spluttering trumpets, the real excitement in Latin dance, and the sublime swing in L.O.V.E. I must say, it was great to hear a voice, too. Madeline Hawkes always seems to fully commit herself to the tunes she sings - so much so that I even enjoyed Moondance, which is not a favourite of mine (otherwise, Madeline sings along with the trumpet lines as a member of that section). So by interval, I’d fallen in love with big band standards and swing again.

Then the Commercial Band arrived. They are a smaller and more punchy affair. Eric Ajaye led on bass (Eric is also the leader/tutor), with drums, piano, guitar, vocals, 2xtrombone, 2xtrumpet, 1xtenor and 1xalto. This was fun, loud, pushy, funky. The band started with a hard-hitting version of Naima (you wouldn’t call this version “sublime”) and moved on to Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard. This band had a singer too. Sophie Leslie sang Billy Joel’s New York state of mind, and later Boplicity. I’m not sure if the words of Boplicity were original, but they were fast. Otherwise, Sophie also sang horn lines. Then Eric introduced the David Letterman theme, and opined on the great musos playing for that show, followed by a 70s-style funk tune called Old School. So, slap bass, hot walks, screaming guitars and synth and horn solos. This was fun. By the end of the night, I’d changed my opinion again: I’d decided the commercial funk style was my favourite.

One thing I noticed on the night was how effective were the female singers (Madeline and Sophie) singing lines with the trumpets. They gave a lovely sweet aspect to the harsher trumpet sounds, and they were surprisingly audible despite the volume of the trumpets. And, of course, how easily we forget the beauty of the voice, and how it makes music so much more personable – in other words, I loved hearing singing in this context.

I don’t have all the names, but solos were played by a whole string of players on the night: James LeFevre (tenor), Luke Sweeting and Mike Azzopardi (piano), Sebastian Macintosh and Alistair Clark (trombone), Jono Apps (trumpet), Carl Morgan and Daniel Hunter (guitar), Michael Cleaver (alto), Ed Rodriguez (drums), Eric Ajaye (bass). (If I missed any solos, I apologise; just email me).

So what’s my favourite of the CSM large ensembles now? Just at the moment, it’s the Commercial Ensemble, but that happens to also be the last one I’ve heard. So I can’t promise my preferences won’t change again after each performance at Moruya.

The bands are playing at the Moruya and Wangaratta Festivals over coming weeks. So catch them if you can. They are wonderfully capable and entertaining ensembles.