Phil Broadhurst is a regular at the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) just as he was at the ‘London Bar’ in its hey day.   He is also the compiler and presenter of the well-known Jazz radio slot ‘The Art of Jazz’.  His last album titled ‘Delayed Reaction’ was well received and shortlisted in the Jazz Tui Awards.  It was dedicated to the music of Michel Petrucciani, the diminutive and wonderfully brilliant French pianist whose life was blighted by ‘brittle bone syndrome’.  That project was obviously a labour of love, as Phil had long been immersed in Petrucciani’s music.  The album, (out on IA-Rattle), outlined a very personal journey for Phil and while showcasing the project about New Zealand he must have pondered ‘what next’?   The what-next is ‘Flaubert’s Dance’.

From ‘Delayed Reaction’ it was a logical step to examine other artists who had influenced him and for whom he had a deep affinity.  Not all are pianists but all take a pianistic approach to their music.  All are currently at the top of their game.  The compositions on ‘Flauberts Dance are all Phil Broadhurst’s and they are dedicated to the following musicians:  Herbie Hancock, Manu Katche, Enrico Pieranunzi, Eliane Elias, Kieth Jarrett and Tomasz Stanko.   What these artists have in common is striking originality, a modern approach to harmony and the fact that none of them are easy to compartmentalise.  They are consequently quite different from each other.    A Tomasz Stanko tune and a Manu Katche tune could hardly be confused even though they have worked together.  

It is obvious from the above list that Phil often reaches outside of the Americas for musical inspiration.  While Jarrett and Hancock have influenced most modern pianists their ubiquitous presence tends to eclipse others of equal importance.   It is therefore fitting that the latin infused Brazilian born Eliane Elias and the two Europeans give counterweight to the North Americans.   The composition ‘First Shot’ dedicated to Hancock looks at a particular tune rather than the scope of his career to date.   I truly like this number as it has the distinct feel of a European or an Antipodean acknowledging Herbies work, not an American.

Phil has had no trouble in assembling top class musicians for the album and with Roger Manins (tenor sax), Olivier Holland (bass)  and Cameron Sangster (drums) his quartet had depth and experience.   He also enlisted trumpeter Mike Booth for three numbers.

The title track on the album is dedicated to the scandalously underrated and utterly brilliant Italian Pianist Enrico Pieranunzi.   This track ‘Flaubert’s Dance’ had everyone listening in rapt silence and even though the club filled to bursting point you could have heard a  pin drop.  With unerring accuracy he has dived right into the essence of the man he pays homage to.   The voicings, the phrasing and a unique sense of weightless swing that is so European.  When Roger Manins comes in the Pieranunzi connection deepens.  Bringing to mind the Italian tenor player Stefano de Anna who along with Hein Van de Geyn featured so strongly on the classic Pieranunzi album ‘Don’t Forget the Poet’.  

Tenor player Roger Manins always gives of his best and he showed us once again that he can wring deep sentiment and even prettiness out of ballads while never sounding cliched.  In the mid tempo tunes he imparts that intensity and locomotive drive that he is so well-known for.  When the tunes are explorations, it is only fitting to have a born story-teller like Roger onboard.  Olivier Holland (bass) has often played in Phil Broadhurst line ups and his approach is that of the consummate professional.   These days it is not uncommon to hear bass players vocalising lines an octave above the pitch.   Once the preserve of Major Holley and Slam Stewart, Oli has increasingly been employing that technique (but not so much arco bass).   His improvisational approach has always been solid but the vocalising appears to extend that.   It is perhaps like a saxophone player having the words of a standard firmly in their head as they lay down the melody.   It changes the dynamic in positive ways.   Cameron Sangster (drums) works across many genres and he is one of the few drummers to appear regularly with big bands in Auckland.   He has a strong sense of space and dynamics and can switch to a more colourist mode if the number requires that.   He is also able to moderate his sound to a room.   A tasteful drummer.  The remaining band member is trumpeter Mike Booth who played on three numbers.  His soloing and ensemble work is great and musicians about town are often utilising him for his impressive and varied skills.   He and Roger in lock-step are a force to behold.   Both the quartet and quintet gave Phil Broadhurst adequate room to shine and he did.

What: The Phil Broadhurst Quartet

Who: Phil Broadhurst (piano), Roger Manins (tenor sax), Olivier Holland (bass), Cameron Sangster (drums) – guest Mike Booth (trumpet).

Where and What: ‘Fauberts Dance’ album released by Rattle Records  -   CJC (Creative Jazz Club) basement 1885 Brittomart building, Auckland

Number filmed by Jennie Sol

The Auckland Jazz gigs during Jazz April have been high quality (see last four posts).  Above all they have encompassed the breadth of improvised music.  Song FWAA from Australia was therefore a perfect choice to round off a smorgasbord of tasty events.  They (Song FWAA) are quite possibly the illegitimate love children of ‘Sun Ra‘ and while no DNA evidence has validated that theory the lineage is manifest in their music.

As a scene matures listening ears get tweaked through exposure to new sounds.  The demand for a wider range of musical experiences follows that.   This doesn’t happen by accident.  It begins with musicians stepping into uncharted territory and ends with the listener reacting.  The mere mention of ‘adventurous music’ can cause cold sweats from venue management and all the more so if an ‘out’ gig is proposed.  Happily for us Roger Manins of the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) takes some risks  and as the club audiences continue to grow that policy is vindicated.  It is the job of artists to confront or challenge and listeners should welcome this.  Settling for bland entertainment leads to musical confection, not jazz, not art.  Some people are perfectly happy leading the lush life in some small piano bar, but that is not where the music develops.  Improvised music is as much about audience engagement as about performing and without the feedback loop a musical project would become an unheard conversation between band members.  Those who heard Song FWAA, heard edge, originality and musical humour so cunning that no weasel could better it.  

The band has garnered rave revues around Australia and their 2011 album ‘Ligeti’s Goat’ is highly recommended.  If you listen to the album you feel that you are listening to a much bigger unit.  At first this seems attributable to the rhythm instrument, which is of the guitar family but quite different in timbre.  This is a specially made 8 string ‘Frame’ played by David Reaston.  The voicings, pickups and pedals used (i.e Moog pedal) give it distinct and very different sound.  Not loud but other-worldly; a strangely subtle sound that can impart real richness.

Martin Kay plays alto saxophone and although this is a standard instrument he also manages to coax a range of different sounds from it.  Martins multi-phonics and extended techniques give depth to the performance, just as drummer Jamie Cameron’s colourist approach and extended drum technique added depth.  At the end of the evening I felt that the musicianship more than the instrumentation created this special groove.

The gig (and the album) was replete with compositional parables about animals and their epic adventures.   Martin is adept at telling these tales; which have a ‘Hunter S Thompson’ quality about them.   ‘Ligeti’s Goat‘ the title track for instance explores the eating-cycle of a goat.   “Tonight” said Martin, “we will only be playing the second section – ‘digesting carrots’ ”.   Another number was a moving tribute to a peripatetic Polar Bear.  To quote from the liner notes regarding the tune ‘Olefeig’ (AKA that which should not be shot): ‘Documents the transformation of scenery through the eyes of a Polar Bear, drifting on a shard of ice from Greenland to Iceland, where his destiny finds a bullet’.    

A number titled ‘Mugwump‘ was most enjoyable.  The gist of the introduction by Martin was that Aliens had come to earth to seek Moroccan desert fuel and somehow this referenced William Burroughs and the Dogon people of neighbouring Mali.  He had me hooked as soon as he mentioned Morocco and Burroughs.

Song FWAA’s  music is at times ‘free’ and at other times working long ostinato grooves.   This moving ‘outside’ one minute and then playing ‘inside’ or following a melodic hook to its conclusion works.  The group has something to say and they say it with genuine originality.  I hope that they come back soon and share more animal sagas with us.

Their promo material describes them as the ‘wrong band for the right people’.  I love that descriptor, but the one sour note struck was their failure to paint their faces ‘Art Ensemble of Chicago Style’ for the gig.   This is how their webpage profile shows them and we are mature enough in NZ to handle that.  As Roger Manins says, ‘truth in advertising is at the heart of jazz’.  I have no idea what that means but we do love face paint.

What & Who: ‘Song FWAA‘ – Martin Kay (alto sax), David Reaston (frame guitar), Jamie Cameron (drums). Buy the album from www.songfwaa.com

Where: CJC (Creative Jazz Club), 1885 Building, Brittomart Auckland 24th April 2013

This was a CJC Jazz April gig

I am writing this on International Jazz Day and reflecting on the diversity of improvised music occurring in my city of Auckland, New Zealand.  We have straight ahead Jazz, free improvised music and everything in between.  For me a livable community is better defined by its relationship to the arts than by any other measure.  Having venues like ‘The Wine Cellar’ and the ‘CJC (Creative Jazz Club)’ is at the heart of this relationship, for that is where artistic experimentation and community interactions occur.

There is a tendency to compartmentalise music and it is the way humans like to view the world.  These subdivisions are sometimes unhelpful but in the end the meanings we invest in the descriptors are largely subjective.  I agree with the premise of semiotician, writer (and experimental Jazz liner notes author) Umberto Ecco.  His viewpoint is that humans feel compelled make endless lists in order to plot their way through a chaotic world.  It is a way of remembering ancient pathways, while embarking upon new and often scary ones.  In the world of improvised music the riskier path is always taken and the charts are abandoned at some point.  This music embraces the chaos and seeks out new patterns and motifs, however fleeting.  Using charts (whether Braxton like or traditional notation) the form is merely the starting point.  In this way both ancient & future are embraced.

The K’Party Spoilers of Utopia (formerly T’Party Spoilers of Utopia) is a nonet led by vibist, tenor horn player and musical explorer John Bell.   His vision has been the guiding force for this extraordinary grouping of musicians and it is respect for him that spurs them on.  I have known John for less than a year and I find him an immensely likeable and down to earth person.  Beneath that matter of fact exterior lurks a keen mind, teaming with profound musical insights.  I have read and re-read his exegesis on the Albert Ayler legacy and his views on alternative music are well-developed and worthy of examination.   Like all musicians he has many facets to his character.   When I asked him recently how long he had been a musician he casually replied, “quite a long while, but at one point I abandoned music for motorcycle racing”.   “Do you still race motorbikes” I asked incredulously.  ”Definitely not he said”.  I wanted to probe him further on this fascinating topic but the conversation turned back to music.   On reflection I cannot think of a better career path for an avant-garde musician than motor cycle racing.  Both are high-wire acts.   I am wondering now if I imagined the whole exchange. Time will tell.  

I’ve been aware of the ‘Spoilers’ for a year or more and have seen them play on a number of occasions.  The collective began as a vehicle to explore Albert Ayler’s legacy and for a while you could hear brassy interpretations of the ‘The Truth Goes Marching In’ or other compositions by Ayler.  There is however no such thing as a cover band of free Jazz offerings and band was always centred around John’s own compositions or his interpretations of Salvation Army and various evangelical hymns.  In more recent times the repertoire has evolved to include compositions by band members.  With John on hand to arrange, contribute his own charts and encourage, the project has finally been shaped into the ‘Spoilers of Utopia’  album.  There are so many good compositions and vignettes in this music that singling out the individual musicians for praise would be a Herculean task.  I can only congratulate them all and hope that there is more to come.

I have seen the band described as the purveyors of ‘apocalyptic’ sounds or ‘tongue in cheek’.  I am not so sure about that, as there is is both structure and chaos in their music.  The familiar sits comfortably with the unruly and the sweet with the sour.  That sounds more like modern life than doom and gloom.   Out of the completely free you will hear snatches of raw beauty and just as quickly the beauty dissolves into dissonance.   I would call that a Zen koan – Life is a deadly serious stupidly happy joke.

There is no crying  declamatory saxophone voice on this album (as there would be with an Ayler recording).   This is a brassy sound closer to the military bands and to the street bands of the church militant.  Any analysis of New Zealand’s colonial history will reveal a proliferation of such bands.  Add in a Moog, squeeze horns and a skittering electric guitar and you have arrived at the Spoilers doorstep, Jazz April 2013.  This is a manifestation of avant-garde New Zealand.

The Wine Cellar (Vitamin ‘S’) is a place for experimental and improvised music and under the watchful eye of out-guru Jeff Henderson it flourishes against all commercial odds.   It is like the CJC located in a basement and in this case, deep in the bowels of Karangahape Road.   Visit the website and call by some night.   The music is can be utterly ‘free’ or follow a more structured pathway.   It is always experimental though and improvisation is at its core.

John Bell left New Zealand for Korea two days after the album release gig, our loss.  He will be sorely missed in New Zealand but the music goes marching on.  We have a lot to hear from his band mates yet and I am already picking up whispers of new projects.

What: ‘Spoilers of Utopia’ Album release gig.  To purchase a copy visit iii xv or the ‘Spoilers of Utopia‘ FB site

Where: The Wine Cellar – Vitamin ‘S’ St Kevin’s Arcade off K’Road

Who: K’Party Spoilers of Utopia – led by John Bell (vibes, tenor horn, misc sounds), Finn Scholes (trumpet, flugal horn), Ben Zilber (trombone), Don McGlashan (euphonium), Neil Watson (guitar), Owen Melhuish (tuba), Darren Hannah (double bass), Chris O’Connor (drums), Kingsley Melhuish (trumpet, flugal horn, trombone, tuba) + Cameron Allen (Moog), Gerard Crewdson (trombones), Jacob Unuia (pau), L J Unuia (pate), Tua Meti (pati)

This has been a Jazz April gig

Jazz was famously described by Whitney Balliett as the ‘sound of surprise’.    This is at the very essence of improvised music as it strives to unravel, reveal, polish and at times shock.   What you think you know is often challenged and this confrontation is the primary role of art and improvised music.  When a familiar tune is reinterpreted and presented afresh it’s pleasing (if done well), but there are many ways that music can surprise.  What we sometimes hear is an aggregation of profound subtleties and that is harder to define.  We need ears attuned to nuance and a memory capable of recalling just what has preceded these vignettes.   It is in these less obvious corners that we often find the most profound of revelations.

The Kevin Field trio (plus guest) appeared at the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) on the 17th April.  This was an important CJC/Jazz April event.  Everyone on the New Zealand Jazz scene is familiar with Kevin Field the pianist, composer, teacher, and gifted accompanist.  He delivers and so good sized crowds turn up.

Kevin had earlier humped his Fender Rhodes down into club and it sat nestled respectfully against the grand piano.   The bass was lying on its side like an expectant whale and the drum kit was sparkling out of the gloom.  Behind the drum kit you could barely make out the image of a guitar on a stand.  Those gifted with 20-20 vision would have discerned that this was a Godin Guitar which can only mean one thing in Auckland; Dixon Nacey would be sitting in for a few numbers.

When Kevin Field and his trio filed to the band stand I experienced a tinge of anticipation.  I had been looking forward to the gig because Kevin Field never settles for a mediocre performance and he is certainly no journeyman.  With Cameron McArthur on bass and Stephen Thomas on drums we hoped for sparks.  While Kevin often appears in support of others, or fronts bigger lineups he had not brought a piano trio to the club for a quite a while.

What happened next caught me quite off guard and perhaps it shouldn’t have.   When you rate an artist highly you can easily fall into the trap of thinking that you know everything about them and that is plain foolish.  There is also something about the CJC that urges musicians reach deep and many visiting artists have commented on that.  The CJC is more than just a benign space, it is an enabling one.  A performance space that says to an artist, ‘there I’ve created the ambiance for you, now make it happen’.   It would take a subterranean ‘Feng Shui’ specialist to analyse this phenomenon .

The Kevin Field that we saw perform was quite extraordinary.   It is hard to put into words but he approached the keyboards with such confidence and invention that was almost supernatural.   At times I thought that I heard hints of Hamp Hawes or the modern Europeans (rich, spacious and original), but mostly I heard Kevin Field, alive to the moment and brim full of fresh ideas.  His voice is definitely post Herbie Hancock and it engages with the realities of the post millennial world.   This is a voice that marks Kevin Field out as an original stylist.

The numbers were all originals and while a few were written for his recent ‘Warners’ album ‘Field of Vision’  (shortlisted for a Tui award), many were new to me.   They came bundled up with stories and anecdotes and to see Kevin in the role of raconteur was delightful.  When commenting on his second number of the evening ‘Complex Blue’, he told us that it was written with a Simply Red cover-band in mind.  ”Complex Blue could be a new type of Simply Red cover-band who would play everything but Simply Red tunes, thus giving them a broader repertoire”.  The hilariously improbable tall stories and the incredible music made this a perfect evening of Jazz.   I asked Kevin later if he had plans to record this new material and he indicated that he would be doing so shortly.   If he captures half of what we experienced it will be well worth buying.

Cameron McArthur (bass) has experienced a meteoric rise to prominence and he has achieved this while still a student at the Auckland University School of Jazz.  I can clearly recall his first tentative performance steps.  Confidence, chops  and musicality have become the default for him now and he is increasingly accompanying our best musicians.    Stephen Thomas has been studying drums and performing at a high level for some time and he was an obvious choice for Kevin.   We are seeing more and more of what he is capable of and as with Cameron there will be a lot more yet.  This band works exceptionally well together and while Kevin is clearly in control as leader there is plenty of room for the others to shine.  

In guest slot was Dixon Nacey.  A guitarist who attracts superlatives and accolades as few others do.  He always injects that special ‘Dix’ quality into a performance; brilliance tinged with unalloyed happiness.

Sometimes when the stars align the gods of music breathe extra life into a performance.   When this occurs, those who are there feel incredibly fortunate and vow never to forget it.  This was such a night.

Because this was the main CJC – Jazz April gig night the audience learned what the month stands for, who’s involved and why it is important.  Everyone was challenged to do three things, (1) visit and ‘like’ the JJA Jazz April pages and International Jazz Day site (2) bring one or more friends to future gigs and spread the word (3) Hug and thank a Jazz musician tonight and in the following days.  By sharing and growing this wonderful music we will see it survive.

This has been a Jazz April Event;  visit the Jazz Journalists Association Web Site and JJA Facebook page, plus International Jazz Day page and all of the Jazz April gig review pages on this JazzLocal32.com site.   Please ‘like’ all sites as it helps.

What: Kevin Field Trio (plus guest) -Kevin Field (piano and fender rhodes), Cameron McArthur (bass), Stephen Thomas (drums), guest Dixon Nacey (guitar)

Where and When:  CJC (Creative Jazz Club) 1885 building, Brittomart, Auckland. April 17th 2013

It is always great to see the renowned tenor player Brian Smith performing in the intimate space of the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) and whenever he plays older and newer fans turn up to see him.   While it is tempting to refer to him as being ‘seasoned’ or ‘an elder statesman’, any notion of that has a built-in redundancy factor.   He is a ball of energy and ageless on the bandstand.

Brian has played with so many great artists over his long career that it would chew up serious bandwidth to enumerate even half of them.  Being a member of the Maynard Ferguson band and numerous other well-known line-ups saw him playing across the world.    His co-led genre stretching ‘Nucleus’ (with Ian Carr) won the top European band award at the Montreux Jazz Festival (1970).  Since returning to New Zealand to settle (if a musician ever really does that) he has worked on numerous film scores and put out some well received (and commercially successful) albums.  

Accompanying him on the 10th April gig were Kevin Field (piano), Kevin Haines (bass) and Frank Gibson Jr (drums).    With this particular lineup he could dive deeper into his favoured repertoire of Hard Bop Jazz standards (with a few originals thrown in).  When ‘Footprints’ was played Brian Smith approached the warhorse in an interestingly oblique manner; giving us a tune that contained the merest hint of familiarity and a large dollop of brooding mystery.  This was a highpoint of the sets and a good example of how good musicians can extract new wine from old bottles.  The introduction began with a very personalised statement on tenor which caught the attention while offering no insight into where it was going.  Then out of nowhere the melody was stated, only to disappear as quickly as it had appeared; merged in probing re-haromonisations and oblique explorations.

The tunes of Wayne Shorter have remained perennially popular with Jazz audiences and they are constantly being reworked and updated.  I have heard two versions of ‘Footprints’ performed in recent weeks and both mixed the familiar with the the new.  These re-workings of familiar tunes have always been the bread & butter of Jazz and in the case of reworked ‘Footprints,’ Wayne Shorter sets the bar high.  I saw him perform this in Verona, Italy a few years ago and after laying out a pathway to the melody he suddenly plunged us into a world of elision; forcing us to fill in the gaps as we listened.  A familiar tune floating between chasms of crystalline emptiness; a tune more implied than played.   I have posted a You Tube clip of the Brian Smith band playing  ’Footprints’  at the 10th April CJC gig.

Accompanying Brian on piano was Kevin Field who is so well-respected about town that he is a real drawcard in his own right.   I have often mentioned his ability to add value to any band he plays with and this night was no exception (A post on his April 17th gig will be up shortly).  On bass was Kevin Haines who is not only the most experienced bass player about town but one of the best.  lastly there was Frank Gibson Jr on drums who is another respected and talented veteran Jazz identity about Auckland.     Frank Gibson Jr, Kevin Field and Kevin Haines have all appeared recently leading groups.  These guys will always impress and they proved that on this gig.

This particular CJC gig fitted in perfectly with the wider Jazz April ethos which is about profiling Jazz & Improvised music in all its diversity.    The month had kicked off with a co-led trio featuring guitar, bass and drums (all original music by Samsom/Nacey/Haines), A few days later we saw Nathan Haines at the ‘Q’ Theatre (a tentet complete with French horns and vibes) – a few days after that the Auckland ‘Jazz & Blues club’ featured a gig with a Caribbean-Jazz ensemble. The Kevin Field trio on the 17th.  Auckland benefits from a rich sonic diversity and clubs like the CJC, The Auckland Jazz & Blues Club and Vitamin ‘S’ deserve our ongoing support.  The month of Jazz April will conclude with two avant-garde bands (one local, the ‘Kparty Spoilers of Utopia’) at Vitamin ‘S’ on the 23rd at 8pm and one visiting from Australia (Song FWAA) which is a CJC gig on the 24th at 8pm.   This is a cornucopia of riches and not one of these gigs should be missed.  Note: The Vitamin ‘S’ gig is the last chance to see John Bell vibist, who departs for Korea on Thursday.

Who: the Brian Smith Quartet – Brian Smith (tenor), Kevin Field (piano), Kevin Haines (bass), Frank Gibson Jr (drums)

Where and When: The CJC (Creative Jazz Club), 1885 Building, Brittomart 10th April 2013

This is a Jazz April 2013 gig : links Jazz April or Jazz Journalists Assn FB page.

After the success of ‘Poets Embrace’ it is hardly surprising that Nathan Haines new album ‘Vermillion Skies’ has climbed so high in the charts.   The album was the fifth best selling New Zealand album the last time I looked and this happened within days of its release by Warners.  For a modern Jazz album anywhere to achieve this success is unprecedented.  This has followed hot on the heals of ‘Poets Embrace’ winning the Tui Awards ‘Best Jazz Album of 2012′. 

Anyone who knows Nathan will hardly be surprised to learn of his obsessive commitment to the last two projects.  His approach has been Ghandalf like, as it involved a long period of woodshedding, an epic journey in search of analogue equipment and a reconciliation with the gods of past times.  While Poets Embrace plumbed the depths of Coltrane’s vocabulary, Vermillion Skies has opened up the perspective and tapped into the wider ethos of 1950′s Jazz.  What Vermillion Skies is not however is a cosy journey down memory lane.

It is about examining the epiphanies and sounds of the 50′s era and interpreting them with modern sensibilities.  With the exception of one number, these are fresh compositions; a happy synthesis between past and present.  Deliberately retro though is the analogue recording methodology.  A one-take take approach and sound augmented by the use of reverb (not using a plate).

I followed the Vermillion Skies project from its inception and because I was in contact with the musicians via Face Book it was not difficult to keep abreast of progress.  Alain Koetsier was returning from China, Nathan was returning from the UK and to use ‘GCSB speak’ there was a heightened level of ‘chatter’ about town.

Their fist gig was at the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) and at this point the tunes had never been aired before.   Some tunes were in embryonic form and they had only been rehearsed briefly.  We were a focus group Nathan informed us; musical crash test dummies.  The audience loved the gig but they knew that even better was to come.  

A month later the musicians and veteran London Producer Mike Patto headed into the York Street studios to cut the tracks.  The album was recorded in around two days of mostly live takes.  To obtain an authentic reverb sound Nathan used the studio car-park, which is a huge cavernous brick building, resembling a stripped out Victorian cathedral.  The neighbours in the posh Edwardian apartments next to the studio lacked the cool to appreciate this innovation.  The reverberating horns made one of them complain (in tears) as the fulsome brassy sounds echoed across Parnell rise.

A few weeks after the recording Nathan contacted me and asked if I would interview him at York Street for the promotional video.   I turned up a few hours before the appointed time and asked Jeremy (who runs the studio) if I could hear the masters.  Hearing the material in its final form and in that space was a revelation.  I quizzed Jeremy and Nathan about aspects of recording.  I learned that the piano was isolated in a booth, but the drums and horn section were in the larger space with the saxophone.  When it came to the vocals the band went home; those tracks were recorded without onlookers.

Nathan has sung on a previous album but he readily admits that it is not his comfort zone.   It interested me that he didn’t have the same degree of confidence in his singing abilities as his voice is simply superb.   In my view it compares favourably with Mark Murphy’s.  The charts are well written and the hooks in ‘Navareno Street’ are so powerful that I am still hearing them in my head weeks later.

Interviewing Nathan Haines is a pleasure as he is knowledgeable, articulate and expansive when prompted.   Because he is across his topic he can talk at length about the minutia of the project, but what was surprising was they way he allowed me to discuss his vulnerabilities.  His warmth and often self-effacing commentary gave the interview an added depth.

On April 9th the official launch occurred at the ‘Q’ Theatre in Queen Street Auckland.  The tickets sold out quickly.  The theatre is well suited for such a performance as it has the space, sight-lines and well padded surfaces.  This enabled good sound control.  Unlike the CJC gig, there were twelve musicians appearing (not quite the full album line-up which had a 15 piece band on one track).   The first half featured the basic quartet with a few guest artists such as brother Joel Haines on guitar and two others.  Joel can channel the rock god thing while fitting perfectly into a Jazz ensemble.   His sound is modern but his lines are Jazz.  Also on stage was John Bell the multi talented vibist.  John Bell’s contribution added texture and depth.  He does not rely on heavy vibrato, favouring a more minimalist approach.  I reflected that I had last seen him in a decidedly avant-garde setting.   This was far from Albert Ayler but as always his musicianship impressed.  Mike Booth (lead trumpet in the horn section) also appeared in the first half.   Mike Booth has a clean tone on trumpet and flugal and is the go to guy for anything involving horn sections or Jazz orchestras.  His sight-reading skills are as impressive as his performance skills.

by John Chapman

In the second set, a six piece horn section joined in and the arranger Wayne Senior conducted the ten piece band.   Wayne Senior is part of the history of New Zealand Jazz and he is especially renowned for his work with TV and Radio orchestras.  His ensemble arranging is legendary.  The six piece horn-section was two French horns, Two trumpet/flugal horns, a trombone and a bass trombone.

I love nonets and tentets as they have a big sound while leaving room for a band to breathe.   The textural qualities of this tentet and the rich voicings were particularly noteworthy.  ’Frontier West’ (by Nathan Haines) left the audience gasping in delight as the ‘Birth of the Cool’ vibe in modern clothing gave us a rare treat.  Such wonders are seldom heard in this country.  The last item (and the only tune not written by Nathan) was the aching beautiful ballad ‘Lament’ by J. J. Johnson.   The best known version of this is on the ‘Miles Ahead’ album.  That Gil Evans arrangement involves a 20 piece orchestra.  Wayne Senior re-arranged this for tentet and the results are amazing.  Nathan caught every nuance of the tune as he built his improvisation around the rich voicings.   I am in no doubt that the ‘Lament’ on ‘Vermillion Skies’ compares favourably with the best historic versions (Miles, JJ Johnson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk).

The performances on the album and at the various gigs have all been different.  This is because it is Jazz where ‘you never play anything the same way once’ and because there have been personnel changes along the way.  As leader and player, Nathan Haines always seems to squeeze that bit extra out of each performance.  His intense focus on the tenor of late has been good for him and good for us as his approach to this material while fluid, never looses its edge.   He is arriving at that enviable place where people will say after one bar, “oh….that has to be Nathan Haines”.

Kevin Field and Nathan go back a long way and their chemistry is evident.  Kevin is the pianist of choice for many local and visiting bands.  As an accompanist he never looses sight of what an accompanist is there for.  He can shine during the piano solos, but his fills, deftly placed chords and subtle comping speak to his other strengths.  It was often necessary for him to keep out-of-the-way of the other instruments (such as the horn section which occupied a register that he would normally utilise).  Drummer Alain Koetsier returned to New Zealand for the recording and his drum chops and musicality had not subsided during his sabbatical away from Jazz performance.   He is a fine musician and sorely missed on the Auckland scene now that he resides in China.   The bass player Ben Turua is also rock solid on the recording.   I have heard him play often but never better than here.  Sadly he has since departed for Sydney, where he will no doubt flourish as do many Kiwi Jazz expats.

The departure of Alain Koetsier and Ben Turua left a gap and so the original recording lineup was amended for the gigs to include Stephen Thomas on drums and Cameron MacArthur on bass.  I cannot speak highly enough of Stephen Thomas.  He has been on the scene for a few years and if anyone was going to fill Alain’s shoes it would be him.  He is a hard-working young drummer who demonstrates his passion and skill every time he sits at the kit.   The other replacement was Cameron McArthur who is still a student at Auckland university.   This was a big step up for him and he took it with ease.   His bass solo at the ‘Q’ Theatre brought a huge applause and like Stephen Thomas we can expect great things of him.

This album marks another high watermark in New Zealand Jazz as it is brave enough to confront the past without being captured by it.  Nathan Haines is heading back to London in a few weeks and we can’t begrudge him that.   His ascendency offshore is our gain and we should never forget that these two great albums have been recorded in Auckland, New Zealand and with Kiwi musicians.

Who: The Nathan Haines Band.  Album – Nathan Haines (tenor sax, vocals, leader, composer). Kevin Field (piano), Ben Turua (bass) , Alain Koetsier (drums), Joel Haines (guitar – 2,5), Leon Stenning (guitars -5), Mickey Utugawa (Drums – 5), Mike Booth (lead trumpet, flugal), Paul Norman (trumpet, flugal), David Kay (French horn), Simon Williams (French horn), Haydn Godfrey (trombone), John Gluyas (bass trombone), John Bell (vibraphone 2-5), ‘Big’ Cody Wilkington (steel guitar, vocals, percussion – 5), Wayne senior (arranger, session/launch gig conductor). ‘Q’ Theatre and later gigs replace Koetsier with Stephen Thomas (drums), replace Ben Turua with Cameron McArthur (bass).

This is a Jazz April post – support Jazz April and International Jazz Day by visiting the Jazz Journalists Association website and JJA Facebook page

What & Where: ‘Vermillion Skies’ album gigs,  CJC (Creative Jazz Club) Brittomart, ‘Q’ Theatre Queen Street Auckland, various festivals and concerts.

Navareno Street audio clip:  

The first ‘Jazz April‘ gig was at the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) featuring the ‘Samsom/Nacey/Haines’ band. I can’t think of a better way to kick off Jazz April 2013 than by hearing seasoned musicians having fun, while at the same time stretching themselves as players and composers. The group formed in 2008 with the idea of providing a vehicle for new compositions. The outcome of these collaborations was an album named ‘Open to Suggestions‘ and later the 2010 ‘Oxide‘ album was released (with guests Kevin Field, Chris Melville, Neville Grenfell and Roger Manins). The albums have all been extremely well received with ‘Open to Suggestions‘ ending up as a finalist in the Tui Music Awards and ‘Oxide‘ (Rattle Records 2010) receiving critical acclaim from far & wide. The name ‘Oxide‘ arose from John Ruskin’s writings on crystals (artist, author, patron of the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood and proto-socialist philosopher). This album is still available in record shops or from Rattle Records and I highly recommend it.

It is hardly surprising that there was an expectation of a third album. The new release titled ‘Cross Now’ has no guest artists appearing. Left to bounce off each others ideas and in an uncluttered musical space, the three musicians made the most of the situation. This spirit of collaboration was particularly evident at the gig as they joked and constantly acknowledged each others skills while downplaying their own input. That is a very Kiwi thing and audiences take it as good form. No one would dare do this if they were uncomfortable with their performance. It is a matter of reading the cultural codes. When they were improvising, the interaction between players was both cerebral and intuitive. There were moments when they appeared as one entity.

As soon as the first set kicked off a sense of joy and playfulness emanated from the bandstand. Some the best music arises from joy and good humour; musicians tapping into an unconscious wellspring of creative goodwill and being at one with the world.

The material on ‘Cross Now’ is new and like ‘Oxide’ some tunes were only finished days before recording them (or even polished in the studio car park). This is Dixon Nacey’s forte; to write brilliant tunes in the eleventh hour. Someone told me that his ‘The Lion” was written on the way to the ‘Oxide‘ recording sessions. Kevin Haines informed us that Dixon’s moving tribute to the recently diseased and much-loved drummer Tony Hopkins, was likewise written days before the recording. The compositions represent the styles of the originators and even though the compositions are jointly attributed, it is possible to detect just whose hand has had the greatest influence over each number.

So often the back stories behind tunes can enrich a listening experience, but I am not sure how many musicians appreciate this fact. While it is true up to a point that the music should speak for itself, that liner notes or background stories are an added superfluity, that received wisdom obscures a deeper story. To many of us music is an experience extending way beyond the auditory senses. We pick up cues from the musicians movements, we absorb colours from the lights glancing off the instruments and we gain insights from the stories. To me improvised music is like a good film and a well shot film is like improvised music. A place to occupy empathetically for that one hyper-sensitised moment in time. No sensory input should therefore be denied.

Kevin Haines wrote ‘…With Eyes Averted…’ (which began with a poem about relationships) and this added a perspective to the tune that would not otherwise have been evident (I have posted a video of this which features Matt Bray on 2nd guitar) . His tune ‘Cross Now’ was about a particularly irritating crossing signal outside of a Tokyo hotel. In Kevin Haines hands the annoying beeps became a polyrhythmic pulse to build a tune upon. He also contributed ‘Broken Tones’.

Drummer Ron Samsom’s, ‘Happy Dance’ (a fast samba) was fabulous. Written about his dog, we could feel the exuberant bounding energy as the tune progressed. Ron Samsom had begun with the tongue in cheek announcement, “yes drummers write tunes too”. After ‘Happy Dance’ we heard ‘Seiko (in 13/8 time) and a ballad ‘Qua’. I heard someone murmur that drummers needed to write more tunes and in Ron’s case I agree (See You Tube Clip by Jen Sol).

Dixon’s contributions were ‘Song for Xavier’ (written for his son) and ‘Conversations with Mr Small’ which he explained as arising from, ” Well perhaps this won’t be such an interesting reason for title…ah…it is about my musical theory conversations with Dr Stephen Small”. In comedy and music, timing is everything and these guys had it down pat. The tune that we will never forget is Dixon Nacey’s moving tribute to the beloved and much lamented Jazz drummer Tony Hopkins. I found myself glancing at the places where Tony had sat and imagined him at the kit; knitting the band together in that particular way of his. This is the power of Jazz. The musicians interpret while we see, feel and hear a story unfold. The tune was, ‘The Remarkable Mr Hopkins’ and by the end a few of us were tearing up. From the bottom of my heart, thanks Dix.

The new album will be in the record outlets shortly, but your best bet is to contact Rattle online and order a copy.

Who: Samsom/Nacey/Haines (guest Matt Bray)

Where & When: The (CJC Creative Jazz Club) Brittomart 3rd April

This was a Jazz April event – visit the JJA Website by following this link.

John Fenton

On Wednesday 27th March several visitors arrived in town from Melbourne Australia.  Visitors but not strangers, because saxophone player Paul Van Ross has played in New Zealand four or five times previously and drummer Mark Lockett is an expat New Zealander, originally from Wellington.

These are very friendly guys.  Actually I find most Jazz musicians unfailingly cheerful and friendly.  It is unlikely that this good humour arises from job security or because they have just managed to upgrade the Porsche .  I stick cameras in their faces, ask searching questions during set breaks and pin them down for set lists when they are suffering from jet lag.   Instead being told to clear off they indulge me.  This goodwill must be pumped through the air conditioning unit of the CJC (Creative Jazz Club).  It is a place like ‘Cheers’ where everyone has a smile and ‘everybody knows your name’.

One of those who indulges me is Steve Garden of Rattle records.  A few weeks ago I received a tidy package of CD’s from him and among them was ‘The Buck Stops Here‘ led by Paul Van Ross.  I had a lot of material to write-up at the time and I was working on the ‘Jazz Month’ program with the Jazz Journalists Association.  I played my way slowly through the pile of releases as time allowed.  It was not until I had received the CJC newsletter that I realised that Paul Van Ross would be doing an album release there in three days.   I sorted through the CD’s and put it out to listen to but it was not until the day before the gig that it finally reached my Hi Fi.   It was a really great album and I played it through three times.

How had a missed this I thought.  This should have been one of the first things that I put on.  Apart from a John Zorn obsession, I also suffer from an excessive liking for B3 combos.  This album featured B3, guitar, drums and saxophone.  I listened over and again while the textures and compositions reeled me further in.  This is a very good example of the ‘new sound’ in organ/guitar/saxophone/drums.

Make no mistake, I love ‘chitlin circuit’ groove Jazz of the sort that Brother Jack, Joey ‘D’, Pat Martino, Wes and Grant Green created.  My friend Michel Benebig is a B3 master in this field and he can groove you to the depths of your soul.   That music will roll you out of bed and have you dancing like a fool before you gain your sea legs.

There is however another type of B3 sound and that reaches for new horizons.  Jamie Saft (Zorn’s Dreamers), Tom Watson (Manu Katche’s new album) and Dr Lonnie Smith (Jungle Soul album),  come to mind.    The music still has a deep groove but there are no locked in drums and this subtle loosening up of the vibe makes space for a particular type of guitar work and gives a horn some room for exploration.  This is a sound that absorbs influences from a diverse Jazz palette while still retaining a solid groove context.  The Paul Van Ross Trio (and quartet) are of this latter kind.  Their music draws on a wide spectrum of post and pre millennial Jazz; not just tugging at the heart and feet, but engaging the intellect as well.

Paul Van Ross is an exciting tenor player and I can’t help wondering if he studied under George Garzone.   There is something different about tenor players who have studied under Garzone and Paul fits that bill.  His rapid fire lines and fluidity never obscure the musical ideas that flow from his horn.  On ballads he could wring a tear from a walnut and when playing uptempo he navigates the terrain with ease.  His compositions are engaging.

The CJC launch gig employed a smaller lineup than on the album.   Organist Alan Brown subbed for Kim Kelaart on the New Zealand leg of the tour and he needs no introduction to New Zealand audiences.  Alan is another musician who takes the groove genre to new and exciting places.  His keyboard skills are legendary.   Choosing him was a sensible choice and while his style is a little different to Kelaart’s, it afforded Ross and Lockett opportunities to stretch out in different ways.  Mark Lockett is a delight as he imparts humour into everything he does.   His drumming is quirky in the best possible way and he is the drummer of choice for many bands.  Like Paul Van Ross and Alan Brown he has also recorded as leader.

The first track on the album is the title track ‘The Buck Stops Here”.  It was the first number up on the night (all of the material has been written by Ross).  On this track in particular Lockett’s contribution was noteworthy.  A solid New Orleans beat is laid down while edgy post-bop lines blow over that; the organ under Alan’s hands comps insistently in the background and this gave the tune a great feel.  I saw a ‘second line’ parade in San Francisco a few months ago and this particular drum beat tells that kind of story.  A story about a beat that bounced between the Americas and Africa until it became pure voodoo.  I like everything on this album and so choosing video clips was hard.   In the end I have opted for ‘The Buck Stops Here’ (filmed by Jenny Sol).   Other standout tunes from the album are ‘Swami in the House’ and the beautiful ballad “Uncle DJ’.  A number performed on the night but which is not on the album is ‘Break a Tune’ (filmed by John Fenton)

I must also mention the guitarist Hugh Stuckey who knows when to shine and when to merge into the mix.  His lines are clean and impressive, with an approach to melody that is modern.  This is the direction that Rosenwinkel and Moreno mapped out and it sits well with this lineup.   A guest guitarist Craig Fermanis appears on track one only.

You can buy the album now from ‘Rattle‘ at http://www.rattle.co.nz        I recommend it highly.

Who: Paul Van Ross trio; Paul Van Ross – tenor sax, Alan Brown – C3 hammond organ, Mark Lockett – drums ( add Hugh Stuckey and Craig Fermanis – album)

Where: The CJC (Creative Jazz Club) Auckland.

What: Album Release by ‘Rattle‘.

John Fenton

Notwithstanding the obvious resemblance between these grizzled old guys, Jazz April is no joking matter.   To avoid being an April Fool participate in as many Jazz April activities as you can.  Remember to ‘like‘ and ‘share‘ this and any other Jazz April pages that you come across.  Don’t monkey about; ape the trend-setters and brand your Face Book picture with a Jazz April badge like cousin Boris (left) and I (right) did.  This is a month set aside to promote and honour Jazz and its practitioners.  The best way of achieving this is by sharing our enjoyment with others.  If they see and hear what we experience they will want to participate.  Take the pledge and agree that you will visit as many Jazz events as possible during April.  If that is difficult you should at least participate online.

I have posted some logos which you should share indiscriminately.   If the internet slows down due to the volume of ‘shares‘ we will know that you have done your bit.  Think of it as a ‘Wikileaks’ for music lovers.  The world needs to know this secret. 

There will be hundreds of Jazz April celebrations occurring world-wide and the events will culminate in UNESCO’s  ’International Jazz Day‘ which is April 30th 2013.  The venue for the main Jazz Day event this year is Istanbul Turkey and Herbie Hancock is joined by a number of Jazz Luminaries like Hugh Masakela, Marcus Miller and Manu Katche.  If your city does not have an event planned you could consider hosting one.  If you do let me know and I will pass the information on to the Jazz Journalists Association.

In New Zealand the ‘Waiheke Jazz Festival’ and the ‘Tauranga Jazz Festival’ can be considered a good segue into Jazz April as they are both held over Easter weekend.  Auckland has a number of Jazz April events occurring and there will be a satellite party celebration at the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) during April.  Check out the CJC website as there is a good gig guide.

The best place to locate the logo badges and banners (twibbons) and to find out how best to participate, is to click on this link to the Jazz Journalists Associations Jazz April Website   or the   Jazz Journalist Jazz April Face Book page .    

In Auckland the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) will be featuring some spectacular Jazz April Gigs and we will be making a presentation to a few deserving local musicians at a JJA Satellite Party (date to be announced shortly).    The CJC line up so far is Nacey/Samsom/Haines (3rd April), Brian Smith Quartet (10th April), Kevin Field Trio (17th April) …more gigs to come.  For those who missed last years satellite party at the CJC, Roger Manins was inducted as a ‘Jazz Hero‘ by the Jazz Journalists Association.

A highlight event will be the Nathan Haines ‘Vermillion Skies’ album Release on the  6th April at the ‘Q Theatre’, Queen Street, Auckland.  This amazing album involves a number of our best-loved Jazz musicians and it will be a high point in the Auckland Jazz calendar.  Don’t miss this event or forget to buy the album (available in download/CD/vinyl).  

There will also be gigs at the ‘Ponsonby Social Club‘, the ‘Grand Central‘ (both in Ponsonby Road) and for experimental improvised music ‘The Wine Bar ‘Vitamin S‘ St Kevin’s Arcade, The Auckland Jazz and Blues Club (Tuesday evenings Pt Chevalier RSA), The ‘Titirangi Music Festival’ Titirangi Village (where the Alan Brown band is playing in the ‘Tool Room” on Friday the 5th April@ 7: 30pm).

Jazz April is now a world-wide event and I know that NZ will not let the side down.  My April posts will be profiled on the JJA Facebook page and or webpage.  The choices Auckland is offering over April 2013 are many and varied.  Locals have absolutely no excuse for not supporting Jazz this month, so see you all there.  

John Fenton

JazzLocal32.com    -   Jazz Journalists Association member

The CJC (Creative Jazz Club) is increasingly on the world Jazz circuit, but it also attracts a number of artists from around New Zealand.   This outreach is exactly what Roger Manins, Caroline Manins and Ben McNicholl had envisaged when the collective began.  The CJC’s prime purpose is to further Jazz and improvised music as an art form and to create an intimate performance space where projects can be realised.    This space is suited to listening audiences, which in turn spurs the musicians on.  The trio who performed on Wednesday appreciated that.  

On Wednesday we heard the Wellington based Myele Manzanza trio.  A drummer led band has a different feel to a piano led trio.  When a drummer is leader the drums are generally more forward in the mix than is otherwise the case.  This is the way of things and whether it’s Max Roach or Matt Wilson we expect to have the drums as a strong focus.  Myele Manzanza is a captivating drummer and I was immediately struck by how different he is to most Auckland drummers.  When I spoke to him later I went out on a limb by suggesting that his style was reminiscent of Manu Katche.  He told me that he had not heard him, but that others had said the same.

According to Myele, Roger Manins suggested that they should push the boundaries.   Rising to that challenge the band hastily composed a tune for the gig.   The gig was a mix of standards, interesting takes on tunes not usually associated with jazz and a few originals.  The originals were often subjected to an angular approach and with pared back melody.   Their take on the Ellington tune ‘Caravan’ was probably the most conventional of their tunes but even then it was given individual treatment.  The pianist approached the tune in a percussive manner, but with right hand runs that were definitely post bop (a little like Michel Petrucciani was fond of doing).  Led by the drummer, time signatures morphed into various new patterns.

The Pianist Daniel Hayles often begins pieces with long ostinato intro’s and while not quite a minimalist, he never-the-less avoids excessive ornamentation.  I really warmed to him as the evening progressed and I found his approach modern and fresh (and often North European).  With Scott Maynard on bass the unit knitted together well.  Because of the way the tunes unfolded it was essential that he made his presence felt and he did.   In situations like this the bass often has to carry some extra weight.

Myele has spent time working in New York and he has studied under Jazz drummer E J Strickland.  I also know that he is passionate about Jazz, but why his band sounds different is because other very modern influences have seeped into the mix.   Myele Manzanza works with many ground breaking non-Jazz lineups and that is probably what he is best known for.   This brings me back to Manu Katche who is a very modern jazz drummer, but one who works across a variety of genres (Peter Gabriel and Sting).  Katche’s Jazz drumming is atypical and madly engaging.   Jazz should never stand still and this window on yet another approach to our music tells me that the exploration continues.

I hope that the band returns again as they expand our horizons while making us smile.   After thanking his band Myele Manzanza turned to the audience and said, “Thank you Auckland and the CJC.   This is an unusual situation for us.  An audience that listens appreciatively and doesn’t talk through the gig.   This is what Wellington lacks”.

Every city needs a CJC …and lots of nights like this.

Who: Myele Manzanza (Leader, drums), Daniel Hayles (Keys, Piano), Scott Maynard (bass).

When and Where: CJC (Creative Jazz Club) 1885 building Brittomart, 20th march 2013

Note: Jazz April and International Jazz Day are nearly upon us.  Do your bit by supporting as much jazz as you can during April.

The 13th of March was a night of surprises.   I had been urging Roger Manins to lure Dr Stephen Small down to the CJC (Creative Jazz Club ) for months and here he was.  I told a friend that we would be in for an interesting and varied program.  How prescient I was.  Considering that he is such a well-rounded and accomplished pianist (and keyboardist) it often surprises me that knowledge of him in Jazz circles is not as great as it should be.  Stephen Small has a number of irons in the fire and his work across many musical genres can sometimes eclipse his accomplishments in specific  areas.  No one however should disregard his straight ahead or experimental Jazz playing abilities.

His quartet set up their equipment, completed a brief sound check and then faded back into the darkness of the club while Stephen made last-minute adjustments to his keyboards.  Having set up his two keyboards he moved to the grand piano and picked up the microphone.   Some artists impart scant information about their set lists (even omitting to tell you what they have played).   Stephen is generous with information and his expansive discourse set up the evening nicely.

He played solo piano for three or four numbers and the tunes came mainly from the Great American Songbook.  The focus for these pieces was the earlier half of the twentieth century.  During his introduction he talked about the interface between jazz, classical and popular music and to illustrate this melting pot he began with two standards.   First up was the perennial favourite,  ’Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most’.   The beautiful version he settled on was Oscar Peterson’s.  The second tune ‘Angel Eyes’ (Matt Dennis) has a bluesy feel and the lush right hand voicings accented the subtle hints of stride in the lower register.  I love this standard and it was a delight to hear, as it is seldom played by instrumentalists these days.  More’s the pity.  The last piece in his solo set was an extract from George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ (see video clip).    All three were beautifully executed and they illustrated his point perfectly that Jazz is in a continuous process of renewal and will happily absorb the sounds of the day.   What is sometimes under-appreciated is that Jazz also influences and enriches other genres.  Modern pop or rock without its Jazz roots would arguably be a chirpy wasteland devoid of back beats.   Classical music is certainly not exempt either (e.g. Stravinsky and Ravel). 

His next set shifted our focus to experimental music.  Stephen Small on two keyboards & piano, Johnny Fleury on Chapman Stick 12 string guitar, MC Chinga Style voice and Stephan Thomas drums.  I am particularly interested in such electronic explorations when they’re done well and these were.  The chordal instruments fed into an array of pedals and the whole set up was something that Bob Moog would have gone into orgasmic ecstasies over.   The Chapman Stick looks daunting to play as the fret board is double the width of most guitars.   It is largely tapped and not picked; giving rich voicings and strong resonant bass lines.   MC Chinga Style added an unusual dimension to the mix and his inclusion was spot on.    He was a benign presence, never dominating.   His contributions were occasional but extremely interesting.  A combination of scatting, boom box, subtle pops and clicks and always reinforcing what was occurring around him.   I have long thought that the human voice as an instrument, playing lines in an ensemble, is terribly under-utilised in Jazz.  ECM gets this right and we need more Norma Winstone’s in our line ups.

Hugh Masekela

Somewhere in the middle of this set Caroline Manins went up to Stephen and whispered in his ear.   Stephen looked startled for a few seconds and then proceeded with his electronic wizardry.     Caroline then whispered in my ear, “there is someone I think you should meet”.    Leaning against the bar was Hugh Masekela, anti apartheid hero, Jazz icon, Afro Beat star.  In the subdued lighting with its soft red overtones it all seemed surreal.  The short 74 year old man stuck his hand out and smiled widely.  Then before I knew it he had enveloped me in a hug.   The great man hugged quite a few strangers that night and I suspect that all were enriched by the experience.    This was Hugh Masekela’s way of telling us that in a diverse and complex world, music can remove any barriers between us.  To paraphrase Herbie Hancock, “Music is what I do but finding a common cause with humanity is my real work”.   He has just been honoured by President Obama for his life’s work.

Cameron Ward

After the last of Stephen’s numbers Hugh Masekela asked Stephen to sit in while he, his guitarist and drummer played three numbers.  The crowd stood open-mouthed and a little star struck as the band began playing.   A guitar player from South Africa , a groove drummer from America and a Kiwi pianist – working with a Jazz hero.   Hugh placed the flugal horn to his lips and showed us that simple melody can say as much as complex harmony.  He never strayed too far from the melody but somehow his solo’s were all the more profound for that.  

He ended the set with Herbie Hancock’s ‘Cantaloupe Island’ and thanked us.  We slipped out into the warm night, feeling very pleased with ourselves for being in that place at the right time.

I have included a link to the Hugh Masekela concert review from N Z Musician.  The concert was a blast.

Who: Stephen Small (Keys) – with Johnny Fleury (stick), Stephen Thomas (traps) – Also: Hugh Masekela (flugal horn) plus two members of his band.

When: Wed 13th March 2013

Where: CJC (Creative Jazz Club) – 1885 building basement Brittomart

Foot Note From an Observer Interview – extract:

Q.”There was one occasion when the apartheid government tried to invite you back as an ‘honorary white’. How did that feel?

It was not only insulting, but it was like the height of comedy, right out of the fucking Marx Brothers.  The apartheid people were actors and they had to act out their part in their beliefs every day. That’s why we always saw them as being comedic.”

Reblogged from Ausjazz Blog:

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FLASH MOB MARKS MOMENTOUS OCCASION: The Melbourne Jazz Co-operative's 30th anniversary, Fed Square to City Square, Friday 25 January 2013

I was half expecting a loud protest, with discordant horns blaring their displeasure at the sudden cessation of funds to the co-op from Arts Victoria, accompanied perhaps by deep grumbles of drums and strident sounds of reeds run dry.

What eventuated was a demonstration that an improvised gathering of musicians can add to the life of a city, as well as a signal to the holders of purse strings that jazz musicians will not sit quietly in a corner and come out to play only at festival time.

Read more… 805 more words

I suspect that Blue Train has a following way beyond the traditional Jazz audiences and I can understand why.  Their hard-driving funk laden grooves are impossible to resist and so people tend to flock to any Blue Train gig.   Their audience occupies a broad age spectrum.  Blue Train mostly plays music that you can dance to and just occasionally the set list includes some Jazz space funk.   I’m a huge fan of this type of tripped out Jazz fusion, so if you like this sub-genre then find yourself some Blue Train recordings.  There is of course much more to Blue Train than Funk Fusion and their Jazz chops show in everything that they do.   Only highly competent Jazz musicians can play like this and only talented experienced musicians can write the material Alan does.   This band is an Auckland cultural institution, they are jaw droppingly good and that’s why people love them.  The Blue Train gigs are rare these days, as the band members all have other projects on the go.  Any whisper of gigs should put an urgent blip across your radar.   Tip: they will be at the Waiheke Jazz Festival this year – be there.

The CJC (Creative Jazz Club) filled to capacity on the night and they soon stood three deep at the bar.   Blue Train was here again – the word had travelled.

Post millennium Jazz is a broad church and the younger audiences (and a few older ones like me) find this exciting.  Blue Train has been around for more than 20 years and in spite of a few attempts to pension the band off, the fans just wont let it die.  As a part of New Zealand’s improvised music heritage it deserves our ongoing support and respect.   Don’t for a minute expect a mere cover band recycling the glory days.  Blue Train are wisely resistant of resting on their laurels and after the ‘head’ of a tune they unravel the material in new and interesting ways.   They play older material and new.  Alan Brown’s compositions just keep on coming and they get better and better.   He is a seasoned performer and his keyboard skills will always astound.  As you listen you will  hear new ideas being tried and old ideas being turned on their head.  He is widely acknowledged as a great keyboardist but his piano skills are also considerable.  This was very evident on the 6th of March 2013.

It was obvious that the band were thoroughly enjoying themselves and they stretched out as the tunes unfolded.  The CJC gig edged closer to its Jazz roots than would have been the case at Deschlers in the 90′s.  Those in the line up were mostly veteran band members, but there were some newer additions.   Dixon Nacey on guitar has played with Alan for years and he has previously appeared in Blue Train line ups.  He does not however go back as far as Jason Orme (drums) or Steve Sherriff (tenor and soprano saxophones).   The newer band member is Karika Turua (electric bass).

Having Dixon Nacey in any band is always a treat and I always watch as his eyes fix on the other musicians – exhorting them to challenge him.  He listens carefully to what is unfolding and is always ready to back someone up or to step out with new ideas.   This is invariably done with a mile-wide grin and the looks of delight when he and Alan lock into an exchange is priceless.  As on his three previous gigs, he had his gorgeous Godin Guitar with him and once again I will confirm that this is a match made in heaven.

Many of the Blue Train musicians have contributed compositions over time and Steve Sherriff deserves special mention there.  He is well rounded horn player who can fit seamlessly into many situations (big band, straight ahead Jazz or funk).   His tenor and soprano work were especially captivating on this gig and when he and Dixon played unison lines it was hard to believe that there was not an additional horn in the line up.  Before the gig I ran into my niece and told her that it was nice to see her in the club.  She then told me that a former teacher of hers was in the band.   Who’s that I asked. “Mr Sherriff” she said.   When I saw her later she summed up her impression  ”Wow who knew he played like that”.    He does.

Jason Orme worked the grooves with finesse and enthusiasm and he knew how to play to the room.   The same applies to Karika Turua who dug into serious grooves that echoed in your mind for days afterwards.

The sound levels were just right for the club and this is where the bands experience played a part . Some younger (and a few older musicians) forget to adjust their volume to the room and the CJC is lively; especially if the drums and bass are overly loud.  Being professionals – Alan and Ben McNicoll (CJC sound and IT) got the job done properly.  

What and Who: ‘Blue Train’ – Alan Brown (keys), Steve Sherriff (saxes), Dixon Nacey (guitar), Karika Turua (electric bass), Jason Orme (drums).

When: Wednesday 6th March 2013

Where: CJC (Creative Jazz Club) – basement of the 1885 building Brittomart

Rebecca Melrose is fairly new to the Auckland scene but she is already gaining a reputation for excellence about town.  Although young she has several recordings under her belt and her career is gaining momentum.  She is a singer/songwriter with an engaging voice and this gives her considerable scope.  It means that her own material gets aired alongside that of Gretchen Parlato and Esperanza Spalding during a gig.  This was her second performance at the CJC (Creative Jazz Club)

Parlato and Spalding are clearly strong influences for her but she can also sing challenging standards from an earlier era.  She not only choses well when adding standards but executes tricky numbers superbly.  Like many emerging singers of the post millennium she has a multi genre appeal and whether she moves into a more ‘soul’ space is a moot point.   On this night she was a primarily a jazz singer and if the enthusiasm of the audience is anything to go by that route will work very well for her.

Last year she was more tentative during her between number introductions, but that hesitancy has now fallen completely away.   The Rebecca that we saw tonight was sassy, confident and on top of her game.   She played with the audience and tried out various lines of patter.   Not all of the jokey asides worked as intended (some went over very well) but it didn’t matter a damn and her good-natured handling of the audience captivated everyone.   She is on the right track here and I encourage her to keep going in this vein.   Music is a performance art after all and Jazz and banter go together like the reverse sides of a rich tapestry.  

The last time I saw her perform she had Dixon Nacey on guitar and Andrew Keegan on drums.  This time with a much bigger line up she utilised the additional scope that this afforded her .  She performed several times with singer Chelsea Prastiti (once in duo doing the Esperanza Spalding arrangement of the Jobim Tune ‘Inutil Paisagem‘ – which was magical to say the least ).  In other numbers as a quartet, quintet or octet  This set list struck out for higher ground and the risk paid off.

On trumpet and flugal was Liz Stokes, who stepped up with an impressive solo in the second set.  Alex Ward did a great job on piano and especially on ‘Lush Life‘.  I have not seen him play very often and enjoyed his contribution as he tackled numbers that were often demanding.  It was also good to see Jarad Desvaux de Marigny (drums) and Eamon Edmunson-Wells (bass) teamed up again.  This pair work extremely well together and have a more subtle colourist approach which is especially suited to singers and the less percussive of piano players.  On guitar,Manaf Ibrahim and on Tenor Scott Thomas.

In guest spot was Callum Passells who played a couple of numbers which absolutely floored me; especially his masterful alto solo on ‘Lush Life‘.   Every note in that solo was perfectly placed and with the rhythm section meeting the challenge, we were given a rare treat.   I will say more about Lush life later.  

Rebecca’s own compositions are interesting as are the modern standards she likes, but I have especially singled out the two older standards for praise.  ’Tea for Two‘ is not terribly challenging as written, but as a singer you immediately fall under the shadow of Ella, Anita and Frankie.   The tune was written in 1930 by Tin Pan Alley song plugger Vincent Youmans,who was unsure if he liked it at first.  The lyricist Irving Caesar later admitted that his lyrics were intended only as a stop-gap. they never were replaced thank goodness.  The song is from the musical ‘No, No, Nanette‘ and it quickly became a runaway success.   Why this song works so well for Jazz is exactly for the reason Youmans worried about it; a simple form.  There is so much an improvising musician can do with it.  Before long Art Tatum had played it (1933), Benny Goodman (1937), Fats Waller (1937),  Django Reinhardt (1937), Dave Brubeck (1949), Bud Powell (1950) and Thelonious Monk 1963.   The singers who performed it were legion but Anita O’Day absolutely tagged it as her own in ‘Jazz on a Summers Day‘.   Rebecca quoted from Anita, took the number at the same fast pace, but wisely interpreted it in her own way.

The other track that I can’t resist posting is Rebecca’s ‘Lush Life‘ by Billy Strayhorn.  This song is the antithesis of  ’Tea for Two‘ as it didn’t emerge from the Great American Songbook and it is very challenging to perform.   To my sensibilities it is almost the perfect song.  This is one of the great Jazz Standards and apart from Frank Sinatra’s version it has not been sung much outside of Jazz.  Sinatra only performed it once and refused thereafter, which is one of the enigmas of his musical life.  Recently unearthed rehearsal tapes from the recording session with Nelson Riddle provide an answer.  He struggled with it and at one stage blamed fly dirt on the page for making ‘a very hard song harder’ (Google Sinatra, ‘Lush Life’ and you can hear that rehearsal).

The definitive version for most is probably the Johnny Hartman/John Coltrane Impulse recording (1958).   My personal favourite is the more recent Fred Hersch /Andy Bey version (from the ‘Passion Flower’ album on Nonsuch) – quietly dedicated to gay Jazz musicians past and present.   Strayhorn was of course an out-gay man at a time when this was almost unheard of.   Ellington revered Strayhorn and regarded him as his chief calibrator (‘my other hand’).   Oddly this tune which written in 1936 remained unperformed until 1948 when Strayhorn performed it in a duet with Kay Davis.   The song was never adopted into the Ellington repertoire and did not become famous until the 50′s.   Its gay innuendoes is probably one reason but its sophisticated complexity is certainly the other.  Well done Rebecca and well done her accompanists’.    Callum Passell’s alto solo was to die for as he breathed the musical history of the song into the solo.   I liked the drums and bass contributions and especially Alex Ward’s sensitive but firm rendition.

Rebecca is a young woman with a big voice.   It will be interesting to see whether she keeps her Jazz chops honed or whether she’s tempted toward singing mostly soul.  Either way the best of luck to her.

Where: CJC (Creative Jazz Club) 1885 Bar Auckland

When: 27th March 2013

Who: Rebecca Melrose Super Band