Month: June 2012

AJO @ JJA Awards celebration

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Front line of the AJO

 Stop Press: Tonight Auckland held its inaugural Jazz Journalists Association Awards Satellite Party.     The Creative Jazz Club of Aotearoa (CJC) hosted the event and the club was packed to capacity.  The CJC is the first Jazz club in the world to see the moon as there is nothing much between the club door and the International Date Line except ocean.   In spite of the wet outside it soon became apparent that the Auckland Jazz community was going to turn up in force.  No Jazz lover in their right mind would let an opportunity like this slip away and the club was soon filled up with a seething mass of Jazz fans; check to jowl with the who’s who of Auckland Jazz musicians.

Brian Smith & Roger Manins

During the evening Roger Manins was awarded the JJA Jazz Hero Award and this met with strong approval from the audience.  Roger has been a popular choice as his work in promoting Jazz, teaching, mentoring and acting as programme director for the CJC have endeared him to everyone.  Then there is his musicianship which astonishes and inspires, while setting the bar high.  The work that Roger, Caroline and Ben do in running the CJC should not be overestimated.  Having Roger in town and having a club like the CJC has been a game changer.  More and more students are emerging from the Jazz schools and they need clubs like this to play in.  Being tested is part of the journey.

Jazz musicians are the alchemists of the modern age: they forge a raw beauty out of the world about us.  Musicians like Roger are the keepers of the magic.

This was a night of magic from start to finish and the Auckland Jazz Orchestra were superb.  This nimble hard-swinging seventeen piece orchestra played its heart out and the audience never stopped smiling or tapping their feet.  Sitting in front of a Jazz orchestra and feeling that surge of  power is like nothing else I know.  Tonight Auckland felt like the luckiest city on the planet.

Credit must go to the JJA who have been incredibly supportive throughout.   Auckland is proud to have hosted its first JJA Jazz Awards Satellite Party and this is only the beginning.

The party continued long after the AJO had packed up and before long a Jam session was in full swing.  To have Roger Manins (tenor), P J Koopman (guitar) and Brian Smith (tenor) on the band stand together was the icing on the cake.   One by one the students got up to join them.  Some looked nervous but they got up anyway.  It is nights like this that guarantee the viability of this music we love.

A full review will follow soon – thanks to Jenny and Deepak for assisting.

The AJO

Callum Passells

Matt Steele

John & Roger (centre)

Brian Smith Quintet featuring Pete Barwick @ CJC

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Brian Smith & Pete Barwick

Lets face it, no one will be disappointed by a Brian Smith Band and this particular lineup was an all-star affair.  Man did they deliver.

You expect Brian to deliver royally as he has had such a successful output as evidenced by his 2006 (Taupo’ album).   This also goes for Kevin Field (‘Field of Dreams’ album), Kevin Haines (‘Oxide’ album) and Frank Gibson Jnr (‘Rainbow Bridge‘ album), but a question mark may have lingered in some minds over Pete Barwick’s inclusion as he was the lessor known band member.  He is a veteran sideman and widely respected among musicians; Brian knew exactly what he was doing.  Pete was amazing on the night and he more than earned his place in this star studied lineup.

Brian Smith

In spite of their respective pedigree’s this was a band of equals and out of that amalgam came a night of exceptional Jazz.  A Hard Bop devotee in the audience said after the show, “I have been to Jazz clubs and concerts all over the world, but this may have been the best I have seen”.

The band played a number of Hard Bop standards as expected, but there were a few new originals as well.  An original number featured at the end of the first set titled ‘CJC’ delighted everyone.   Brian had penned this composition in the weeks preceding the gig and he dedicated it to Roger & Caroline Manins.  Before playing the number Brian paid tribute to them and to the CJC club.  The crowd loved this and applauded wildly.

In fact the audience was enthusiastic throughout the night and as tunes by Horace Silver, Heyman/Green, Brian Smith and others filled the club they could not have been happier.

The Creative Jazz Club (CJC) came into being for the express purpose of enabling such interactions and on nights like this both musicians and audiences are especially thankful for the clubs existence.

Pete Barwick

If any of you haven’t yet obtained a copy of Brian Smiths 2006 album ‘Taupo’ (Ode label) you need to remedy that situation immediately.   This last gig may begin a buying frenzy and as the world has recently learned to its cost regarding in demand commodities – scarcity drives prices up.  It is truly a marvelous album.  If you can’t find a copy in Marbecks or JB HiFi then try Real Groovy Records or Trade Me – just buy it.

Motif – (Norway)

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Motif

We get a number international acts breezing through Auckland and a few of them play at the CJC.  On Wednesday 6th June we were lucky enough to have the Norwegian ensemble Motif at the club and they lived up to their considerable international reputation.   This is a band which plays highly original but accessible improvised/composed avant-garde music .   They are a killing band and above all they are highly entertaining.

Motif played in America a few years ago where they received excellent reviews in the New York Times (Nate Chinen), Jazzwise and in All About Jazz.  They have been around since 1999 in one form or another and were founded by the seriously out-cat Ole Morten Vagan.

Ole & Atle

It is obvious that this group has big ears as their compositions contain the distant echoes of American and Euro-centric Jazz while still sounding fresh and original.   This is as far from a covers band as you could get, because they gather in the myriad of sounds about them and fashion these into a fresh and exciting soundscapes.  The band may have achieved critical acclaim but they are certainly not above poking fun at themselves.  Ole Mortan Vagan joked several times about their earning potential.   This is a group of musicians who do what they do well and primarily perform for the love of the music.

Havard Wiik

The music was often rambunctious, but the band always drew you back to a collaborative theme after their stratospheric flights of fancy.   The magic woven by individual performers during solos was never at the expense of the ensemble.  It was organised chaos in the best possible way.

I was also delighted to discover that Norwegian humor translates perfectly for a New Zealand audience.  The music was leavened with countless jokes which had us in fits of laughter.   Ole Morten Vagan said that his father had recently accused him of being a bohemian.  When he asked his father to explain he was told, “A bohemian is someone who regards the rent as an unforeseen event”.

The band members were all incredible musicians whether playing as an ensemble or exploring the edge of reason.

The band was: Ole Morten Vagan (bass, jokes), Atle Nymo (saxophone), Eivind Lonning (Trumpet), Harvard Wiik (piano), Hakon Johansen (drums).

At the end of the second set they filed off the band-stand to the sounds of loud enthusiastic applause.  The clapping eventually subsided, but a few determined souls carried on until the band reappeared for a last number.    “That was strange”‘ said Ole.   “At first we heard clapping followed by what sounded like half a dozen potatoes rolling down the stairs – then clapping again.

Roger Manins summed it up perfectly in a recent Face Book post: “Just a heads up for those in Sydney Tomorrow.  MOTIF will be at SIMA– and seriously worth checking out. They were at CJC in Auckland last week and were great– very funny guys too”.    I concur.

JJA Jazz Awards Satellite Party in Auckland

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Press release: Wed 6th June 2012

Creative Jazz Cub & Auckland Jazz Orchestra presents the

JJA Jazz Awards Satellite Party

The 16th Annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards is an international black tie event held at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York on Wednesday 20th June and features hundreds of musicians, jazz journalists, educators and industry associates.

Auckland musician/saxophonist Roger Manins has been awarded a Jazz Hero Award by JJA, so to celebrate and honour New Zealand’s jazz heroes, Auckland’s Creative Jazz Club (CJC) will be hosting the world’s first 2012 Awards Satellite Party at the Britomart’s Basement Bar also on Wednesday 20th June. The Awards will feature music by the Auckland Jazz Orchestra (AJO) and as New Zealand will be acknowledged at the New York Awards event, willing musicians and Jazz fans should arrive early for photographs – to be posted on the Jazz Journalists Associations Awards official web sites. Don’t miss one of the biggest events on the Jazz calendar!

Wednesday 20 June – Basement Bar, AUCKLAND

Home of the Creative Jazz Club, 1885, Galway St Central, BRITOMART

8pm, Tickets GA $10, CJC members & students $7, student members $5

http://www.jjajazzawards.org,  www.rogermanins.com,  www.creativejazzclub.co.nz

CJC contacts – caroline@creativejazzclub.co.nz    roger@creativejazzclub.co.nz   John Fenton blogsite – Jazz Local 32   http://www.jon4jaz.wordpress.com

Publicity – Leesa Tilley / publicity-machine@clear.net.nz / phone 09 3766 868

The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) honours excellence in jazz music, recordings, presentation and journalism. The 2012 Jazz Awards has 39 categories of excellence including Lifetime Achievement and Best of the Year Awards for musicians, presenters, recordings, photos, journalists, publications, blogs and websites. A star-studded coterie of musicians, journalists and music-world movers and shakers will be honoured in jazz’s only independent, international, culture-and-community-wide awards celebration.

Creative Jazz Club (CJC) was set up two years ago by musicians Carolina Moon, Roger Manins and broadcaster Mark Robinson. Webmaster Ben McNichol and journalist John Fenton complete the team. Now a world-class jazz club, CJC fosters and promotes the development of Auckland’s creative jazz scene by providing musicians with a dedicated performance space, nurturing emerging artists, and the programming of innovative local, national and international talent in its weekly Wednesday club night. Vocalist and composer Carolina Moon – who is currently touring her medieval world music fusion Mother Tongue in-between teaching jazz vocals at the University of Auckland – said “I was motivated to start CJC primarily because there was nowhere for us to play our music, and I thought well there must be other people in the same boat too. When we first opened, one of NZ’s landmark jazz musicians said to me – ‘now I have something to practice for’ – and gee I just wanted to cry.  So we started out at Cafe 121, Ponsonby Rd and over that first year we saw the creative scene really start to grow as it provided bands with an outlet for their creative projects – AND an audience which wants to listen and be part of it.”

Roger Manins won the Australian National Jazz Awards for saxophone in 2002 and this month, will receive a JJA Jazz Hero Award as international recognition of his outstanding musicianship and services to the community and education. Roger was born in Waiuku and currently teaches at the University of Auckland between touring nationally and internationally with various groups such as the Roger Manins Trio/Quartet, Hip Flask, Carolina Moon, Resonator, Manins Muller featuring Mike Nock plus a series of Trans-Tasman collaborations. Roger has released 3 CDs – Hip Flask, Trio and Latitude – and is recorded on more than 30 jazz albums with some of Australasia’s leading artists.

“an outstandingly gifted musician with a warmly passionate sound, remarkable instrumental ability and total
musical integrity” – Mike Nock

“one of the best newly issued hard bop recordings I’ve heard in quite some time. Manins sounds incredible throughout, but is particularly exceptional on Monk’s Well You Needn’t. Manins et al. aren’t merely recreating—they’re creating new music by taking Hard Bop elements to new places” – Slim’s Spins, Cadence Magazine, USA (March 2012)

http://www.jjajazzawards.org http://www.rogermanins.com http://www.creativejazzclub.co.nz CJC contacts – caroline@creativejazzclub.co.nz / roger@creativejazzclub.co.nz

John Fenton blogsite – Jazz Local 32 – http://www.jon4jaz.wordpress.com (Jazz Journalists Association).

Publicity – Leesa Tilley / publicity-machine@clear.net.nz / phone 09 3766 868

Nathan Haines ‘Poets Embrace’ reprise

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Nathan, Ben, & Steve

Last week saw the Nathan Haines Fourtet return to the CJC with an altered line-up.  Alain Koetsier the former drummer is now running a language school in China and Thomas Botting has packed up his bass and moved to Australia.   Above all we knew that this would also be the last time that we would see Nathan for while as he moves back to the UK in July.

In place of the departed musicians we heard Stephen Thomas on drums and Ben Turua on bass.    There had also been some changes made in the club configuration and it was surprising how the rearrangement of furniture subtly altered the sound.    The sight lines were also greatly improved for those standing along the bar and near to the entrance.     I have heard this material at four different gigs now, but for accessibility and quality of sound this gig worked the best for me.  It was great to be able to watch Kevin Field at work as the piano was no longer obscured by the bar.

Kevin Field

Those of us who have been listening to the ‘Poets Embrace’ album for months knew the material backwards, but with new personnel, such keen improvisers and an extremely enthusiastic audience we were always going to get something different.  We did.

I like every track on the album but if pushed I would single out ‘Ancestral Dance’ as a favourite.  The version on the night was blistering and it captured the drive and ethos of the band perfectly.   As Nathan mines deeper into this material he constantly finds new ideas and it has been a real privilege to watch this project grow from its inception to this final CJC gig three-quarters of a year later.

This album has achieved a rare feat in New Zealand.   It rose to number three on the best-selling album list and tracks from the album rocketed up the charts to unprecedented heights.  To those of us who have rated the album highly this has not been surprising, but here’s the interesting thing.  This is no-holds-barred model jazz of the sort that came out on the Impulse Label.

Younger listeners found this no barrier and embraced it whole heartedly, which was evidenced by the age of the audience at the gigs.   Nathan has always had a diverse following, but this journey took us to a new place in our Kiwi Jazz journey.  For that he deserves our deepest respect and we wish him the best as he returns to London.   This era that is so faithfully evoked was the high water-mark of analogue sound and the warmth and glow is evident in the recording (see earlier blogs on Jazz Local 32 for the methodology of ‘The Poets Embrace’ recording).

An undoubted highlight of the evening was the tenor battle between Nathan and Roger Manins.   It was our own version of the Sony Stitt and Gene Ammons tenor sessions.   The crowds whooped in delight as this full-throated exchange occurred.   It was a night never to be forgotten.

The clip I have included here was filmed in the weeks before Alain left for China and so Stephen is not yet in the band.  The lineup on the night was Nathan Haines (tenor sax), Kevin Field (piano), Ben Turua (bass), Stephen Thomas (drums) – guest Roger Manins (tenor sax).