‘DOG’ unleashed on International Jazz Day

May 7, 2014 / JazzLocal32.com / Leave a comment

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The DOG project was conceived two years ago and during its public outings the band garnered enthusiastic support. Those who heard DOG urged them to record and eventually they did. The long-awaited album was ready for release on International Jazz Day 2014; a gestation time roughly equivalent to that of an elephant. The time however has been very well spent, as the band members have composed a wealth of new material. DOG (formally Dr Dog) is Roger Manins, Kevin Field, Oli Holland and Ron Samsom. Manins, Field & Holland are lecturers at the Auckland University School of Music (Jazz program), Samsom is the senior lecturer. They are all in demand for the best gigs about town. They are the big dogs on the block.

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International Jazz day was the perfect time to release this album, underscoring as it does a local Jazz scene crackling with life and teeming with invention. Anyone familiar with the Auckland Jazz Scene will know that these musicians are a driving force; inspiring, challenging and empowering emerging artists. It is a band of titans but it is also a true band of equals. In the Jazz world bands made up of many leaders often fall short. A juggling act’s required to unify a multiplicity of visions. That problem does not apply here. These men appear to breathe in unison and react to each other intuitively. At the ripe old age of two DOG is in peak condition.

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The album is beautifully recorded and the mix could hardly be improved upon. Credit to the York Street Studios in Auckland and to the tasteful mixing by Rattle’s Steve Garden (and DOG themselves). ‘Rattle Records’ are going from strength to strength and if the last three months output is anything to go by, this will be their best year yet. From the first few notes the album reels you in and holds your attention throughout. There is a virtuosity and a tightness to the performances but it is more than that. Beneath the unquestionable musicianship there is a radiating warmth and a bounty of good humour which shines through. This was especially evident during the International Jazz Day performance at the CJC. It was a humour filled affair and delightfully laid back.

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Roger Manins was the front man for the release gig and the dog jokes and banter had people in fits of laughter. He teased the band mercilessly and they responded with sad looks or dismissive gestures. The Zeppo Marx to Manins Groucho. This is a role that he is well suited to and his jokes are quintessential Kiwiana. Some of the titles contained obscure dog references. ‘Race to Space’ honours the Russian dog which led off the space race, others inspired by loveable but hapless dogs of good breeding as in ‘Evolution’. At one stage Manins directed people to a comparative dog intelligence chart. “This is my spaniel rated at number fifty three, which is around the middle of a descending scale”. Next he asked, “Does anyone here own an Afghan Hound?”. No one owned up, perhaps guessing what was to transpire. “Ladies and gentlemen they are number ninety two on the list, almost at the bottom of the intelligence scale”. Some brave soul responded, “Surely not”. “Have you ever tried to play cards with an Afghan Hound” was Manins quick response. Roger Manins drawings for the cover art say it all.

Because there are four composers, the tunes have a variety of moods and tempos. I like them all, but if forced to choose one I would go for Hollands ‘Didel Didel Dei’. There are burning solos on this uptempo track and the interplay is quite exceptional. On this track you will hear Manins at his best. As usual there is no sugar-coating as he pushes the tenor to its outer limits. Field, Holland and Samsom responded in kind. This music they play has the utmost integrity and the audience laps it up.

International Jazz Day has become the premier event on the International Jazz Calendar with the brightest stars in the Jazz firmament showcased. Auckland, New Zealand can hold its head high in the midst of these international celebrations. This album and this live performance did us proud.

Who: ‘DOG’ is Roger Manins (tenor Sax), Kevin Field (piano), Oli Holland (bass), Ron Samsom (drums) – compositions by all band members

Where: CJC (Creative Jazz Club), 1885 Britomart, Auckland, New Zealand. http://www.rattlerecords.net/ http://www.creativejazzclub.co.nz/

K’Party Spoilers of Utopia Album@Vitamin ‘S’

May 1, 2013May 2, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / 10 Comments

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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.

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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.

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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. IMG_6744 - Version 2

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.

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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

Kevin Field Trio@CJC Jazz April Event

April 28, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / Leave a comment

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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.

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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 .

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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. IMG_6708 - Version 2

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

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‘Jazz April’ – How to avoid being an April Fool

March 29, 2013April 3, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / 19 Comments

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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.

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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. 485163_335421036512615_1393706890_a

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.

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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). 644217_10152395531247588_299377990_n

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