Welcome to Jazz Fremantle, a not-for-profit membership organisation that exists to support live jazz performance in the City of Fremantle in Western Australia as well as to promote jazz music widely in the region. Jazz Fremantle has existed in different forms since 1992 and currently is resident on the second floor of the Navy Club, 64 High Street, Fremantle, every Sunday afternoon from 3 to 6 pm (except on some public holiday weekends).
The Navy Club is a welcoming venue for Jazz Fremantle with comfortable chairs and a fully-stocked bar with drinks at Club prices. There is even a small dance floor so you can trip the light fantastic whenever you feel like it!!
TICKETS ARE $18 FOR MEMBERS AND $25 FOR NON-MEMBERS. GO TO THE JAZZ FREMANTLE PAGES ON TRYBOOKING.COM TO BOOK ONLINE. ALTERNATIVELY YOU CAN PAY AT THE DOOR BY CASH OR CARD.
ONE YEAR’S MEMBERSHIP TO JAZZ FREMANTLE IS $30 SINGLE AND $50 FOR A DOUBLE. STUDENT MEMBERSHIP IS $15 (WITH A STUDENT CARD).
COMING UP ON JAZZ FREMANTLE…
KIM ANNING: MINGUS AND MONK – SUNDAY 2nd JULY, 2023
TICKETS: www.trybooking.com/CJBWA
A mouth-watering mix of music made by master musicians in a marvelous tribute to Mingus and Monk. The music of Charles Mingus and Thelonius Monk is both timeless and fascinating. We hope to capture the quirky rhythms and harmony of Monk and the raw energy of Mingus’s
compositions. There will also be a few originals and favourites of Mr Anning. Kim Anning (guitar and vocals), Tony Celeberti (piano),
Steve Searle (‘things that you blow’), Jonathan Chen (bass) and Nathan Winterflood (drums).
DANNY MOSS JR. TRIO WITH ELLE DESLANDES – SUNDAY 9th JULY, 2023
TICKETS: www.trybooking.com/CJBWC
The wonderful Danny Moss Jr trio with Elle Deslandes on vocals promises to be a concert not to be missed! Pianist/ composer Harry Mitchell has played in the Perth International Jazz Festival, Sydney Con Jazz Festival, Melbourne Jazz Festival, the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and
Blues and the Ubud Village Jazz Festival in Bali. Harry was selected as a finalist in the Wangaratta Jazz Festival’s 2021 National Jazz Awards’ piano competition. Elle Deslandes needs no introduction to Jazz Fremantle concertgoers. She has sung for us many times and we welcome her back.
Danny Moss Jnr is also no stranger to Jazz Fremantle. He is a double-bassist of international renown. Ben Vanderwal is one of the most in-demand jazz drummers in Australia. He has also spent time in New York and Melbourne and performed around the world. In 2011 and 2012 Ben toured with the Tim Minchin vs. Orchestra, performing with each Australian city’s Symphony Orchestra. In the last couple of years Ben has
returned to New York to study privately with some of the top Afro-Cuban artists on the planet. The full lineup is Elle Deslandes (vocals), Harry Mitchell (piano), Danny Moss Jnr (bass) and Ben Vanderwal (drums)
REVIEWS
STAR QUALITY: THE JESSIE GORDON QUINTET – SUNDAY 20th FEBRUARY, 2022
If you know New Orleans you’ll know it is a city of music – not just what we know as New Orleans jazz but all kinds of music. The influences on the city are myriad and these influences are reflected in the city’s musical balance. Geographically you can hear West Africa, Cuba, Sicily and even the formalities of European classical music. Stylistically there is everything from folk to heavy metal with a preponderance of syncopation and a freewheeling style that makes you realise you are in New Orleans. And it is on every street corner, in every bar and café, on every promenade and walkway. Traffic might stop for a brass band coming down the street or performers jumping exuberantly into the road from the sidewalk. It is genuinely infectious. I mention this because last Sunday afternoon at Jazz Fremantle took me back to New Orleans, as Jessie Gordon and her quintet of musical friends strutted their stuff majestically with some barbecue (sic) as Louis Armstrong’s first wife Lil Hardin did so bravely in the 1920s first in New Orleans and then in Chicago. Lil was the first lady of jazz in those days and Jessie is certainly that now in Perth although she is more the first lady of music of many influences but always jazz-tinged like a microcosm of that overall New Orleans vibe.
Another analogy occurred to me. It was such a joyous occasion, so full of good things, so all-embracing of everybody in the room, that it must have been like some of those Harlem rent parties when friends and neighbours came together for a shindig and to raise funds to pay for someone’s rent. The punters this afternoon virtually filled the raffle ticket bucket as if the sheer abundance of good things on offer created an atmosphere of prodigality and pockets were emptied with abandon in the hopes of a memento to celebrate the good times.
Jessie Gordon is a star, make no mistake. She is vocally sensational with a chameleon voice that can caress a lullaby or belt out a blues. She can tease and seduce, laugh and pray, dignify and pastiche. She is the sum of all our musical tastes – there is something for everyone. More than anything else, there is humour, there is gay abandon and a solid belief that this is music to be enjoyed, savoured, laughed and cried over. But there is also quality, a technical excellence which provides the substance to help bind the genres together into a satisfying and tasty musical pudding. This was a sensational session. If Jessie was the flame, the rest of the band were the moths, drawn inexorably to her, producing top class performances on their respective instruments. Take, for example, Mark Turner’s storming tenor, raising the temperature from the get-go, raucous and bluesy and soul-filled, to be followed by his brilliant and exciting guitar runs – on the one hand. Because on the other hand he gave us his lyrical, romantic qualities, as he accompanied Jessie on her introverted and understated ballad journey. We don’t hear Tim Voutas often at Jazz Fremantle which is a pity. His creative and imaginative piano added so much lustre to proceedings. I loved the way he built a solo, taking you from the comfort of soft and gentle to the fever of high-octane chordal expressions and driving tempos. Karl Florisson is a master, needing no introduction to the Jazz Fremantle crowd, his big-toned bass laying the foundations and providing intricate solo portraits as necessary. And there is no more solid a drummer than Michael Perkins, driving the band with panache and relishing his solo space.
The programme was eclectic – something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Jessie set out her stall at the outset. “I Love Being Here With You” she sang as she reprised the old Peggy Lee number and that was clear throughout the session. The next instruction was “Dream a Little Dream Of Me” remembered, I suppose, mainly from the version by the Mamas and the Papas although there are countless jazz and swing versions (Ella Fitzgerald and Doris Day, for example). Then we were off on a “Bourbon Street Parade”, swaggering down the streets of New Orleans with Mark’s ferocious tenor to the fore. We drew our breath with a restrained version of “But Not For Me” with Mark on guitar and the tempo increased and the temperature rose on “I Got Rhythm” before the invitation from Jessie to “Just Squeeze Me”, the old Duke Ellington favourite.
There was a period of introspection as Jessie pared things down to a minimum with some original material from her and Mark, her plaintive voice accompanied only by Mark on guitar. She gave us “It Wasn’t Love” (but surely) and the evocation of the Perth hills in which she and Mark grew up called “The Hill”. There was the sexy and smouldering “The Pastry Song” which conjured up all sorts of erotic images and the beautiful “Torch and Stone” with singer and guitarist empathetically joined by Karl Florisson on bass. The full band returned for Irving Berlin’s 1933 “Heatwave” sung by Ethel Waters in the show “As Thousands Cheer” and Jessie’s nod to her lexicographical mother, the delightful and very clever “Fill Me Up With Words”. Jessie ended the set surrendering to her innermost Blossom Dearie with Rodgers and Hart’s savagely subtle diatribe on the fickleness of men, “Everything I’ve Got Belongs To You”.
The third set took us back to Duke Ellington. “Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues” evoked the late nights and early mornings, lovers requited and abandoned, empty beer bottles and full ashtrays. By contrast “All Of Me” was all jauntiness, with some lovely tenor from Mark. We took off to Paris for “La Vie En Rose” in French from Jessie and in English from Mark before a rip-roaring “Cheek To Cheek” brought us almost to a close. But not before a swift final nod to Duke Ellington with a rarely heard vocal version of “Things Ain’t What They Used To be” with lyrics I believe by the Duke’s son Mercer.
It had all been so wonderful. As I said, Jessie has star quality in abundance and that was all on show this afternoon. It is easy to see why she is in such high demand locally and again, I suppose, we can be thankful for WA’s COVID-19 strategy for keeping her with us. Because make no mistake, the world is her oyster and who are we to keep her to ourselves? I hope and trust that she will always remember us and come and sing to us as often as she is able. That may be a forlorn hope but I firmly believe that Jessie’s vocal talents embody so much of what we want jazz to be. I have said it before – jazz is an increasingly broad church and in the hands of the Jessie Gordons of this world it will continue to grow in strength.
COOL CHANGE QUINTET – SUNDAY 13th FEBRUARY, 2022
The word “cool” is fairly universal these days, especially among the young, if my observations are correct. Everything is cool if it’s not awesome and, of course, it implies that all is OK, everything is all right with the world, no stress implied. But there was a time when cool was very much a jazz word. It probably goes all the way back to the 1920s but really came into its own in the jazz sphere during the 1950s. This was the era of “The Cool School”, referring to musicians and music that were somewhat reserved, sleek, not over-emoting, the opposite of “hot” jazz. Duke Ellington introduced Stan Getz as one of the leading musicians of the cool school and this was six years after those Miles Davis sides were recorded in 1948 which were labelled in a release of 1956 as “The Birth of the Cool”. I suspect that neither Miles nor Stan was genuinely cool and the word was more generally applied to the West Coast jazz of the 1950s but over time I am sure that the word proved detrimental to much of the music’s true value. At one time or other musicians as diverse as Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Bley and Lester Young have been described as cool. Suffice it to say that most jazz musicians have softened their emotions from time to time and if that is what is meant by being cool then so be it. It has probably got to the point now that when two jazz buffs refer to cool jazz, they know what they mean!
Jazz Fremantle welcomed the Cool Change Quintet last Sunday for what was their first gig at the Club as the headlined band. (They did accompany Joyce Mathers at last year’s Christmas concert.) Led by pianist Kerry Stafford, the quartet of musicians plus singer Tania Sims, provided us with a programme mostly of standards on the lighter side which was well received by the good audience who turned up for the session. With all the hot weather we have had recently in and around Perth, it was a pleasure to have a cool change. The music was pleasant enough and it was as if we were sitting round the pool enjoying a sundowner or enjoying cocktails on the quarter deck. There were songs we all knew delivered capably enough with nothing too taxing to worry about. Kerry Stafford provided steady if relatively unspectacular piano lines to ground the band and she was backed ably by Richard Pooley on the drums. Jazz Fremantle’s band booker Bill Dabbs advised me that Richard is a left-handed drummer, the technicalities of which are not immediately apparent except for, perhaps, everything being on the other side – cymbals, hi-hat, etc. This is the last time I will write that bassist Jason Wood is the grandson of former entertainer/impresario Max Kay but he is much more than a bassist, taking vocal duties when asked in a style that has gleaned a lot from Chet Baker. Mike Wiese’s understated saxophone work is a positive delight and he is probably the coolest in the band musically. It was lovely to hear him backing singers with the baritone saxophone in a very sympathetic and musically very creative way. This was vocalist Tania Sims’ first visit to Jazz Fremantle – I have seen her before at the Kalamunda Jazz Club – and she has a strong voice which lends itself well to more powerful bluesy numbers (she likes to growl!) but she turned her voice to a variety of tempos with reasonable results this afternoon.
So the programme was straightforward beginning with an instrumental version of “The Lady Is a Tramp” before Tania stepped up to give us “Summertime”, with our first taste of that luscious baritone accompaniment from Mike Wiese, followed by “Cheek To Cheek” and a couple of songs associated with Nat King Cole, “Nature Boy” and “Straighten Up and Fly Right”. Jason’s first number was the 1941 Burton Lane penned “How About You” (with lyrics by Ralph Freed) after which Tania continued with Bobby Hebb’s hugely popular “Sunny”, the tricky “God Bless the Child” and, returning to Nat King Cole, “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps”. Jason completed the first set with Jerome Kern’s languid “The Way You Looked Tonight” with words from Dorothy Fields, a song first sung by Fred Astaire. Once again Mike’s baritone provided a fitting backdrop. “Love For Sale” played medium-tempo by the band opened the second set before Jason sang Johnny Mandel’s “The Shadow Of Your Smile”, or the love theme from the 1965 film “The Sandpiper”, followed by a trio from Tania led off by Nat King Cole again (“Orange Coloured Sky”), Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why” and the Fats Waller/Andy Razaf classic “Ain’t Misbehavin’”. Jason reprised that good old good one “On the Sunnyside Of the Street” leaving Tania to crank the emotion up on “Cry Me a River”, before bringing it down to the jaunty “How High the Moon” and the sultry Duke Ellington classic “Satin Doll”. And how beautiful was Mike’s baritone on this? More Ellington closed the set as the band played us out with “In a Mellow Tone”.
The third set kicked off with one of my favourite instrumentals “Stolen Moments”. It is not generally realised that this was written by arranger/bandleader/saxophonist Oliver Nelson and was featured on his seminal 1961 album “Blues and the Abstract Truth”. Jason then crooned “Too Close For Comfort” followed by Tania back on Nat King Cole territory with “It’s Only a Paper Moon”, Ellington’s rabble-rousing “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing” and Lerner and Loewe’s “Almost Like Being In Love” from the old-style 1947 musical “Brigadoon”. Nat King Cole also sang this too, most notably over footage at the end of the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day”. Jason dipped his toe into the universally popular Rodgers and Hart melody “Have You Met Miss Jones” and the band played the hauntingly beautiful theme from the Portuguese-language film “Orfeu Negro” (or “Black Orpheus”) composed by Brazilian Luiz Bonfa under the original title “Manha De Carnaval”. Tania concluded the afternoon with a slightly shaky version of Sade’s “Smooth Operator” and a rousing version of Ruth Brown’s “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean” which seemed like familiar territory for her strong voice. “Sway” took us to our cars and buses and the journey home. It had been an afternoon of comfort and joy with lots to like and appreciate, not least the affable manner in which the musicians presented themselves and embraced the audience. We certainly had our money’s worth.
JOYOUS SOUND: ERIN ROYER AND THE METRO BIG BAND – SUNDAY 6th FEBRUARY, 2022
Big bands are cumbersome things. Firstly there are all those musicians, 17 or 18 in a standard big band plus vocalists. Then there are the instruments and all that goes with these – amplification, cases and coverings, music stands, PA systems etc. It is no easy task maintaining a big band and keeping it in operation. Of course, in the heyday of the swing bands, their very popularity kept the wolf from the door, and big bands grew in size and even embraced string sections. But the bigger they got, the greater the encumbrance they were and the music became sluggish and overweighted which did not bode well for the development of the music. Eventually, for many, big bands became uneconomical and the jazz focus reverted back to small groups. But big bands did not go away and there was soon a resurgence of the greatest of the big bands – Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Woody Herman, etc – who, like Stan Kenton, never really went away. Economically it is tough these days to maintain a big band full time unless sponsorship is involved, and many big bands are “scratch” bands, coming together from time to time when available from more regular employment. What often keeps them going is the shared enthusiasm for the music. That doyen of jazz writers Richard Cook, former editor of the Jazz Journal, put it this way: “…often a modern big band will grow up out of the musicians’ shared pleasure in playing together and making a big sound – a jazz imperishable which can be understood by any open-eared listener, once heard”.
And so it was on Sunday last that we welcomed the return of the Metro Big Band under the highly capable direction of saxophonist Erin Royer. The band put it this way on their Facebook page: “Think of the great Jazz decades – the 30s, 40s & 50s. Consider some of the classic songs from the Motown era known as the “Swinging 60s”. Supplement this with the occasional torch song, a few blues and soul numbers, and spice it up with some catchy contemporary dance tunes. Now picture a 20-piece big band, ….fronted by one male and one female vocalist delivering all the above in a package of glamour, fun and excitement … and you come close to imagining just what the Metro Big Band is all about! The sight and sound of our Big Band is incredible – designed to thrill your audience and make your function a huge success”.
Indeed it was a highly enjoyable afternoon with fun and excitement to the fullest, led off by vocalists Leah Guelfi and Rob Pring. The enthusiasm was palpable and if we, in the audience, enjoyed ourselves as much as the band seemed to be enjoying themselves, then you can guarantee that a good time was had by all. The first two sets were straight down the middle, the Great American Songbook and jazz standards to the fore, although the opening instrumental “Nou’s Blue” from the pen of Myles Collins was new to me and the drum opening had me misled into thinking we were in for “Sing, Sing, Sing”. Up stepped Rob Pring, fairly new to the band but with a great voice containing plenty of swing, to present “Beyond the Sea” and “Ain’t That a Kick In the Head”, followed a little later by “Fly Me To the Moon” and “Mack the Knife”. The vivacious Leah Guelfi needs no introduction to the Jazz Fremantle crowd and she gave us two contrasting numbers “Frim Fram Sauce” and the haunting “Georgia On My Mind” and later surprised us with B. B. King’s “Caught a Touch Of your Love” followed by “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall”, a feature originally for Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots. There were duets between Leah and Rob too, “I Won’t Dance” and “The Lady Is a Tramp” highlighting some good chemistry between them, and another instrumental “It’s Oh So Nice” from the album “Basie Straight Ahead” and the pen of Sammy Nestico.
The second set kicked off with another Sammy Nestico tune “Warm Breeze” and then Leah stepped up to give us those endearing standards “Cheek To Cheek” and “On the Sunny Side Of the Street” as well as “L – O – V – E”. Rob contributed the Nat King Cole classic “Straighten Up and Fly Right”, “Me and Mrs. Jones” and ended the set with “For Once In My Life”. In between we had two more duets, “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone” and the Dinah Washington/Brook Benton hit “Baby You’ve Got What It Takes, and one more instrumental, Duke Ellington’s 1939 offering “In a Mellow Tone”. Erin Royer introduced the third set as the “pop” set and indeed the material would have been familiar to most of the audience, coming as it did from the pop charts of mainly the 1960s and 1970s. Rob’s contribution was a very accomplished version of Van Morrison’s “Moondance”, the Drifters’ “Save the Last Dance For Me” (with of course the late Ben E. King on lead vocals), Bobby Darin’s novelty “Splish Splash” and Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. Leah weighed in with powerful vocals on Ashford and Simpson’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (Diana Ross’ first solo hit), Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s classic “Natural Woman” (a smash hit for Aretha Franklin), Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” and Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, a huge solo hit for Frankie Valli. And there were duets – “Something Stupid” which has always seemed to be a slightly odd song for a father and daughter to be singing together, the Eagles’ “Heartache Tonight” and a stonking version of John Fogerty’s “Proud Mary”, written for Creedence Clearwater Revival and later revived effectively by Ike and Tina Turner, to complete proceedings. The band was superb throughout. Even these pop songs got great big band arrangements and the bravado and swaggering confidence with which the band members took on a varied programme speaks a lot to their commitment and enthusiasm for a genre which they obviously have a passion for. Erin Royer is to be congratulated for not just getting this band together but keeping it together and her own infectious passion obviously has a large part to play in this. They are always welcome at Jazz Fremantle. The big sound they make is infectious.
The full line-up for the band is as follows: Mat Flett, Charlie Teakle, Breanna Evangelista, Tracey Harris (trumpet); Alex Bradbury, Steve Turnbull, Daniel Kirk, Yas Ho (trombone); Erin Royer (alto sax and Musical Director); Mia Vukovic (alto sax); Gianni Petta, Chris Leale (tenor sax); Frank Vanhoe (baritone sax); Alex Parkinson (keyboards); Greg Patterson (guitar); Clint Barrett (bass); Sam Bradbury (drums); Leah Guelfi, Rob Pring (vocals).
TRUE COLOURS: LUCY IFFLA/MATTGUDGEON QUINTET – SUNDAY 30th JANUARY, 2022
The female voice is central to jazz. It runs the gamut of emotions and feelings. It can feed the soul, charge the body, captivate the mind. It can, in the space of a few minutes, move from being sensual to being commanding, loving to being ironic, soothing to being admonitory. It has stirred great passion and soothed the savage breast. And the best of the female voices in jazz can reach the heights, can stun us with range and depth, thrill us with swing and scat, amaze us with drama and pathos. On Sunday, it was very evident that we were in the presence of a very fine singer indeed. We have seen and heard Lucy Iffla a number of times now at Jazz Fremantle although not recently and I for one was thrilled at the maturity of her voice and her ability to not just sing a song but to feel it and interpret it. This was a consummate example of very good jazz singing and it was obvious to the onlooker that the accompanying musicians knew this and were happy to be there. And they weren’t bad either! There is no better way to enhance Lucy’s exquisite vocals than the piano of Adrian Galante, intricate but sympathetic, flamboyant yet supportive, while his clarinet wove dreamy threads around her voice to create an ambiance of collective ease. I had not heard Matt Gudgeon before but his guitar runs and flourishes complemented the overall atmosphere of confident and assured professionalism. Needless to say, the tireless Alistair Peel on bass and the splendid and talented Bronton Ainsworth on drums added to the overall effectiveness of the entire unit. I could not take my eyes and ears off this session – it was magnificent. Lucy has studied well (and is still studying). The impression I gained was that it was difficult for her not to sing. Her confidence was high. She evoked the greats – she gave reference to Sarah Vaughan who was there in her range and vibrato. Ella Fitzgerald was there too in the caressing of lyrics, the phrasing and the fine musicality. And you could hear others. I am sure Billie Holiday was there and maybe some of those other great big band singers like Anita O’Day. And the whimsical Betty Carter was there too, particularly in “Stella By Starlight” and “My Favourite Things”.
The programme was solid but eclectic. From the first bars of the stately, sensual “Satin Doll” the focus was firmly on familiar ground. “All Of Me” was followed by a superb low-down bluesy version of “Mood Indigo” with Adrian’s low register clarinet sweeping the cellar. Then came “My Favourite Things” and who would have thought that the movie saccharin children’s song could be so admired by the jazz family. But look what John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan and Betty Carter did with it, turned it into a jazz favourite and Lucy’s version was firmly in the jazz idiom. A change of direction followed. We moved into Bob Dylan territory with “Don’t Think Twice” but Lucy’s vocal was built around the version of jazz pianist Brad Mehldau which gave it spice. Then there was the sentimental “Over the Rainbow”, beautifully sung and a stonking version of “How Deep Is the Ocean” sung in the finally agreed key of G minor. The first of two sets finished with the upbeat “On the Sunnyside Of the Street” giving the patrons time to catch their collective breath.
Lucy paid homage to Sarah Vaughan with a languid and breathy version of “Moonlight In Vermont” which showed off her range, followed by a jaunty “Have you Met Miss Jones”. Then her favourite “Moon River”, the song owing its presence in the film “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” to Audrey Hepburn herself, we were told. It is a sweet, simple melody but in Lucy’s hands the song soared and took flight. “Stella By Starlight” contained another nod to Betty Carter while the arrangement of “Killing Me Softly” was borrowed from Jazz Fremantle favourite, pianist Harry Mitchell. The song itself was controversially inspired by a performance from Don McLean singing “Empty Chairs”, controversial because the song’s origins were disputed for some time. A storming version of Nat Adderley’s “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, showing off Lucy’s soulful, funky side, with great contributions from piano, guitar and drums, was supposed to have rounded off the session but the audience would not let the singer go. She obliged with a beautiful encore, Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, that eerily haunting tear-jerker of a hit from early 1970.
This was an astonishingly adult session of grown-up jazz performed by musicians in their prime. Lucy’s vocals were beyond reproach and her prowess seemed to filter through to the whole band. Adrian Galante and Matt Gudgeon were equally brilliant in their accompaniment and the solos they took matched the high-octane nature of the afternoon and indeed to a great extent inspired it. So too the rhythm section of Alistair Peel on bass and Bronton Ainsworth on drums. The strength of the performance was in the empathy between the musicians – there was no second-guessing, perfect synergy being the order of the day. You could travel far and wide and still not find such an accomplished or exemplary assembly of talent that we witnessed on Sunday. The standards are high at Jazz Fremantle; long may they continue to be.
STRAIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE: CHRIS ROSS AND BROADWAY SWING – SUNDAY 23rd JANUARY, 2022
The boundaries between jazz and popular music are often blurred. Sometimes jazz is popular music – Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” is an obvious example – and popular music has influenced jazz frequently and vice versa. I suppose the standard repertoire of tunes explored through jazz provides a very good example of the overlap. Many of these tunes are not written for jazz interpretation and yet where would jazz be without the songbooks of composers such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Irving Berlin, etc. True, some of these composers understood jazz as it was all around them at the time but truthfully, most of the songs were written with the aim of gaining commercial success. The term middle-of-the-road has not been used favourably at times and yet many of the singers popular during the 1930s through to the 1970s and beyond have been just that. Many good voices have gained considerable traction with the listening public just for singing a song well, for understanding and interpreting a lyric and for an underlying musicality. And then there is the age-old question, is Frank Sinatra a jazz singer, is Tony Bennett a jazz singer? The answer is probably sometimes in that they both are jazz-tinged but there is a difference between the delivery of “The Lady Is a Tramp” and that of “My Way”, for example. Popular singers, of course emerged from the big-band era (what finer example than Doris Day) and the big band sound has flavoured the recording of many a popular song. Listen to Michael Buble’s backing which is often very jazzy while he is unlikely to be identified as a jazz singer. Similarly, Bobby Darin.
So Sunday’s concert brought us singer Chris Ross and the band Broadway Swing led by pianist and composer Greg Schultz. They gave us three sessions amounting to virtually 30 songs over the course of the afternoon which truly reflected this discussion. Most of the songs were standards or middle-of-the-road fare, delivered expertly and with some panache by Chris who understands his material well and clearly has a penchant for entertainment. It was a rousingly good afternoon and what made it even more pleasurable was the quality of the band Broadway Swing. It was only a 7-piece but at times it sounded like a big band, providing strong accompaniment to Chris’ vocals and excelling in the couple of instrumental numbers they were given. The three-horn front line could have been three rows of horns at times. The show began with an instrumental, Greg Schultz’s own theme “The Gift” from, I believe, the television series of the same name, which allowed the front-line musicians to set out their stall. Vocally, Chris got things underway with Sinatra’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and followed with a trio of Bobby Darin hits “Beyond the Sea”, “Mack the Knife” and “Sunday In New York” and also “Love For Sale” which he sang many times and is featured on his “Live At the Copa” album. Al Jolson’s “There’s a Rainbow Round My Shoulder” and the beautiful standard “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square” preceded the second instrumental, an arrangement by Paul Millard of “The Jam Session” from a long-forgotten film “Dingo” which was filmed largely in Meekatharra and Sandstone and starred trumpeter Miles Davis near the end of his life. The music was a collaboration between Miles and Michel Legrand. Chris completed the set with a couple of Sinatra favourites “The September Of My Years” and “You Make Me Feel So Young”, a theme carried into the second set with “The Lady Is a Tramp” and “Fly Me To the Moon”.
Nat King Cole lovers would be familiar with “It’s Only a Paper Moon” while “This Could Be the Start Of Something Big” is probably best remembered by versions by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme and Sammy Davis Jr. Tony Bennett’s triumphant “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” is a real crowd-pleaser and it is interesting to note that there is a recording on Sandy Hook records of a radio broadcast in the early 1960s with Tony accompanied by, among others, Gene Krupa. Chris passed the mike to Mark Underwood who was holding down the trumpet chair but took up the mike for a rousing version of “My Funny Valentine” before Chris rounded off the second set with a couple of numbers made famous recently by Michael Buble – “Sway” and “Cry Me a River”.
Chris raced through the third set with a series of very familiar tunes including Al Jolson’s “About a Quarter To Nine”, “Mammie” and “I’m Sitting On Top Of the World”, show tunes such as “Mame”, standards like “More”, “Volare” and “New York, New York”, as well as songs like “Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams” and “That Old Black Magic” that everyone has sung. He signed off fittingly with “That’s All” by which time everyone was either singing along or applauding with gusto or maybe both. It had been an entertaining afternoon. Chris Ross’ voice seems stronger and more confident than ever while the band offered such tight and professional arrangements and, as I have mentioned before, gave us a big sound with the brassy trumpet of Mark Underwood, the fiery trombone and languid humour of Kieran Hurley, the wonderfully fluid Paul Millard on alto and tenor saxes, the indefatigable Ray Walker on guitar, the rock-solid Lee Miller on bass and the driving drums of Robbie Corvaia. The band was led from the front with masterful aplomb by Greg Schultz on keyboards. I mentioned at the time that these were songs that I sing in the bath. The success of the afternoon was primarily the familiarity of the material and the enthusiasm with which it was delivered. There weren’t any complaints, of that I am sure.
WILL CHIEW AND FRIENDS: SUNDAY 16th JANUARY, 2022
One of the comments that I frequently hear in any discussion about what I like and don’t like in jazz is, “I don’t like drum solos”. Drummers, it seems, should know their place, by which is meant they should keep time, be unobtrusive and, of course, for many years that was the case. In any New Orleans ensemble the drummer kept time, barring the occasional 15 second break from a Zutty Singleton or a Sidney Catlett. I remember thinking, as I began my jazz journey, that Ben Pollack must have had great leadership qualities as, with regard to his drumming, I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. For me, things changed with Gene Krupa. Dashing, handsome man that he was, how could he sit meekly behind the drum kit just keeping time? The explosive breaks and high-octane rolling thunder of “Sing, Sing, Sing” from the famous 1938 Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert were a revelation and I could no longer just be satisfied with timekeeping when the drummer was creative and skilled enough to have something more to say. Enter Buddy Rich. I remember hearing “The Monster” and being bowled away by the sheer energy behind that track, the attacking interplay between the drummer and Oscar Peterson at the piano and the long driving, relentless solo that went on for minutes. Buddy didn’t just accompany, he drove every band he was a member of. Later, there was finesse, recalling that intensely introspective, understated solo from Joe Morello on Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five”.
So I really don’t mind a drummer who is heard as well as seen, particularly if that drummer has the technical skills to carry it off. On Sunday we were treated to a band led by drummer Will Chiew, the first time I believe that Will had led a band at least at Jazz Fremantle, and what a drummer he is, setting standards for the future that others will strive to achieve. Will is an immensely articulate drummer with both sticks and brushes and he is also polished and confident whether backing other soloists or taking a solo himself. The other members of the band supported him expertly as only such a line-up of musicians could – the ubiquitous Adrian Galante, this time solely on clarinet, the earthy depth of Damian Denyer’s baritone sax, the lyrical keyboard work and beautifully-worked vocals of Don Gomes and the grounded dependability of the bass of Danny Moss Jr. Together the band assembled a jazz session of high quality, covering material well known to aficionados, a reverent repertoire of jazz themes beginning with Count Basie’s “Corner Pocket” and then Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train” with solos from Adrian, Damian and Don and an initial solo foray from Will. Don Gomes delighted with his first vocal “How Long Has This Been Going On” in a piano trio setting. His voice is very jazz tinged with solid phrasing and a good feel for a lyric. “Just In Time” featured a superb clarinet solo from Adrian while Damian took on the ballad “In a Sentimental Mood”, Duke Ellington’s feature for his baritone player Harry Carney. Duke also recorded this song on the pioneering album with John Coltrane. “Caravan” was taken at pace and demonstrated Will’s abilities on brushes in an inspiring solo.
Damian’s baritone was to the fore on “Tea For Two” while Adrian caressed Duke Ellington’s beautiful ballad “Prelude To a Kiss”. “Robbins Nest” was written by mainstream icons Illinois Jacquet and Sir Charles Thompson in 1947 and featured, inter alia, by Count Basie and one of those Buck Clayton jam sessions. Both horns and piano took solos here while Damian fronted Michel Legrand’s “Watch What Happens” from the film “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”. Don sang a moving rendition of “You Don’t Know What Love Is” while the blues that closed the second set allowed everyone to stretch out, Will taking a particularly telling solo. “Love For Sale” allowed Don to express the necessary vocal poignancy with some fine clarinet from Adrian. Anyone playing baritone sax must give a nod to the icon Gerry Mulligan and Damian did just that with “Walkin’ Shoes”. The session was completed with two Duke Ellington numbers “Perdido” and “C Jam Blues”, the latter a fitting finale with a strong attack and a ferocious and technically brilliant explosive drum solo from Will which left the audience breathless.
Will Chiew is the future of jazz drumming here. He has so much talent and a personality to match and will certainly have many opportunities to play his impressive drums in different settings. He can hold his own in the best of company as he aptly demonstrated and I strongly thought that, like Buddy Rich, he is a driver. The fine band on display this afternoon was gifted with an excellent guiding hand, mature beyond his years and capable of demonstrating a terrific technique and the ability to provide the roots from which the band can grow. As a first-time leader he did well. He was not overawed by the talent around him and was personable and clearly in charge. We need to hear more – bring it on Will!
BLUIN’ THE BLUES: THE ALAN McCOWAT BAND, SUNDAY 9th JANUARY, 2022
Music with a bluesy feel from the Alan McCowat band this afternoon but a lot more besides. Alan had not to my knowledge played at Jazz Fremantle before and it was also the first time we had heard from singer Paula Graham. It is always good to break new ground and dig deep into the fantastic pool of talent that we have in our area. Another feature of Sunday’s session was the sheer enthusiasm with which the band went about their business. We know that playing music can be serious stuff but there was a party atmosphere on stage for most of the afternoon with light-hearted banter and good humour the order of the day. The music itself fed off the blues and rhythm and blues and was familiar territory for many of us who were around in the 1960s and 1970s and played witness to the British blues efforts of the time, as well as featuring songs associated with both American and Australian artists.
Alan McCowat’s guitar was dripping blues and reminiscent of some of the blues guitar maestros. So we could hear bits of Eric Clapton, B. B. King and other greats in his playing. His earthy voice suited the material which he treated with respect and a lot of character. Paula Graham was a revelation. Her first song was from Etta James and that set the standard for some very powerful vocal performances through the afternoon. We hope we see more of her. Master of everything Steve Searle, this afternoon mainly on tenor and some flute, blew his way heartily through the programme, sometimes soft, sometimes funky, sometimes wailing but always superb as he evoked the power of saxophonists such as Big Jay McNeely and Stanley Turrentine. Paul Reynolds grounded the band solidly on bass guitar and took vocal duties on some Georgie Fame numbers as well as one of his own compositions. The stalwart Mike Nelson was at home in the genre, coaxing blues-filled solos from his keyboard with organ and electric piano prominent. Sam Petit on drums was unobtrusive but he nevertheless rooted the band robustly throughout as a good rhythm and blues drummer should.
The session began with an instrumental version of Donny Hathaway’s “Valdez In the Country” which introduced Paula Graham’s beautiful version of Etta James’ “Sunday Kind Of Love”. Alan’s first vocal was the quirky Chuck Berry number “It Ain’t No Fun When the Rabbit’s Got the Gun” with Paula following with “It Won’t Be Long”. The band then paid homage to Georgie Fame, who has been entertaining us since 1959 and is still going strong. Georgie’s rhythm and blues menu was standard fare in the UK’s pop charts at one stage and he has always stayed true to the music that first inspired him. Alan took on the iconic “Yeh Yeh” while Paul revived “It Should Have Been Me”. Paula took the temperature up a notch with her take on Lee Dorsey’s “Reelin’ and a-Rockin’”.
The instrumental “Night Train” was composed by saxophonist Jimmy Forrest and first recorded by him in 1951. Steve’s storming tenor was front and centre on this version and there was some nice organ from Mike. Alan gave us the Mel Torme classic “Comin’ Home Baby” with Steve on flute and then there was a surprise. It isn’t often that you hear the name Elvis Presley at Jazz Fremantle but here was a slowed down version of “Don’t Be Cruel” lovingly caressed by Paula with some funky Steve Searle tenor. The band came back to Georgie Fame with Paul’s version of the old Muddy Waters tune “I Love the Life I Live” and Alan followed with the hit “Get On the Right Track Baby”. Paula’s blues-soaked “Tangled In Your Web” is from the pen of American blues pianist and singer Katie Webster while Paul’s own pen produced his vocal “I Really Do”. Australian influences featured on “Heading In the Right Direction” which Paula took from the Renee Geyer songbook while the instrumental “Steppin’ Out” originally featured Eric Clapton with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and provided a showcase for Alan’s flowing blues lines. “Stormy Monday Blues” had Alan and Paula both singing and was originally a hit for Bobby Bland in 1962. Back to Australia with Paula’s strong vocal on “You’ve Always Got the Blues” from the 1988 album of the same name by Kate Ceberano and Wendy Matthews, while Alan brought us back to the roots with B. B. King’s iconic “Help the Poor”. The afternoon was rounded off with a storming version of Etta James’ “Something’s Got a Hold On Me” with Paula’s powerful vocal prominent.
It was impossible not to feel buoyed by this music and it was a fitting way to bring in the New Year. It was certainly not straight ahead jazz but it was honest, jazz-tinged blues and rhythm and blues which is entirely relevant to Jazz Fremantle, brought to us by thoroughly capable musicians and singers enjoying the art of entertaining. We hope to see Alan and Paula again and, indeed, the entire band because this type of music is going to be important to us during the uncertain times ahead.
CHRISTMAS CHEER: JOYCE MATHERS AND COOL CHANGE: SUNDAY 19th DECEMBER, 2021
At this time of the year, people are beginning to wind down and are starting to think about getting together with loved ones and enjoying the holiday period together with all the trappings that go with it. Christmas is also a stressful time of the year – the very act of giving and receiving sometimes seems to stretch patience and tensions can rise accordingly. So it is important that we find ways of unwinding and relaxing and soaking up some of the festive spirit to de-stress and give ourselves a moment, a reality check if you like, a way to ride out the storms and tempests that Christmas can bring on. Sunday’s session at Jazz Fremantle was one of those ways. You needed to do nothing strenuous, just bring a smile and a listening ear and some of that goodwill to all men (and women, of course) and relax to the sounds and saucy banter of Joyce Mathers who had with her for this event a quartet going by the name of Cool Change. It was a comfortable, favourite armchair kind of afternoon with a lot of Christmas favourites, some Santa hats and toy elves, cake and goodies and even a visit from the Old Man from the North Pole himself, complete with a bag of liqueur-filled chocolates which he flung liberally around the room.
Joyce’s programme was suitably festive although she perhaps surprised a lot of us by starting with the classic “Summertime”, accompanied by Mike Wiese’s rich baritone sax. But we were soon into the season with Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” and “Jingle Bell Rock” and then young bassist Jason Wood, grandson of well-known local entertainer and restaurateur, Max Kay, took up the mike for “Silver Bells” and continued with his youthful tones with “Have You Met Miss Jones”. The band played the Christmas carol “We Three Kings” with Mike Viese to the fore on tenor sax before Joyce returned with a beautiful song derived from a poem by the late British Poet Laureate John Masefield titled “Vagabond”. She returned to the Christmas theme with Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby”, “Let It Snow”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “Just Friends” and Frank Loesser’s dreamy “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” recorded by Ella Fitzgerald. The first set finished with “Winter Wonderland” and a journey into the spirit world of John Lennon with “Imagine”.
Santa did his rounds between the two sets and plates of food were circulated to the gathered faithful who waited with bated breath for the raffle of three packed hampers. The second set began in season once again with “Christmas Is Here Again” and “The Christmas Song” before the band gave us “Time After Time”. Jason Wood returned to the mike to croon “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” while Joyce followed with “I’ll Never Be the Same” introduced to the world way back in 1932 by Mildred Bailey with Paul Whiteman’s orchestra. The dignified and heartfelt “Silent Night” was a more solemn moment to be followed by Peggy Lee and then husband Dave Barbour’s “Manyana (Is Soon Enough For Me)” with verses added by Joyce to complement the occasion including the serenading of Jazz Fremantle’s band booker Bill Dabbs and yours truly (for which many thanks Joyce). The band produced “Weaver Of Dreams” which Mike Wiese recalled hearing locally played by Danny Moss Sr., the father of one of our favourite bassists. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” was to be expected in a session such as this but not necessarily Sting’s “Fragile” written to commemorate the killing of American civil engineer Ben Linder by the Contras in Nicaragua in 1987. Joyce then told the sad story of how the robin got its red breast before swinging into “Rockin’ Robin” recalling Michael Jackson’s childhood with The Jacksons. The afternoon was rounded off with an impromptu medley of Christmas songs – “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and a light-hearted rendition of Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore” from Joyce and Jason.
So the afternoon was just what the doctor ordered. After all the COVID alarms of the past two years, at least those of us in WA can rest assured that we will have a COVID-free Christmas and New Year celebration before who knows what will happen after February 5th. Joyce Mathers was a perfect choice for this light-hearted romp through these Christmas favourites, her wit and charm warming the Jazz Fremantle audience, her sweet-sounding voice and Scottish storytelling smoothing our furrowed brows. It was as if we were all gathered round the fire with glasses of mulled wine while the snow piled up outside and the church bells rang. The band provided solid and sympathetic accompaniment, Mike Wiese’s tenor sax and somewhat underused baritone nicely lyrical, Kerry Stafford’s piano solid and tuneful, Jason Wood’s bass walking through the rhythm with Richard Pooley’s drums in strong support. Take a deep breath – and forget about 2022 for the moment.
THE BEAT GOES ON: THE SWAN RIVER RAMBLERS – SUNDAY 12th DECEMBER 2021
The Swan River Ramblers are frequent visitors to Jazz Fremantle now and the Club is all the better for it. Firstly, they never cease to entertain and secondly, because of that, members and guests turn up in good numbers so there is always a good audience. Other factors are also important, like the fact that the are all fine musicians at the top of their game and also they bring a sense of humour and affability to everything they do. They are our local “Supergroup”, individually all consummate artistes and together a tour de force revelling in each other’s skills and interacting like an Italian family over Sunday lunch. It is very satisfying listening to the way they share the spotlight, ensuring that each musician has his space. Pete Jeavons leads from the bass with his superb technique. You expect rock solid rhythm accompaniment from Pete but also fine and intricate solo work and we saw and heard him at his best this afternoon. Adam Hall’s personality is captivating, by turns mischievous and humorous, his vocals teasing and full of nuance and fun, his trumpet playing warm and raggy and beautifully crafted. Adrian Galante has amazing versatility and technical ability whether performing on clarinet or piano. There is always an air of anticipation when he solos, the audience wondering in what new audacious directions he will take us. Ray Walker is probably the best jazz guitarist around, providing strong accompaniment and bringing all his years of experience to understated lyrical and sinuous solos. Daniel Susnjar wouldn’t be playing with the Ramblers if they were on the paddle steamer “Decoy” but on stage he is a key player, powerfully accompanying the band and taking complex and stunning solos when the occasion demands. At the end of an extended recorded jam session, that master of the relevant quip Eddie Condon, referring to the band, was heard to say, “They ain’t nothin’ but a strolling group”. I guess the same could be said of the Swan River Ramblers.
The programme started gently with that Kenny Ball classic “Midnight In Moscow” before Adam took up the mike and sang “I Love Being Here With You” and the crowd favourite “The Bare Necessities”. Adrian launched a dynamic piano solo on “Caravan” while Adam caressed the words of that beautiful old ballad “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans” with Adrian weaving dreams on the clarinet which starred on Sidney Bechet’s “Si Tu Vois Ma Mere”. The audience consensus was that Ray Walker should be allowed to sing and he chose the Billie Holiday classic “Me, Myself and I” and in what was turning into an eclectic jazz mix, Adrian on clarinet and Adam on trumpet featured on Clifford Brown’s bop anthem “Joyspring”. The band returned to the golden days with “Basin Street Blues” and we all joined in with “The Sheik of Araby” with no pants on (you had to be there). Fats Waller was one of the first jazz musicians to record with a Hammond organ when he recorded his own composition “The Jitterbug Waltz”. Adam on trumpet and Adrian on piano crafted their own beautiful version while the clarinet was featured on “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing”.
The piano trio feature was that sumptuous ballad “Poor Butterfly” which was inspired by Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Madame Butterfly” with music written by the forgotten Raymond Hubbell. Adrian’s sultry version was superb of course and then Ray Walker was allowed to sing again, giving us Roberta Flack’s “When You Smile” with Adrian’s piano accompanying. Pete Jeavons had been consistently good through the programme and he excelled on “Moonglow” with Adrian on clarinet and Adam on trumpet. Adam went rambling through a vocal medley of what Louis Armstrong would have called “those good ole good ones” – “When My Dreamboat Comes Home”, “This Little Light Of Mine”, “You Are My Sunshine” and “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In” (and maybe others) – and he on trumpet and Adrian on clarinet combined beautifully on the pacey “Puttin’ On the Ritz”. Adam gave us a kiss on the cheek with the final number, Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia” and I swear there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was such a satisfying afternoon. We were assured that all was right with the world and everything was in its place. Our beloved music is in good hands with this scintillating bunch of musos at the height of their powers. I know it won’t be too long before we see them again and I am sure that most, if not all, in the audience cannot wait. Like that old riverboat bandleader and promoter of jazz talent, Fate Marable, who was born in December 1890, the Swan River Ramblers help jazz music drift downstream and into the ears of many. They are a rare talent.
YOUTHFUL ENTERPRISE: THE JORDAN BOASE QUINTET – SUNDAY 5th DECEMBER, 2021
Cards on the table. I am a huge fan of Kurt Elling. He comes to Perth when he can and is loved and appreciated by his many admirers. His singing is challenging – he does not come out of the mould. He is not a crooner but an interpreter. His voice is an instrument and his music is jazz so he uses his voice as an instrumentalist would, to weave and play with melodies and harmonies, to improvise and bend notes and not just sing a lyric. That sets him apart. Jazz is a broad church. Innovators are important to its development. Without them the music does not move forward. Where would jazz be without Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, innovators all. Kurt Elling is an innovator, building on the foundations of those who came before – Mark Murphy, Betty Carter in one way, Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross and even the Manhattan Transfer in another, all of them established jazz voices, all of them innovators.
Kurt Elling challenges us in many ways. While Jordan Boase is not Kurt Elling, clearly he has modelled his singing style on him and has a voice which offers similarities to the Elling style. Material is one challenge. I have not heard Kurt Elling sing a jazz standard for many years. He is innovative in his choice of material, yet Jordan chose to offer us standards, a good choice for the Jazz Fremantle faithful but not straightforward for an Elling stylist. Another challenge is scat. I think some of us are frightened of scat which is only a vocalist’s approximation of an instrumentalist’s improvisation, replacing words with nonsense syllables that swing through the line. And in jazz it’s as old as the hills. Think Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Leo Watson, Ella Fitzgerald, the Swingle Singers. You can go back even further and check out Ukulele Ike. The word “be-bop” may have come from a scat rendition and certainly scat revived during the be-bop era and again in the 1980s through the sophistication of Kurt Elling, Betty Carter and others. Jordan scatted, not extensively but enough to make us aware that he knows what he is doing. He has a little way to go yet to achieve the Elling heights but what a fantastic journey that will be. A third challenge is vocalese. Vocalese is not scat and not improvisation per se in that text of the lyric is set to the melody of a previously recorded improvisation. Eddie Jefferson was the pioneer in the 1940s and perhaps the most famous vocalese came from Lambert, Hendricks and Ross and their version of “Jumpin’ At the Woodside” with the vocalists transposing the instrumental improvisations from the Basie original. It is not improvisation – it is hard graft. The original solos have to be memorised and words adjusted to fit. Jordan’s vocalese was excellent and provided some of the high points of this afternoon’s session.
So a challenging afternoon then, made all the more rewarding in that it was in the hands of five young musicians, all from WAAPA, whose average age was probably around 20 or 21. We have seen the rhythm duo of bassist Cass Evans-Ocharen and drummer Cameron Fermoyle a few times now at Jazz Fremantle and they are very impressive indeed. Playing together very frequently has meant they have such a strong musical empathy that gives the rhythm lines a seamless quality. Cameron’s deft work with both sticks and brushes and Cass’s strong bass lines laid the basis for the band. Bob Tweedie is a highly accomplished and lyrical pianist with good improvisational skills and a creative flair and he gave us many fine contributions throughout the afternoon. Oliver Taylor’s tenor sax was not the usual driving delivery that we might expect from many of the fine sax players who appear at Jazz Fremantle. His was a breathy, languid tone, hesitant and understated but with a fine sense of timing. Leading from the front, Jordan Boase’s vocal work was deliberate, full of certainty and powerfully Elling-esque. The standard repertoire kicked off with “There Will Never Be Another You” and “How Deep Is the Ocean” and then Rodgers and Hart’s “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was”, taking a nod from one of today’s top female singers Cecile McLorin Salvant. The scatting in these initial numbers was circumspect and a little lacking in coherence but the overall performance was solid and engaging. We have seen and heard Jordan before, chiefly with WAYJO, but this is the first time we have seen him leading his own band and taking the vocal spotlight extensively and he was truly up to the task. Duke Ellington’s “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good” was followed by Isham Jones’ “There Is No Greater Love” and then there was a treat.
Saxophonist Wayne Shorter wrote and recorded “Night Dreamer” and Kurt Elling added beautiful words and recorded a vocalese version of the song 21 years ago. It is technically very challenging and requires a great technique and breath control. Jordan had this in spades and produced a highly accomplished cover that I am sure Mr. Elling himself would be proud of. More standards followed – “Some Day My Prince Will Come”, “Comes Love”, Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight” and “But Not For Me”. The third set began with the drama drenched “All Or Nothing At All” and then we had a second treat. Jordan was joined by Sofie Kerr, gifted beyond her years, for a duet on “Social Call” with music by Gigi Gryce and words by Jon Hendricks which has some pedigree from 1961’s version by Betty Carter to that of the latest kid on the block Jazzmeia Horn. This was superb. Sofie’s pure voice handled the trickiness of the melody and her scatting was well-constructed, proving a perfect compliment to Jordan’s own vocal moves. The audience wanted more but Jordan rounded off the session with the standards “Love For Sale” and “I’m Old Fashioned” and the Latin-tinged “How Insensitive”.
While I recognise that the session was not to everyone’s liking, it was to mine and I commend Jordan and the band for daring to give us a great take on a kind of vocal jazz that we do not see or hear much at Jazz Fremantle. The young musicians as well as Jordan himself herald a great future for jazz locally and they can only get better which means that we have a lot to look forward to.
GIRL TALK: THE SUE BLUCK QUARTET – SUNDAY 28th NOVEMBER, 2021
The role of women in jazz is an interesting one. As instrumentalists, women have never been prominent until, perhaps, recently, but still women are underrepresented among the plethora of jazz musicians vying for our attention. There were exceptions of course – pianists Mary Lou Williams and Marian McPartland, trombonist Melba Liston, vibraphone player Margie Hyams – but female representation was rare. More recently we have had the likes of Alice Coltrane and Terri Lyne Carrington and there are many more women now with the potential to break through into the international arena but still they are scarce while all-female bands are virtually non-existent. Perhaps the only area where women have held their own consistently is that of vocal jazz. There were some obvious reasons, not always to do with talent. Swing bands would hire female vocalists to provide a bit of glamour although, of course, many of them did break through to become compelling artistes in their own right. Torch songs were often the order of the day, plaintive ballads about unrequited love to tug at the heartstrings. Singers like Billie Holiday were in a league of their own while some of them, like Ella Fitzgerald, became defining voices in jazz. Frequently they were piano players too and some continued to play while others sang to the accompaniment of others. Many were very good indeed, understanding and interpreting the jazz genre expertly and establishing themselves strongly in the public consciousness. I am sure that many of us can name more female jazz singers than male, such is the prominence they have in the music.
Sue Bluck and her Quartet, arriving hot-foot from the long drive from Esperance, brought us a flavour of these female vocalists as she presented “Girl Talk”, or “Women Talk” as it should be because there was nothing girl-like about these singers. Sue’s principal focus was on singers who played piano although they often achieved prominence without the keyboard. Her performance highlighted her own keyboard skills as much as her vocals and she is certainly a prolific improviser with a lyrical touch to enhance her earthy vocals. She began with Peggy Lee’s “Why Don’t You Do Right” and “Black Coffee” (with some robust guitar from John Pin) as well as “I Love Being Here With You” which was covered more recently by current vocal and piano stylist Diana Krall. On the way we had Dinah Washington’s “Is You Is Or is You Ain’t My Baby” and Nina Simone’s saucy “I Wanna Little Sugar in My Tea”. The standard “Nearness Of You” was followed by a tribute to local diva Helen Matthews who has sung with the finest and wrote the touching song for her daughter “Phoebe At 3” with music from John Pin. The first instrumental of the afternoon, Pat Metheny’s “Travels” provided a showcase for John Pin’s guitar while Dinah Washington’s “Evil Gal Blues” had music by Lionel Hampton and words by an Englishman, jazz impresario and writer Leonard Feather.
The instrumental “Stella By Starlight” heralded a couple of numbers from that brilliant vocalist Carmen McCrae, Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll” and the heart-wrenching pathos of “Love for Sale” (banned by some for daring to highlight the sad realities of prostitution). We moved on to Sarah Vaughn, who had a tremendous range, with “I’ve Got the World On a String” and the flirtatious “Whatever Lola Wants”. Another highlight for John Pin was Jose Feliciano’s “Affirmation” while Dinah Washington’s “What a Difference a Day Makes” with music from Mexican composer and long-time New York resident Maria Grever and words from her frequent collaborator Stanley Adams, was smoothly sung by Sue. The instrumental “Waltz For Dave” from the pen of Chick Corea gave Sue the opportunity to showcase her keyboard talent. Today’s prominent singer/pianist Diana Krall was given a feature through three numbers closely associated with her – “On the Sunnyside Of the Street” , “Let’s Fall In Love” and “East Of the Sun”. The highlight of the afternoon for me was Sue’s rendition of Nancy Wilson’s “The Old Country”. Nancy, who left us recently, was such an underrated singer but Sue produced a beautiful version that reprised Nancy’s vocal artistry and sophistication. Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” was unexpected and the band concluded with a rousing instrumental version of “Sweet Georgia Brown”.
The entire session was a fine tribute to the rich vein of female vocalists who have populated the jazz pantheon through the years. The band were superb throughout. As already mentioned, Sue Bluck is a very good pianist whose voice adapts well to the different timbres and intensities of the singers she chose to feature. John Pin’s guitar was fluent and expressive throughout and he relished the solo space he was frequently given. Joe Powell’s bass playing was dependable and solid while Garry Howard’s drums grounded the band in great style. This was an enjoyable set that reminded us of the wealth of pleasure that emanates from jazz’s great female voices.
TREAT IT GENTLE: PHIL HATTON AND THE BECHET LEGACY – SUNDAY 21st NOVEMBER, 2021
For me, last Sunday’s Jazz Fremantle session was like stepping back in time in more ways than one. Undoubtedly, Sidney Bechet was one of the pioneers of jazz, a soaring virtuoso whose star shone as brightly as other early pioneers such as Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins. But from a personal perspective, Sidney Bechet provided me with some of my earliest jazz “moments”, memories of mind-blowing instances that set me on my jazz journey. I remember acquiring a couple of 45 rpm French Vogue discs with tracks like “Royal Garden Blues”, that paired Bechet with the clunking Paris-based jazz orchestras of Claude Luter and Andre Reweliotty. The bands were, at the very most, pedestrian, but the regal soprano sax of Bechet lit up the recordings and the sheer panache and attack of his delivery was incredible to hear. I later progressed to listening to other great Bechet tracks, the Blue Note sides, for example, including the huge hit “Summertime”, and, of course, the enormously influential Mezzrow-Bechet Quintet, pairing Bechet on both clarinet and soprano sax with the oddball Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, also on clarinet. Mezz was not a particularly accomplished clarinetist and was known in the business as much for his attachment to marijuana as to jazz but his admiration of Bechet was crucial and he sympathetically laid down harmonies that enhanced Bechet’s virtuosity. Some of these sides are truly memorable. So Sidney Bechet was a giant, not necessarily a particularly nice man, but one who helped to take jazz out of the confines of ragtime and on into the swinging genre that we now have.
Phil Hatton is well known to the members of Jazz Fremantle. He is not only a fine musician but also a student of jazz history. He is respectful of the great pioneers and keen to preserve their memories in performance so in bringing the Bechet Legacy band to the Club on Sunday he was able to give us a taste of the great music served up by the clarinet and soprano sax virtuoso as well as feature some of the many compositions that Sidney Bechet wrote over the course of his lifetime. Phil played both clarinet and soprano sax as well as tenor and he was joined in the front-line by Steve Searle, a multi-instrumentalist himself, “Steve Searle on everything” as Phil announced. He played soprano sax and clarinet but also baritone sax and trumpet and the two principals brought the Bechet era to life with a selection of Bechet originals and covers. Bechet spent much of his life in France – he was of Creole origin from New Orleans – and some of his compositions have titles in French. With Phil on clarinet and Steve on soprano we heard “Egyptian Fantasy” and “Si Tu Vois Ma Mere” (“If You See My Mother”) and with both on clarinet “Black Stick”, while Phil took on the soprano and Steve the clarinet for one of Bechet’s most famous melodies “Petite Fleur” (or “Little Flower”). The clarinet/soprano sax combination featured again on “Le Marchand de Poission” (“The Fish Seller”), the “Quincy Street Stomp” and “Dans Les Rues D’Antibes” (“On the Streets Of Antibes”). The band threw in a couple of extras with Jonathan Chen laying down his bass and taking up the violin on “All Of Me” while Phil’s tenor and Steve’s soprano took on Lester Young’s “Tickle Toe”. These were strong performances, full of Bechet-like touches as both front-liners delighted the audience with their deft touch and lyrical approach to this historic music. They were backed by the veteran pianist Barry Bruce, who seemed to be in his element, and the youthful Jonathan Chen on bass and Will Chiew on drums, both of whom contributed solid accompaniment with occasional solo flourishes.
Owen Measday was the featured singer for the afternoon. He is a promising vocalist who is improving all the time and he brought his vocal stylings to a variety of material from the Bechet period. My feeling was that there was too much vocal for a session titled the Bechet Legacy as Bechet and vocals did not mix particularly well but it was good to hear Owen covering such songs as the perennial “Somebody Loves Me”, Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields’ “Doin’ the New Lowdown” and “Just One Of Those Things”. We also had David Raskin’s theme from the 1945 film “Laura”, Nat King Cole’s “When I Take My Sugar To Tea”, “Lulu’s Back In Town” and “What Is This Thing Called Love”. Saxophonist and bandleader Don Redman wrote “Gee Baby Ain’t I Good To You” with words from Andy Razaf while King Oliver’s “Dr. Jazz” was supposedly co-written by music publisher Walter Melrose who frequently got his name in as co-composer (often without merit). For most of the last set, Steve Searle switched to trumpet which was perfect for the 1935 song by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby and Oscar Hammerstein II, “Give Me a Kiss To Build a Dream On” made famous, of course, by Louis Armstrong. Owen concluded with the standard “Love For Sale” and a rousing version of Fats Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose” again with lyrics by Andy Razaf. This was an afternoon of fine old vintage jazz from very talented musicians, fully appreciative of the Bechet legacy. It is good for Jazz Fremantle to visit this period from time to time. These are the roots of the music we love and we should always be mindful of them.
THE STARS WERE BRIGHTLY SHINING: THE ADRIAN GALANTE SEXTET – SUNDAY 14th NOVEMBER, 2021
I have written before about running out of superlatives and last Sunday’s session left me with a giant conundrum, a genuine headache. I know that we are biased at Jazz Fremantle into believing that we have some of the finest jazz music and musicians this side of the Pacific and Indian Oceans (well this side of any ocean in the world actually) but truly I found myself wondering on Sunday what I would expect from a top class American band playing, say, at the Blue Note in New York. Last time I was in the US I heard a performance at Snug Harbour in New Orleans that made me realise that brilliant through much of the jazz we hear at Jazz Fremantle is, there is another dimension, reserved for those in the very top flight. Most of those musicians are probably American (though not entirely – think of James Morrison). Well, I got a sense of that other dimension on Sunday. We know how good Adrian Galante is and it has been said many times that if it weren’t for COVID 19 he might well be in New York, lost to us forever. Well, he’s not. He is very much with us and he produced the kind of performance on Sunday that simply took my breath away – I have never witnessed a standing ovation at Jazz Fremantle before but it happened and was well-deserved. The other part of that extra dimension is that it wasn’t just Adrian; the entire band stepped up to produce the kind of performance that is difficult to emulate.
Adrian is a showman. He is flamboyant and musically very articulate whether on clarinet or on piano and Sunday’s session gave us good, high-class portions of both. The rest of the sextet supported him admirably as we might expect from musicians who are very used to each other’s company and musical intuition. Adrian began on clarinet as the full sextet presented the standards “Chicago” and “Goodnight My Love”. From the outset there was gorgeous interplay between Adrian’s clarinet and the tenor sax of the youthful Lachlan Glover. A multi-instrumentalist himself, it seems only yesterday that Lachie was leading the CB College band on trumpet but the maturity of his tenor lines belied his youth and he consistently served up robust solo work. Harry Mitchell was at the piano whenever Adrian wasn’t and he joined Danny Moss Jr. on bass and Bronton Ainsworth on drums for a beautiful version of “You Stepped Out Of a Dream”. If Adrian is the extrovert, Harry is the introvert and his effortless playing evoked Bill Evans among others. He is one of ten pianists Australia-wide who are in the finals of the National Jazz Awards which will be presented at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival in online concerts from 26th to 28th November. He is the only finalist from Western Australia so we wish him the best of luck. The band came together again for “Indian Summer” (minus Lachlan), the Victor Herbert tune made famous by Tommy Dorsey, followed by “I Wanna Be Happy” and Ben Webster’s “Poutin'”.
Enter Adrian the pianist, firstly with Ray Brown’s “Dejection Blues”, accompanying Lachlan’s tenor and Ray Walker’s guitar, and then solo with an exquisite, languid take on Duke Ellington’s “A Single Petal Of a Rose” from the “Queen’s Suite”. He followed with “Stranger In Paradise” before the whole band came together on “The Man I Love” and “All My Tomorrows”. The climax was to come. The third set kicked off with Sunny Skylar’s “Gotta Be This Or That” and then there was an announcement. Adrian had been wittily announcing the sets throughout the afternoon and told us how important it was for him to play the next number as it was a request from his grandmother. It was a piano trio, Adrian on piano with Danny Moss Jr. on bass and Bronton Ainsworth on the drums. The number was “I Will Wait for You” by Michel Legrand from the movie “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”. Beginning with a steady tempo, Adrian proceeded to give us an exhilarating extended version of the tune during which he constantly change tempo, rhythm and style in a breathtaking showpiece of staggering technical brilliance. I have certainly never heard the like before and I am assuming that most of the Jazz Fremantle audience hadn’t either as the cheering and applause at the end morphed into a standing ovation. It was simply stunning. And if the final number “Just In Time” by the whole band seemed anticlimactic, it wasn’t because it paled by comparison. It was just that the Jazz Fremantle faithful and friends were regaining their composure as the band tore through the old standard with panache. An outstanding set then with so much to admire and enjoy. The consummate Ray Walker on guitar, so unobtrusive in the ensembles but electrifying in his frequent solo outings, continued, as always, to impress. Danny Moss Jr. is a masterful bass player whose sense of timing and swing really grounded the band while Bronton Ainsworth is probably one of the finest drummers around and he gave us plenty to admire is his eclectic and versatile solo work and his steady and intricate accompaniment. The jazz was hot, the Jazz Fremantle stage even hotter as the musicians struggled to beat the deficiencies of the air conditioning. But make no mistake, the conditions were no match for the calibre of musicianship on display.
THE KALAMUNDA YOUTH SWING BAND – SUNDAY 7th NOVEMBER, 2021
We are blessed at Jazz Fremantle to playing host to some of the finest jazz musicians and singers in Western Australia. Indeed, some may argue that much of the talent appearing at the Navy Club on Sunday afternoons is world-class and certainly is as good as you will get in Australia. But what is also true is that jazz cannot (and must not) stand still. New forms of jazz are essential for its overall health but more importantly that that, new generations of players are needed to ensure the survival and growth of the music. At Jazz Fremantle, we have an obligation to promote the live performance of jazz music and while that is a great end in itself, ensuring that we protect the genre for future generations is also a significant aim. That is why, this year, we promoted a series of youth jazz sessions with grant money from the Commonwealth Government and it is also why we should seek to promote young jazz musicians at the regular Jazz Fremantle sessions on Sunday afternoons, alongside the established players.
So it was that Sunday afternoon’s session saw us providing a platform for the delightful Kalamunda Youth Swing Band (KYSB) and its commitment to nurturing and developing professional music skills in young musicians by offering them exposure to opportunities to perform big band music of all styles and from all eras from an early age. Since its foundation in 1989, the KYSB has had considerable exposure supporting world-renowned musicians and singers with an extensive repertoire developed over the past three decades. Led by musical director Alistair McEvoy, the KYSB began its session on Sunday with a focus on the big band sounds of the 1940s from Glenn Miller’s “A String Of Pearls”, “In the Mood” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo” to Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train”, Stan Kenton’s “Eager Beaver” and Count Basie’s version of Ellington’s “Satin Doll” and “Basie Straight Ahead” from the pen of long-time arranger Sammy Nestico. The first set also included the quirky “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” and a sumptuous version of “Misty” featuring the warm tenor sax of Emily Clarke who featured throughout the afternoon.
The second set featured the gentle vocals of Isabella Bormolini who laid aside her sax to take us through a string of standards such as “Fly Me To the Moon”, “‘S Wonderful”, “All Of Me” and a lovely version of “All the Way”. The band then took over for Basie’s “Shiny Stockings” before Isabella returned with “It’s Only a Paper Moon”, “Almost Like Being In Love”, “L-O-V-E”, “Whatever Lola Wants” and “Cheek To Cheek”. In set three, Jordan Bonomi sang from the keyboard, again giving us familiar fare with “It Had To Be You” and encouraging the band to join him on “Come Fly With Me”. These were followed by “I Get a Kick Out Of You” and a lush version of “In the Wee Small Hours Of the Morning”. The band took us on a “Latin Excursion” which was composed, I believe, by the late Mike Carubia who died earlier this year. Mike composed and arranged a number of pieces for jazz orchestra and was also a renowned music educator. Jordan Bonomi returned for a final vocal fling with “The Way You Look Tonight”, “Pennies From Heaven”, “Witchcraft” and a stomping “Choo Choo Cha Boogie” with the trumpets in full flight.
This was an enjoyable set of big band instrumentals and vocals from a young band that is clearly enthusiastic about and committed to the music. One of the most encouraging elements was the number of women that the band included – they dominated the sax section, for example, and contributed greatly to the band’s overall sound. Under the capable direction of Alistair McEvoy, who was also MC for the afternoon, the band began tentatively (new trumpets we were told and some unfamiliarity with the charts) but as soon as they had found their feet (which did not take too long) they took us on a joyride and left a very satisfied and thoroughly entertained audience. The full line-up of the band is Pierson Snowsill, Sam Graham and Blake Robertson-Hall (trumpets), Scott Davis and Lennon Tunney (trombones), Stef Bennett, Isabella Bormolini, Emily Clarke, Christine Ferguson, Thomas Munyard and Owen Rossiter (saxes), Jordan Bonomi (keyboards), Josh Gray (bass), Will Chiew (drums). Isabella Bormolini and Jordan Bonomi doubled on vocals.
HITTIN’ ON ALL SIX: THE JAZZ GUITAR SOCIETY OF WA – SUNDAY 31st OCTOBER, 2021
The guitar is not the most obvious solo instrument in jazz. For many years jazz bands did not contain a guitar (just as they did not contain a bass). The more limited tenor banjo was prominent and its role was almost solely as a rhythm instrument as it was loud and its sound could cut through the overall ensemble. As that doyen of jazz historians Joop Visser, has written, “Unlike in music forms like the blues, country and western, rock ‘n’ roll and many types of folk music, the guitar had a much tougher time to establish itself in the world of jazz……The guitar (when used) was restricted to playing rhythm as a member of the rhythm section….It was not until the late 1920s that the guitar overtook the banjo, at the same time as the double bass ousted the tuba.” (from sleeve notes to the CD jazz guitar compilation “Hittin’ On All Six”). There were exceptions of course. The unique talents of Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson were part of the sound that swung the 1920s, for example, while improvements in amplification in clubs and recording techniques enabled the very quiet guitar to be finally heard as a solo instrument. This allowed the soaring virtuosity of Django Reinhardt to become such a significant voice in the 1930s. The amplification of the instrument itself, and the extraordinary precocity of pioneers such as Charlie Christian, was a huge step forward from which point the jazz guitar has maintained a solid place as both a solo instrument as well as an audible member of the ensemble. These days, of course, the jazz guitar is very prominent and here in WA we are lucky to have the Jazz Guitar Society as a leader and promoter of the instrument in the region, Founded in 1989 by well-known local guitarists Garry Lee and Ian Macgregor (the latter acting as MC for this afternoon’s session), the JGSWA’s purpose is to generate an interest in jazz guitar in all its forms. You can become a member for only $15 per year.
The JGSWA have been presenting an annual concert at Jazz Fremantle for many years now and the session gave us a variety of styles which proved how substantial a part the guitar now plays in the overall jazz music pantheon. The session began with four numbers from Fremantle local Colin Scott. This was a quiet, introspective set full of interest and deft touches as Colin wove his way through Wayne King, Victor Young and Egbert Van Alstyne’s “Beautiful Love”, “Searchin'” and the standards “For All We Know” and “If I Should Lose You”.
Kristian Borring’s contribution was more forceful and extrovert. He is currently teaching guitar at WAAPA and he began with the familiar “Darn That Dream”. He has recorded fairly consistently, especially with the musicians he collaborates with when resident in London. From his latest album “Out Of Nowhere” came “Three Rivers”, his own composition celebrating the German town of Passau, on the border with Austria where the rivers Rhine, Inn and Ilz meet. Powerful solo work by Kristian was matched by top-class bass playing by Pete Jeavons and Daniel Susnjar on drums both of them using their solo space to the full and contributing to the overall pace and drive. Kristian’s concluding number was Charlie Parker’s “Bloomdido”, also from the new album, the epitome of bop flavours made famous by Bird and Diz together, and bringing out the best in Kristian’s technique.
Ray Walker is simply the most consistently brilliant jazz guitarist around and his long career is testament to the quality of his playing over the years and to the stellar company with whom he has practiced his art, both as a player and a teacher. His set was not all straightforward, beginning with the Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse show tune “What Kind Of Fool Am I?” and continuing with another show and movie theme “Singin’ In the Rain” with music by Nacio Herb Brown which, although the stand-out feature of the 1952 film of the same name starring Gene Kelly, actually made its first appearance in 1929. A bossa nova followed, one of Ray’s own compositions, and the set concluded with “I’ll Never Stop Loving You” and “Besame Mucho”. Ray played this set with the ease of someone who has lived the jazz life and has a consumate control of his craft and improvisational panache. An additional treat was a duet between Ray and Kristian Borring who joined forces on “Alone Together”. Throughout, the afternoon Pete Jeavons on bass and Daniel Susnjar on drums provided outstanding support but they were given their solo space too and took it with professional aplomb.
The final set of the afternoon took us back to the 1930s and Django Reinhardt. It is called “gypsy jazz” these days in honour of Django who was a Manouche Gypsy of Belgian nationality. He left a legacy of over 850 recordings many of those with Stephane Grappelli and the Quintette Du Hot Club De France but he was more of an innovator than some people think, although it is to those classic recordings of the 1930s that many guitarists still turn. This includes the Perth-based duo of Aaron Deacon and Lachlan Gear whose elegant and complex guitar runs set the Navy Club alight. Accompanied only by Pete Jeavons on bass, the duo brought us an exciting mix of music ranging from Gerry Mulligan’s “Bernie’s Tune”, to old faithfuls such as “After You’ve Gone” and Django’s own mournful ballad “Nuages” (“Clouds”). Along the way there was the Latin-inspired “Eleanor’s Bossa” and a beautiful version of “I’ll See You In My Dreams” composed by Isham Jones as long ago as 1924. This was a Pete Jeavons speciality demonstrating his dexterity on the bass as he deftly took the melody with some intricate finger-work. The final number was Django’s own “Feerie”, or “Fairy” or “Fairy Dance” in English. The finger-work of the two guitarists was magical as they conjured up images of those old Hot Club days and the Jazz Fremantle faithful were clearly very impressed. The entire session was a testament to the importance that the guitar now has in jazz. It has passed through many different phases and can be heard in many guises but the guitar is now firmly established. We look forward to next year!!
“IT MUST SCHWING!”: PAUL MILLARD PRESENTS THE BLUENOTES JAZZ SEPTET – A BLUE NOTE ARTISTS TRIBUTE – SUNDAY 24th OCTOBER, 2021
There have been times in recent musical history when an era is defined by a record label. One thinks of Tamla Motown or Chess with soul music or Capitol Records with the famed crooners and popular singers of the 1940s and 1950s. There are a number of such labels in jazz, such as Impulse or Columbia, but none has defined a significant moment in jazz time as much as the Blue Note label. The string of jazz artistes who became household names to modern jazz aficionados in the 1950s and 1960s is endless, as the label poured out a torrent of hard bop classics, many of them in quartet, quintet and sextet format, that laid the musical foundation for a generation of jazz fans. The label was the brainchild of two Jewish immigrants and childhood friends from Berlin. Alfred Lion originally left Berlin in 1926 and emigrated to the US but was seriously injured when he was attacked by an anti-immigrant worker while employed on the New York docks and he returned to Germany to recuperate. He eventually traveled to South America in 1933 and ended up in New York again in 1938. His childhood friend, Francis Wolff emigrated to New York in the late 1930s, allegedly on one of the last ships to sail from Europe before the start of the Second World War. Their combined passion for jazz led to the formation of Blue Note Records in 1939.
Francis focused on the business side of the operation while Alfred concerned himself with the music, although for some time neither earned a cent from the operation – Blue Note was not their day jobs as they sought to get the label established and poured all that they earned from the operation back into the company. The original Blue Note artistes were blues and traditional jazz musicians. Alfred had attended the legendary “Spirituals to Swing” concerts at Carnegie Hall in 1938 and his first recordings were with the boogie woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis and the first major hit for the company was Sidney Bechet’s “Summertime”. It was an introduction by Alfred to Thelonious Monk that led to an increased focus on the modern jazz developments for which the label is chiefly known and hard bop became its trade mark. Keeping their heads above water was not easy and there were years of struggle for Blue Note, notably in the 1950s when they were rescued by the craze for jazz organ and the label’s signing of Jimmy Smith. Much of the recording work was undertaken by famed recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, while Francis Wolff took most of the iconic photos that appeared on the record sleeves designed for the most part by Reid Miles. Alfred Lion sold the company and retired in 1967.
And so to the music. I could not think of a more reverential jazz musician than Paul Millard, whose commitment to and respect for the different genres of the music over the years is total. He brought his Bluenotes Jazz Septet to Jazz Fremantle three weeks after he had provided us with a terrific session of big band music with Straight Ahead, the Big Band and the consummate professionalism he and his fellow musicians brought to both was palpable. The septet took us through a selection of the small group jazz that was such a feature of Blue Note records, with the bonus of vocals by Victoria Newton, that was utterly respectful to the originals at the same time as being uniquely owned by a group of some of our best known jazz musicians. Kicking off with the famed “Blues March” of Art Blakey, with some driving drumming by Bronton Ainsworth, the septet continued with Stanley Turrentine’s “Shirley” and Clifford Brown’s “Dee-Dah”. Along with Bronton’s drumming, Iain Robbie’s percussion was a notably integral component of the band’s sound throughout and there were exciting exchanges between percussion and drums during the session. Alistair Peel grounded the band with some inventive and understated bass playing and the entire rhythm section was as good as you will find anywhere.
Enter Victoria Newton and the Blue Note repertoire suited her vocal skills and energy to a tee. We are so lucky to have access to such a fine singer on such a regular basis. She began with a version of Horace Silver’s “Song For My Father” (using lyrics from the Gregory Porter take) and then gave us a display of vocal gymnastics with Wardell Gray and Annie Ross’ “Twisted”, evoking Marlena Shaw’s live Montreux Jazz Festival appearance in 1973. The band concluded the first set with Freddie Hubbard’s “Crisis” bringing us the fine solo work of trumpeter Ricki Malet, one of a number of strong performances throughout the session. Then we were into Blue Mitchell’s “Fungi Mama” and a beautiful flute solo from Paul Millard on Horace Silver’s “Summer in Central Park”. Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” is an notable example of Blue Note recordings from the early 1960s. Virginia Newton took us on Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” (with a nod to Dianne Reeves) and delivered a sumptuous version of “The Nearness Of You”. In a surprise addition to the lineup, Ricki Malet’s partner Jess Carlton took over the trumpet lead on an upbeat version of “Watermelon Man”.
So much of the Blue Note catalogue featured tenor saxophone and this was reflected in the numbers chosen for the session as it allowed Paul Millard to give us a masterful display, as on Hank Mobley’s “This Idea of You” which was followed by Wayne Shorter’s “Speak No Evil”. With Paul and Ricki providing a strong front line, it was left to keyboardist Mike Nelson to weave his magic around the horns and to make maximum use of his solo space. Victoria Newton returned with a number from the more recent Blue Note catalogue, Norah Jones and Robert Glasper’s collaboration “Let It Ride”. She followed that with an atmospheric “Soul Eyes” (Mal Waldron) and finished with a stomping version, a la Dianne Reeves, of the old Billie Holiday number “What a Little Moonlight Can Do”. This was an outstanding and very passionate session which meant so much to those of us familiar with Blue Note Records. I came to them later in my jazz journey but I’ve made up time since my first hearing. Alfred Lion, referring to the label’s musical content, said “It must schwing!!”. Well swing it did this afternoon and thanks to Paul, Victoria and the band, we were witness to a very fine tribute to a great record label and its founders.
THE MASTER AND THE APPRENTICE: ROGER GARROOD AND SIMON STYLES WITH BRONWYN SPROGOWSKI – SUNDAY 17th OCTOBER, 2021
It is difficult to believe that Adolphe Sax introduced us to his new invention as long ago as the 1840s; it is so much a part of our musical environment now but really it has only become that during the last one hundred years or so. And in no other musical genre has the saxophone taken such a substantial hold than in jazz. It is now integral to our music, so much so that it is difficult to conceive of listening to the music without it. So many of the icons of jazz are saxophonists, primarily, it must be said, playing the alto or the tenor, those two most expressive versions of the instrument. It is with the alto and tenor we hear the romance and the eroticism but also the power and grit and sometimes the almost down and dirty. The alto and tenor have dominated to such an extent that it is sometimes difficult for other forms to find their place although the soprano has a strong place now and sometimes the baritone. Other forms of the instrument have passed from favour, particularly the bass sax which sometimes, in the early days of jazz, provided the bass lines in the ensemble but rarely made it as a solo instrument for obvious reasons.
Roger Garrood, the Master, has been playing and teaching the saxophone in Perth for six decades now while Simon Styles, the Apprentice, was one of Roger’s students. For Sunday’s session, they both played mostly alto sax although Simon also featured on soprano, particularly as an accompaniment to the vocals. It has to be said that both are masters, and while at one time Simon may have been Roger’s apprentice, on stage this afternoon we really had the Old Master (with apologies to Roger) and the New Master. They presented us with a varied programme of solid jazz themes, some of which Simon recalled from those days 40 years ago when he was studying with the Master. And it was a master class. From the opening bars of the perennial favourite “Caravan” to the breathtaking twin alto attack on the concluding Horace Silver’s “Room 608”, both musicians were at the top of their game and thrilled a good-sized audience with their flair and creativity. Both took a solo each but the session was mostly dueling altos with powerful solo work enhancing the dueting. The first set also included Milt Jackson’s “Bag’s Groove”, with both saxophonists reprising fellow altoist Lou Donaldson from the original recording, and Duke Ellington’s “Perdido”. These were followed by “The Girl From Ipanema” and the bop classics “A Night In Tunisia” and Nat Adderley’s “Work Song”. The twin saxes were accompanied throughout by an inventive David Martinus on piano, the solid bass of Phil Waldron and the percussive flair of Pete Evans on drums.
The rest of the programme featured the accomplished vocals of Bronwyn Sprogowski who chose an eclectic set of songs that dug deep into the jazz canon and steered well clear of what might be called standard jazz vocal fare. Like, for example, Saul Chaplin and Sammy Kahn’s “Please Be Kind”, bassist Jimmy Woode’s “I Don’t Want Nothin’ From Nobody” and bop pianist Duke Jordan’s “Jordu” given jazz fame by Clifford Brown and Max Roach. The material she chose enabled Bronwyn to really test her voice, which is very fine indeed, including same great scatting. Scatting is not to everyone’s taste and much of it can be very indifferent but in Bronwyn’s hands it is delightful and technically very sound. She showed this on Dexter Gordon’s “Fried Bananas” as a scatted intro to “It Could Happen To You”. She evoked Carmen McRae, obviously a favourite, on Dave Brubeck’s “It’s a Raggy Waltz” and offered solid scatting once more on Frank Foster’s “Shiny Stockings”. A slightly strange choice was the pop ballad “If” from David Gates and the problem I have is strong memories of an excruciatingly rambling version of this song by none other than Telly Savalas. Say no more. Her set concluded with Joe Zawinul’s powerful “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”. Simon switched to soprano to accompany much of Bronwyn’s thoroughly professional vocal work and her vocals rounded off a very balanced afternoon of great jazz. I hesitate to say that the afternoon was in the hands of two masters and a mistress but suffice it to say that that this was a session as skilled and as polished as anything we have seen at Jazz Fremantle. We’ve had a great year so far!!
“IT’S THE WAY I FEEL”: TIM PARISH AND FELLA SINGS ELLA – SUNDAY 10th OCTOBER, 2021
There are, perhaps, only a handful of jazz greats that are known widely outside of the genre as well as achieving massive stature within it. Louis Armstrong is obviously one and maybe Miles Davis and Charlie Parker but there aren’t too many more (John Coltrane, forgive me). Among female jazz icons, Ella Fitzgerald is the pinnacle. I suspect most people have their favourite Ella track whether they know it is her singing or not. She is, to put it plainly, simply untouchable. And she has achieved that status on pure artistry – there is no gossip surrounding Ella, no innuendo, no drugs or alcohol, no sensational stories. She is the music she sings and there is no secret to that either. It doesn’t require too much analysis. She once said, “Everybody wants to know about my style and how it came about. It’s no big secret. It’s the way I feel”.
Ella is Tim Parish’s passion. He has a very strong and emotional attachment to Ella’s musical canon it seems and this is reflected in his performance which does not just include the songs, but also bits and pieces of information about Ella and her life. Like, for example, her brush with the criminal underworld as a teenager when she ran numbers for the mob or when she acted as a police lookout outside a brothel. But that’s about as salacious as it gets. Her arrival on singing’s big stage nearly didn’t happen. She entered a talent contest at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem in 1934 as a dancer but the competition was too good so she ended up singing. She was a big fan of Connie Boswell of the Boswell sisters and sang Connie’s hits “Judy” and “The Object Of My Affection”, won the competition and took home $25.
Tim has a great way of engaging with the audience from the start. He has a little yellow basket, referencing the old nursery rhyme that gave Ella one of her first big hits in 1938, in which are pieces of paper containing the titles of many of Ella’s songs. The audience is then asked to picked the songs at random and Tim sings them. He is not possessed of a particularly powerful voice but he carefully and reverentially caresses the songs, rattling through some 27 in all during the course of the afternoon. This was a cosy set. With the audience engaged and with Tim’s affability as a performer, we went on a wonderful musical journey from “A-Tisket A-Tasket” to “Autumn Leaves”, with many of Ella’s great songs covered during the session. It is likely that everybody present has at least one Ella Fitzgerald song in their life’s soundtrack and I suspect that most of the audience heard their favourite. We had some of the early hits, such as “Big Boy Blue” and “All Over Nothing At All” to the songs from her exquisite catalogue of the 1950s when she was at the top of her game, songs like “I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket” and songs from the great songbook albums covering the music of the great writers of the American popular song, such as “Where Or When” (Rodgers and Hart), “I’ve Got a Crush On You” (George and Ira Gershwin) and “Too Darn Hot” (Cole Porter). And there were many more including Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight”, possibly a surprising choice for Ella but then it is a beautiful ballad and she could sing the Telephone Directory anyway!
Tim was accompanied superbly throughout by an accomplished trio of seasoned musicians – James O’Brian on piano, Shane Pooley on bass and Gavin Kerr on drums – and much of the music was adapted for Tim by Libby Hammer with whom he works. The tiny regret I have is that we did not hear more from the trio – the one instrumental, “Take the A Train”, was at least covered by Ella on the Duke Ellington Songbook album, and it left me wanting more. There’s no doubt that the star of the show was Ella Fitzgerald and I am sure that’s how Tim would have wanted it. Musically, she never stood still, was always looking to push the boundaries. I remember a superb version of the Beatles “Can’t Buy Me Love” that she recorded in London in the 1960s. She didn’t have much time for those who were stuck in a musical rut. “They refuse to look for new ideas and new outlets, “she said, “so they fall by the wayside. I’m going to try to find out the new ideas before the others do.” So thanks Tim for bringing Ella’s music to us. As she said, “Music is the universal language. It brings people closer together”. Her music particularly.
STRAIGHT ON WITH THE MUSIC: STRAIGHT AHEAD THE BIG BAND, SUNDAY 3rd OCTOBER, 2021
There was a sense in which we needed to catch up on Sunday after missing the previous Jazz Fremantle session owing to the Queen’s holiday weekend. Well, catch up we did in no uncertain terms. A packed Navy Club greeted Straight Ahead the Big Band and were treated to what amounted to a potted history of big band and swing from the 1940s (well, 1930s really) right through to the 2000s. But it was the style of it that really shone through, the sheer, swinging brilliance of a group of musicians at the top of their game and enjoying it, the slickness and accuracy of the original arrangements and the consummate and masterful leadership of musical director Paul Millard. Every selection was greeted with rapturous applause and by the end of the afternoon a very happy audience was standing and applauding demanding more. It was a sensational session.
The journey started in the 1930s (just) with Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood” from 1939 and it is important to mention that this afternoon was as much about the big band arrangers as the band leaders themselves. Of course, we know Paul Millard as a fine arranger too and he contributed mightily to the arrangements we heard during the afternoon. Joe Garland originally arranged “In the Mood” which was followed by two other Miller hits, “A String Of Pearls” and “Tuxedo Junction” both arranged by Jerry Gray. Trumpeter Ray Wetzel wrote “Intermission Riff” with its slow burning fuse for Stan Kenton. Enter Victoria Newton to blast us with some great vocals – the Ella/Basie version of “I Won’t Dance” and the rarely heard ballad “We’ll Be Together Again” with lyrics by Frankie Laine (yes, that Frankie Laine) and we continued in the 1940s with Tommy Dorsey’s “Opus 1” (originally arranged by Sy Oliver) and Benny Goodman’s “Moonglow” (which is normally heard in a quartet version). We stepped back into the 1930s with Artie Shaw’s “Begin the Beguine” (which was arranged for the Shaw band by the ubiquitous Jerry Gray) and then we were in Basie territory.
Mark Underwood put down his trumpet to give us Basie’s vocal version of “All Of Me” and the band followed with “Shiny Stockings” (originally arranged by Frank Foster), the Count Basie/Sammy Nestico version of Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll” and the supremely smooth and lustrous “Li’l Darlin'” from the pen of Neal Hefti. The only big hit from the musical “The Boys From Syracuse” was probably “This Can’t Be Love”, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, which has been covered by everyone from Benny Goodman to Woody Herman while Woody’s version of Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Any More” was originally arranged by pianist Nat Pierce. More wonderful Victoria Newton followed, again giving the nod to the Ella and Basie combination- “Love Me Or Leave Me” and “I’m Beginning To See the Light” – and she really got into her stride with a strong performance of the Trummy Young/Jimmy Mundy song “Travelin’ Light” with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Oddly enough the original hit came from Billie Holiday with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. The supremely memorable “Lullaby of Birdland” then paved the way for Mark Underwood to give us his trademark “Mack the Knife”.
The band journeyed on into the 1960s with “Critics’ Choice” from the iconic Buddy Rich big band of 1966 and then took a massive leap to the year 2000 with that marvelous take on Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band “Sing, Sang, Sung”. The rest was Victoria and Mark, Victoria delivering “Exactly Like You” and raising the temperature with a soulful “Hallelujah I Love Him So”. Mark reprised Sinatra’s “You Make Me Feel So Young” and “That’s Life” before Victoria and the band swung us out with an uptempo “Day In, Day In”.
The entire afternoon was simply wonderful, passionate big band jazz with highly skilled musicians confident and tight in ensemble and inventive and creative while taking solos, paying respectful homage to the greats but having a ball at the same time. The trumpet section consisted of Mark Underwood, Benn Hodgkin, Adrian Kelly and Rob Bresland. The trombones were Anthony Dodos, Catherine Noblet, Carl Harper and Bill McAllister. Led by Paul Millard, principally on alto, the sax section also included Grant Rickman, Brad Swope, Jeremy Trezona and Lee Buddle. Mike Nelson was on piano, Simon Jeans on guitar, Shane Pooley on Bass and Ric Eastman on drums. John Coltrane once said, “Invest yourself in everything you do. There’s fun in being serious.” Straight Ahead the Big Band gave us that commitment. It was serious but by golly it was fun!
COMPELLING JAZZ: M17 WITH LIBBY HAMMER, SUNDAY 19th SEPTEMBER, 2021
Two of the giants of modern jazz, Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk, were featured in Sunday’s Jazz Fremantle session. Of course, they were both fantastic musicians, respectively on bass and piano, but they were also great composers, many of their compositions finding their way into the standard jazz canon. Their music is challenging. It is complex and quirky but in the hands of talented musicians, it is also compelling, with its roots in the heart of everything we call jazz. Above all, the music is joyful, in Thelonious’ case full of dissonance and introspection, with a very percussive approach to the piano. With Charles Mingus, the influences were everything from gospel to Duke Ellington, with an emphasis in the many bands that he led on collective improvisation. Both began recording in the mid-1940s, Thelonious in 1944 and Mingus in 1945, as the swing era was fading. But their heyday was the 1960s, with hard bop the jazz order of the day and they both contributed mightily to the growth of the music at a very dynamic time.
M17 is full of talent from across the generations. The band was faithful to the music, dedicated and reverent but never dull. Rather they deferred mostly to the arrangements from the many recordings of both musicians and entertained a good audience mightily with high class solo and ensemble work, enhanced by the expert vocals of Libby Hammer. Libby has a long connection with Jazz Fremantle and it is always good to see her at the Club. On this occasion she had to deal with music that does not necessarily lend itself well to vocalising. In some cases there are no lyrics and Libby created them. In other cases, there are choices. In every case Libby coped brilliantly with the technical gymnastics required including some quality scatting and breath control.
The programme was purity itself. The major Monk and Mingus anthems were there as the band, expertly and sensitively led by Murray Wilkins from the bass, worked their way through their repertoire. Murray’s own composition “T and Chas” rightfully kicked off proceedings followed by Mingus’ “Work Song” (not the more popularly known Nat Adderley piece) and Monk’s “Brilliant Corners”. The front line of legend Roger Garrood on tenor sax, Steve Searle on soprano, tenor and baritone saxes, Benn Hodgkin on trumpet and Blake Phillips on trombone blended well particularly on those brassier Mingus numbers and took copious quality solos, all four demonstrating their pedigree. I particularly liked Steve’s brilliant and extensive use of the baritone, Roger’s strong, creative tenor lines (playing the Charlie Rouse part on Monk’s themes), Benn’s incisiveness and Blake’s power and punch (remembering Jimmy Knepper). Libby’s vocals began with her own words to Mingus’s “Jelly Roll” (a dedication to New Orleans jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton although Libby’s lyrics were concerned with cooking a Swiss roll!!), and followed with the beautiful and mesmerising “‘Round Midnight” while the bop-saturated “Epistrophy” saw Libby indulge in vocal terpsichore with the band. Further instrumentals included “Jump Monk” with extended solos from the horns and the lyrical piano work of Austin Salisbury whose passionate playing lent much to the session, “Haitian Fight Song”, the powerhouse “Boogie Stop Shuffle” with its shuffle-rhythmed steam train, which was my own introduction to Mingus, and Monk’s “Little Rootie Tootie” with the piano part transcribed for the horns.
Libby sang “In Walked Bud” the lyrics of which are a virtual bop who’s who in the guise of the Dizzy Gillespie band and the haunting dedication to Lester Young “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”. Monk’s “I Mean You” had lyrics by Chaka Khan while Mingus’s “Weird Nightmare” not only showed off Libby’s vocal talents but gave us some fine interplay between bass, drums, piano and trumpet. Peter Evans’ drumming throughout the session was exemplary, giving us power and deftness aplenty through the many changes in rhythm and time signature. The session signed off with Monk’s “Rhythm-A-Ning” and I dare anybody to try to sing that in the bath! This was a great set of pure jazz featuring timeless music from two modern jazz greats, in the hands of a very fine singer and some of the finest jazz musicians in not only the State, but the entire country and who knows, well beyond even.
PRECOCIOUS TALENT: THE VINCENT CHOY QUARTET – SUNDAY 12th SEPTEMBER, 2021
The jazz world has been imbued with precocious talent since the beginning and we listen and watch with constant amazement as each generation succeeds the previous one in producing such starry musicians as, for example, the Marsalis brothers and that brilliant drummer Tony Williams, to name a few. They were in their teens when they arrived, fully formed it seemed, and with a maturity beyond their years. The Vincent Choy Quartet consisted of Vincent on guitar and vocals plus the Equilibria Trio of Luke Geha on piano, Cass Evans-Ocharern on bass and Cameron Fermoyle on drums. The Equilibria Trio had already debuted at Jazz Fremantle during the “Young Jazz On a Winter’s Day” sessions at the end of July and the audience then marveled at the extraordinarily assured way the three 19-year-olds approached their music. Fast forward to Sunday and that assurance was confirmed with Vincent adding to the mix in no uncertain fashion.
Where to begin. Firstly, this was a session of pure jazz, apart from a couple of forays into ballad vocals by Vincent. But then that’s allowed isn’t it. I mean if Charlie Parker can play with strings then Vincent can croon. The content was majestic, fine jazz and bop fare with added standards. We began with Miles Davis’ “All Blues” with some driving guitar from Vincent and straight away we were conscious of the amazingly high standard of musicianship we were about to witness. There were those timeless standards “Stella By Starlight” and “Someday My Prince Will Come” and then Chick Corea’s “Spain”, when the band really took off, Luke switching from piano to keyboards and both he and Vincent contributing inventive and technically superb solos backed by driving rhythm from Cass and Cameron. More Corea came with “La Fiesta” and from jazz royalty, Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight” and John Coltrane’s “Impressions” derived from Miles Davis’s “So What”. The instrumental programme was completed with Bill Evans’ “Waltz For Debby” and the timeless “Caravan” with Luke and Vincent trading choruses expertly and with great jazz feeling
Vincent’s vocals were not run-of-the-mill. He has obviously listened closely to Chet Baker and indeed, some of his material reflects that. A slow and languid “My Funny Valentine” and an equally smooth “I Fall In Love Too Easily” were studies in timing and breathing and not getting ahead of yourself. Similarly Nat King Cole’s sultry “When I Fall In Love”. The singer’s Latin excursion was the bossa nova “Dindi” from the pen of Antonio Carlos Jobim but it was the up-tempo oldie “Bye Bye Blackbird” that was his best. Vincent has a pure voice, not loaded with vibrato, tentative at times but with plenty of room to grow especially as he has well developed jazz timing.
His guitar playing is exemplary, technically very special and demonstrating a fine technique in the style of Wes Montgomery or George Benson. His intricate solo runs were delightful and full of confidence. Luke Geha is a master on piano and keyboards, introspective and endlessly creative. I hear Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans but his nod to the Chick Corea of Return to Forever is also very special. Somebody remarked that the band sounded “quiet”, not that it was difficult to hear them but that they respected the music, they lived it as one patron commented. Much of the reason for that goes to the deft and driving bass playing of Cass Evans-Ocharern and the dazzling drumming of Cameron Fermoyle, a consumate accompanist, sympathetic to the soloists and particularly strong in his cymbal work.
We didn’t really want them to go. It was such an energetic session and I think most of us realised that this was an exceptional group of talented young musicians, the like of which you would go a long way to see and hear. Of course, they are the future, but they are also the here and now, fully honed and delivering highly acclaimed jazz of the finest quality. It was a privilege to be present. Those of you wishing to hear more of the Equilibria Trio can stream their recently released three-track single, “Rule Of Thirds” on Spotify or on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lbquYmDFHs
CELEBRATING FATHERS’ DAY: THE TONY CEL QUINTET – SUNDAY 5th SEPTEMBER, 2021
It isn’t very often that we get a Berklee College of Music alumnus at Jazz Fremantle, although I must say that the club certainly deserves it. As many may know, the Berklee College is one of the largest independent music schools in the world. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the Berklee College has been particularly prominent in jazz education, boasting a long list of famous alumni, among them Quincy Jones and Joe Zawinul. To that long list we must add Tony Celiberti, whose piano stylings entertained the Jazz Fremantle audience on Sunday. Tony came with a seasoned quintet that originally included singer Owen Measday but unfortunately Owen couldn’t make it and Brenda Lee stood in for him at short notice and sung up a storm.
The entire session consisted of music well-suited to the band and to Brenda’s mature vocals and all the players excelled, with particular mention going to Tony himself, to reeds player Mike Collinson and to Brenda. The initial set of instrumentals included Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke’s “Like Someone In Love” and, in honour of Fathers’ Day, Horace Silver’s “Song For My Father”, with Tony and Mike taking extended solos. Mike’s playing was very powerful throughout the session much to the delight of the modest audience. There was a lovely version of “Black Velvet” before Brenda kicked off her contribution with a tremendous version of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Wave”. Brenda has Portuguese influences in her family and sings in Portuguese. Tony also composes and led off the second set with his own “Julia” and the band continued with the standards “Someday My Prince Will Come” (that song that you sing while waiting for your photos to be developed), “Georgia” and “Night and Day”. There was another Jobim number “Chega De Saudade” (or “No More Blues”) and the set finished with “Almost Like Being In Love”.
In another tribute to Fathers’ Day, Tony gave us his passionate reflections of his own father who passed away four years ago through his own composition “Empty Chair” while Brenda continued to impress through such numbers as “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”. The standard was high throughout and the variety of tempos and arrangements kept the toes tapping and the smiles on the faces. This was a very enjoyable session and everything that you could wish from an afternoon of good jazz. The principals were backed throughout by the highly professional rhythm team of Vanouli Vouvoucalos on bass and William Chiew on drums. No doubt Tony will be back. He and his band will always be welcome.
(Thanks to Mike Rautenbach for his help in compiling this review.)
POWERFUL DELIVERY: THE AL PITHERS QUARTET – SUNDAY 29th AUGUST, 2021
Scottish guitarist Jim Mullen called one of his musical manifestations “The Great Wee Band” and we were conscious, of course, of the Scottish inflection. But the same label could be applied to the band we heard on Sunday. The presence and sound of the band was huge given that there were only 4 players and the excitement they generated was palpable. I once heard someone argue that the songs of the Beatles don’t lend themselves well to jazz interpretation – they lack the vital elements of jazz-age composers such as Gershwin and Porter. That’s as maybe, but in the right hands, anything is possible and what was so good about the set from the Al Pithers Quartet was that they threw the net wide for their content but the result was all jazz, albeit funky, bluesy and with attitude. Al’s vocals were earthy and careworn but that was the whole point really. That was the sound that kept the band vital and driving, that and Al’s virtuosity on keyboards, the soaring sax of Paul Millard, the brilliant bass guitar runs of Roy Martinez and the deft and dashing drum licks of Ric Whittle.
So there weren’t many standards. The material came from a variety of jazz, blues and jazz-tinged sources including Al himself who gave exposure to his own compositions “Drownin’ In My Tears” and “Lady Come With Me Tonight”. The standards were “Comes Love”, “Beyond the Sea” and an upbeat and sassy version of “Two Sleepy People” arranged by Paul. The rest was eclectic. We had some Duke Ellington but his sophisticated “I Ain’t Got Nothing But the Blues” rather than other well-worn favourites. The couple of instrumentals came firstly from the Yellowjackets play book (“Goin’ Home”) and then from Paul Millard himself whose “Low Down Groove” was a hymn to his own beautiful sax playing. There was some Ray Charles (“You Don’t Know Me”) and some Mose Allison (“Eyesight To the Blind”), some Michael Franks (“Island Life”) and some Donald Fagan (“Walk Between Raindrops”). Roy Martinez reprised that great Jaco Pastorius working of Pee Wee Ellis’ “The Chicken” but made it his own with some scintillating bass guitar.
The rapport between the musicians was electric, none more so than between Al and Paul. On Jeff Lorber’s theme “Tune 88” they traded blows like some bar room brawl, as if there was no tomorrow. This was incredibly powerful jazz from two of our local virtuosi whose solos on Jon Cleary’s “When You Get Back” were masterful. Al reminded us of that fine Australian singer and trumpeter Vince Jones on “Big City” and also brought us Sting’s “Nothin’ ‘Bout Me”. He continued with Jamie Cullum’s “You and Me Are Gone” and the concluding “Beyond the Sea” (or “Le Mer”) was almost an anti-climax. This was a sublime set from some of the best around, all four musicians at ease with themselves and respectful of each other’s talents.
HOTTER THAN THAT: THE SIMMERING BIG BAND – SUNDAY 22nd AUGUST, 2021
Jazz Fremantle plays host to a good few big bands and I never cease to be amazed at the quality and professionalism of not just the musicians but the arrangements, which are key to a really good big band presentation. Sunday’s session not only proved the point but went well beyond that, providing a packed audience with a powerful and swinging display of big band jazz topped off by the vocals of Bronwyn Sprogowski and the introduction of a number of school-aged musicians given the opportunity to flex their considerable musical muscle with a great band. The SIMmering Big Band is made up of teachers and musical educators that was only formed in late 2019 and they blasted the Navy Club apart with a total cast of 27 musicians and an innovative set list.
When big bands come to Jazz Fremantle they often give us a standard big band repertoire covering those well known names such as Basie, Ellington, Buddy Rich and their arrangers and there is nothing wrong with that. But big band music progressed beyond the 40s, 50s and 60s and there is some great stuff out there that we rarely hear. Gordon Goodwin started his Big Phat Band in 1999. Now he was inspired by Basie but he took the style and mixed it with funk and fusion and came out the other side with some truly modern big band sounds. It was these arrangements that the SIMmering Big Band brought to us together with a mix of standards and some compelling virtuosity. They also brought their own MC, Wayne G’Froerer, former Head of Music at South Fremantle High School, who compered throughout. Goodwin’s high-voltage “Jazz Police” kicked off proceedings and then we moved into a series of solos from Australian Tertiary Admission Ranking (ATAR) teenage musicians who indicated that the next jazz generation was in good hands – Lindsay Pegrum from Churchlands (year 12) played a sensual alto sax on “Willow Weep For Me”, Blake Faulkner gave us a lustrous “Misty” on tenor sax, Lara Johnstone from Fremantle College showed us her bop chops with her trumpet leading “Moanin'” and then Guildford Grammar School’s Jasper Lambert (keyboards), Nathan Osborne (drums) and Alexa Bell (vocals) wooed us with a funky “Summertime”. More young voices came later with Aaron Canny’s trombone musing around Basie’s “Tall Cotton” (Aaron is currently studying at WAAPA), Churchlands’ Kyden Bradley’s alto sax effectively adapting Andy Clark’s baritone feature “Bari Bari (Good)” while Chris Jones on guitar produced his fine take of John Scofield’s “I’ll Take Les”.
We see Bronwyn Sprogowski fairly regularly at Jazz Fremantle these days and she is an exceptionally good singer, especially of the Great American Songbook. Her voice wove through some excellent big band accompaniment on such numbers as “Am I Blue”, “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby”, “A Day In the Life Of a Fool” (the theme to “Black Orpheus” a 1959 film from Brazil) and “L-O-V-E” (with a little sign language assistance from the trumpet section). Bronwyn’s phrasing is superb and she is very comfortable with her material as she swung her way through “All Of Me”, “When I Fall In Love”, “Almost Like Being In Love” and a great Gordon Goodwin arrangement of “Too Close For Comfort”. She rounded her programme off with a gutsy version of the Count Basie/Joe Williams classic “All Right OK You Win” and the plaintive “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone”.
The rest was the band. Tight but loose, rousing and creative and with a sound that soared, the band took flight through a great programme mostly inspired by Gordon Goodwin, covered by some outstanding musicians as soloists and in ensemble. Each of the sections established their worth as, led by alto sax player Simon Styles, they took on some great arrangements of Goodwin charts such as “High Maintenance” and “Backrow Politics”, the latter featuring the trumpet section. We also had the Ellington/Tizol classic “Caravan” and a beautiful sensuous version of “Monday’s Child” featuring Steve Searle on soprano sax. The session was rounded off by a thumping “Brass Machine”. Anyone who left the session dissatisfied needs a lot of self-examination. This was high-class music played confidently and excitingly by consummate professionals and if some of the arrangements were new to some people, all the better. There is a world of jazz out there that goes beyond the standard fare and we need to hear it. We look forward to seeing and hearing the SIMmering Big Band again, very soon.
The full SIMmering Big Band lineup is: Betty Young, Sarah Johnson, Adrian Hicks, Ben Hodgkin, Lindsay Timms (trumpet); Carl Harper, Stephen Taylor, Bruce Herriman, Peter Younghusband (trombone); Steve Searle, Grant Ruckman, Amanda Johnson, Daniel O’Connor and Simon Styles (saxes); Dave Martinus (keyboards); Simon Jeans (guitar); Phil Waldron (bass); Gregory Brenton (drums); Bronwyn Sprogowski (vocals).
THE BREN-GUNS: THE MIKE NELSON PIANO TRIO WITH BRENDA LEE AND BRENTON FOSDIKE – SUNDAY 15th AUGUST, 2021
It is always good to welcome Mike Nelson back to Jazz Fremantle. In his long and distinguished career he has been involved with many projects and he is such a versatile pianist that whatever his guise his music reflects warmth and taste whether as an accompanist or a soloist. Sunday’s session saw him in a basic piano trio format but with the addition of reeds and two splendid vocalists, also well known to Jazz Fremantle, Brenda Lee and Brenton Fosdike. The reeds player was Mike Collinson, new to me but a player I would be happy to hear again and again with his gutsy tone on both tenor and alto sax.
The three sets brought us four instrumentals from the quartet lineup and vocals shared by Brenda and Brenton solo and together as a duet. The instrumentals were mostly swinging bop, two tunes from Charlie Parker (“Confirmation” and “Au Privave”) and two standards, “Stella By Starlight” and “There Will Never Be Another You”. It was good stuff from all four musicians with the expansive piano of Mike Nelson and driving solos on mostly tenor sax from Mike Collinson, ably supported by the solid rhythm team of Jonathan Chen on bass and Peter Evans on drums. The vocals took us to the Great American Songbook plus some Latin touches and one or two surprises. Brenda, in shimmering black, her sultry voice caressing the lyrics as if they were her own, delivered “My Foolish Heart” and “Have You Met Miss Jones” (or “Sir Jones” for gender equity) as well as the song probably known to us as the Doris Day hit “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” but beautifully sung in the original Spanish as “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas”. She then brought us Billie Holiday’s “What a Little Moonlight Can Do”, a languid version of “Body and Soul” and the upbeat “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing” and “Besame Mucho”, wringing the tempo changes beautifully.
Brenton, resplendent in suit and tie (amazingly, as he said he left the house with no clothes (sic) – don’t ask me, there was nothing in the news) graced us with his humour and general bonhomie and serenaded us with an eclectic mix of tunes from far and wide with his lived-in voice and great sense of timing. Thus we had “The Lady Is a Tramp” and “St Louis Blues” as well as “Cry Me a River” and “That’s Life”. There was also Brenton’s trademark risque version of “Pennies From Heaven” (“Ben Is From Heaven”) and that oddity from Boz Scaggs, “Harbour Lights”.
The duets were very entertaining. I don’t believe that Brenda and Brenton had sung together before but they were very comfortable and relaxed and there was good interplay between the two. There were the obvious numbers like “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and other standards such as “Why Don’t You Do Right” and “You Make Me Feel So Young”. There was a great version of “Route 66” and “What a Wonderful World” closed the programme. A good-sized audience was very well entertained by this set from well-matured musicians who know their craft. I think it was Mike Nelson who baptised the two singers “The Bren-Guns”. I wonder if it will stick?
A WELCOME RETURN: THE PAUL MILLARD QUARTET FEATURING VICTORIA NEWTON – SUNDAY 8th AUGUST, 2021
It was good to see Paul Millard back at Jazz Fremantle on Sunday so soon after we saw him with the Three Kings Blues Review. He is such a busy musician and he covers so many musical genres that I am surprised that we are able to secure his services at all – one minute he is in the pit band at a show at the Crown, another minute he is working with musicians covering Latin, R & B, blues and who knows what else. So it was good to see Paul back with his Quartet, seasoned musicians all, playing a standard set with some Latin flavours, enhanced by that wonderful singer Victoria Newton. The connection between Paul and Victoria goes back a bit and, of course, we see Victoria singing with the Straight Ahead Big Band under Paul’s direction.
The Quartet was welcomed by a smallish audience whose polite applause rapidly became more animated the further the band got into the session. Paul is a great reeds player, excelling on soprano, alto and tenor as well as flute. There were some originals, recalling the new music he brought to the Quartet’s initial CD release, as well as some well-known themes such as “Honeysuckle Rose” and “My Funny Valentine”. The band played beautifully throughout and why wouldn’t it when it contains the likes of Mike Nelson who, like some many musicians during these COVID times, must call Jazz Fremantle his second home, and whose superb piano stylings seem to get better and better as the years go by. The other two members of the Quartet aren’t bad either – the solid and masterful Alistair Peel on bass and the always creative and sensitive drummer Bronton Ainsworth who must have a bed at the Navy Club!
Victoria Newton sang her way breezily through some tried and tested standards. She has a truly mature and lovely voice and she really came into her own during a Latin sequence. She sings well in Portuguese and has a genuine touch and feel for the romance and rhythm of Brazil. By the time she sang “Mas Que Nada” the audience was clapping and singing along with her. She has a great personality and a lively and infectious way of drawing in her audience. The whole afternoon’s programme was very well appreciated by the Jazz Fremantle faithful and we look forward to see all five musicians very soon.
(My thanks go to Pamela Stynes for her contribution to this review.)
TURNING IT ON IN STYLE: THE DANNY MOSS JR.TRIO FEATURING MARK TURNER – SUNDAY 1st AUGUST, 2021
I’ve run out of superlatives. We see the Danny Moss Jr. Trio so much they are virtually the house band at Jazz Fremantle. Each time they appear I wax lyrical on the quality of the musicianship and performance, struggling to find new ways of describing their virtuosity and sheer brilliance in bringing us some of the best jazz that we see and hear at Jazz Fremantle. So where to go from here? Well, they are as good as ever, if Sunday’s session was anything to go by and as if to tease us even further, they bring on these guests and far from cramping their style, these guests actually enhance the trio and, to parody an infamous former President of the USA, they make jazz great again. Sunday’s guests were the effervescent Mark Turner, brimming with confident vocals, rocking a mean tenor sax and playing some great guitar licks, and Lachlan Glover, the new kid on the block, very young still but in the presence of our jazz royalty, equal to the task on tenor sax.
The programme was eclectic but firmly from the jazz canon. The trio began with the standard “The Song Is You”, Adrian Galante’s piano to the fore, and up stepped Lachlan to give us some beautiful smooth-toned tenor on Ray Brown’s “Dejection Blues”. Just while we were basking in that glory, enter Mark Turner with a bristling vocal and some muscular sax on “I Get a Kick Out Of You” followed by Dean Martin’s “You Can’t Love ‘Em All” with some robust guitar following the vocal. And that’s how it continued. “Mood Indigo” brought the three horns together wailing in harmony and in unison – clarinet and two tenors while “Night Train” brought Lachlan and Mark together to bring their tenor voicings to a tune that most people will probably know from Oscar Peterson’s seminal album but which was actually written by a tenor player, Jimmy Forrest, in 1951. This was a classic two hander with Lachlan playing Ben Webster to Mark’s Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. The second set brought us more of Adrian’s clarinet on “Just In Time” and with the two tenors on “Sruttin’ With Some Barbecue”. There was Herbet Martin and Michael Leonard’s song for Barbra Streisand “Why Did I Choose You” and the standards “Exactly Like You” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” and a gorgeous soulful rendering of Hoagy Carmichael’s classic “Stardust” with Mark’s vocal embellished by some fine piano from Adrian. Everyone chipped in on “Pennies From Heaven” while Mark revived that sumptuous torch song from 1938, “I’ll Be Seeing You” penned by the relatively unknown pair of Sammy Fain and Irving Kahan. The session ended with a rip-roaring version of “Perdido” by Duke Ellington’s valve trombonist Juan Tizol.
The trio was outstanding throughout. Everything pivoted around the solid bass of leader Danny Moss Jr. while that superbly accomplished drummer Bronton Ainsworth does not just keep time but weaves dreams around it. Adrian is Adrian and if that sounds like a cop out it is only because we know he is sensational at whatever he does and this session was no exception. The two guests could not be better – the youthful Lachlan Glover, who only the day before supported the CB College boys in their outing at “Young Jazz On a Winter’s Day”, has a maturity beyond his years. As for Mark Turner, he is brilliant at whatever he does and he did it in extremis this afternoon whether on vocals, the tenor sax or guitar. May this glorious band return soon!! I am off to read the thesaurus before I review them again – I need new superlatives!!
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING: THE THREE KINGS BLUES REVUE, SUNDAY 25th JULY, 2021
Most of us who love this music have always known that jazz is a broad church. Maybe in 1920 it wasn’t so broad but it has certainly become so and what we call jazz these days can mean so many different things to so many different people. What we saw and heard on Sunday wasn’t jazz but that didn’t mean that it was irrelevant. If you look for the original influences of the music you will discover that they are many and varied, from slave songs to Caribbean salsa, from zydeco through to European classical music, jazz has emerged from a pot pourri of influences and it has blossomed forth as a result. The band on Sunday was directed by a thoroughbred jazzman but the result was the blues, as significant an influence on jazz music as anything. The music we saw and heard on Sunday was a tribute to three great bluesmen – B. B. King, Freddie King and Albert King. Riley B. King (or B. B.) is a great name in the blues whose guitar playing defined a generation of blues disciples. He was sometimes known as “The King of the Blues” and if you’re looking for jazz associations, he was born on a cotton plantation in Mississippi. Albert was also born in Mississippi, a big man known as “The Velvet Bulldozer” because of his smooth style. Freddie was a Texan, with a big soulful voice, but as guitarists, all three were known collectively as “The Kings of the Blues”.
The leader and focal point of the band is guitarist and vocalist Michael Vdelli. There’s an authenticity to his vocal style and his guitar playing. Shut your eyes and you could be in the Deep South, in the Bayou. His powerful delivery evoked all three Kings and his guitar licks were as you’d expect, muscular and dripping with blues feeling. There was great sympathetic support from the band around him. Paul Millard prepared the charts and directed the band as professionally as only he knows how and revealed his passion for this music. He also delivered some meaty sax solos – no need for the flute here. Ben Hodgkin is a fine trumpet lead with a strong blues quality and Kieran Hurley gave us that melancholic and bouncy blues feel through his trombone. Al Pithers is consummate on the keyboards (electric piano and organ principally), steeped in blues tradition and flourish. Ric Whittle is as good a drummer as you want for such a session and Tony Gibbs’ bass guitar was subtle and unobtrusive but you knew it was there, grounding the band. The icing on the cake was a a trio of superb backing vocalists – Jeannie Norris, Sue Bluck and Lori Greco – all soloists in their own right and together a strong force harmonising and weaving intricacy through the music.
The music was powerful and genuine, undisputed top drawer blues from a band who love this music. Loud as well, as it should be, making you sit up and take notice, making you part of it. From the opening and closing “Let the Good Times Roll”, played and sung often by B. B. but actually composed by New Orleans blues singer Sam Theard and premiered on record by Louis Jordan in 1946, to B. B.’s theme song “Every Day I Have the Blues”, the blues flowed freely covering the best of the three great bluesmen. We had Albert’s “Cross Cut Saw”, “You’re Gonna Need Me” and “Born Under a Bad Sign” but for me the highlights of the afternoon came from Freddie King – “She’s a Burglar” from his 1974 seminal album “Burglar” and the extended version of “Texas Flyer”, giving all the horns room to stretch out, as well as the ominous “My Credit Didn’t Go Through”. The female vocalists also had their opportunities to solo leading to an eclectic and heady mix of Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia, all washed down by the mighty Missisippi!!
There may have been some Jazz Fremantle members who wondered whether this music was fitting for the delicate constitution of the Club but it was undeniably honest and a fair evocation of a genre that has given jazz some of its foundations and much of its colour. The band did the Three Kings proud – it was a grand and dedicated tribute to the finest.
STANDARD FAIR: THE GEMMA FARRELL QUARTET WITH SARAH RAMSEY, SUNDAY 18th JULY, 2021
It was WAAPA to the fore on Sunday. Both Gemma Farrell and Sarah Ramsey are WAAPA associated, with Gemma lecturing there and Sarah graduating. Gemma is also the leader of WAYJO’s Young Women in Jazz Programme. The session on Sunday served jazz standards, tidily sung and presented with some solid alto sax from Gemma and good backing from the rest of the band. There were three good instrumentals from the band – Sonny Rollins’ “St. Thomas”, Thelonious Monk’s “Let’s Call One” and Nat Adderley’s “Work Song”, with standout solos from Gemma and pianist James O’Brien as well as good accompaniment from bass and drums. The rest was largely the great American songbook delivered by Sarah with her soft voice. Perhaps the repertoire could have been more swinging but Sarah handled tried and tested tunes creditably and with some skill.
Highlights for me included Gene De Paul’s “I’ll Remember April”, evoking the fabulous Clifford Brown, and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Chega De Saudade” or “No More Blues” but there was plenty more on offer with slow to medium-tempo songs from the extensive catalogue of standards that provides the solid platform for so many jazz musicians. Well known songs such as “Like Someone in Love” and “Darn That Dream” were interspersed with others less familiar, such as Arthur Schwarz and Howard Dietz’s oddly titled “Alone Together” from 1932 and “Beautiful Love”, also from the early thirties, composed by Wayne King, Victor Young and Egbert Van Alstyne with lyrics by Haven Gillespie. Sarah also covered the vocal version of George Shearing’s “Lullaby of Birdland” and others that were very familiar to the Jazz Fremantle audience such as “A Foggy Day In London Town”, “Easy Love” and “Body and Soul”. Sarah completed her journey with “Every Time We Say Goodbye” and “But Not For Me”. This was a smooth, somewhat introspective set and the audience was limited by weather and perhaps COVID concerns. Nice piano playing from James O’Brien throughout and solid backup from Arvis del Vadado on bass and Jeremy Goinden on drums.
A POT POURRI FROM CHELSEA: THE CHELSEA J. GIBSON QUINTET, SUNDAY 11th JULY, 2021
It is not often that we hear from a musician who has played harmonica with Boy George and Culture Club. We don’t often hear from someone who was featured on Channel 9’s “The Voice”. But we were truly entertained by the strong vocal stylings of Chelsea J. Gibson at this afternoon’s session. She has been to Jazz Fremantle before but not recently. She has recently given birth to her second child and is well known in the area as a teacher and entertainer over many years. She gave us a session to relish, skirting around the outer reaches of the jazz canon, belting out soul, gospel and blues in an uncompromising manner.
Things were fairly standard to begin with,following the opening instrumental. There was a strong version of “Fever” and that whimsical sugar sweet ballad from Disney’s “Pinocchio”, “When You Wish Upon a Star”, voiced by the composer Cliff Edwards in the movie, singing as Jiminy Cricket. We were also treated to “Summertime”, Billie Holiday’s “Fine and Mellow” and Etta James’ “At Last”. Then we had a taste of things to come with the spiritual “Wade In the Water”, first recorded in 1925 and covered many times. This time Chelsea evoked Eva Cassidy as she did with “Over the Rainbow”. What really stood out in this session was Chelsea’s espert use of the harmonica, rarely heard at Jazz Fremantle but so essential to Chelsea’s overall performance, enhancing as it did, the blues and soul feel of her delivery. A standout number for me was Aretha Franklin’s “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” delivered beautifully in a very authentic Aretha-like way. More soul and blues followed with “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and “Everyday I Have the Blues”.
The variations continued with “Blue Skies” followed by “Your Love Has Lifted Me Higher”. From left of field came Duffy’s “Mercy”, dripping with bluesy shades, and then we were firmly in soul territory with James Brown’s “I Got You” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” all delivered with a vocal confidence and a lot of feeling for the music and respect for the history. Chelsea finished with “What a Wonderful World” a lyrical climax to what had been an afternoon of strongly delivered vocals by a artiste who is sure of her place. The accompanying quartet were superb throughout, not surprising when they are led by the ubiquitous Mike Nelson on keyboards. Adding to the mix were Ray Walker, as ever a tower of strength whether accompanying or playing solo, Djuna Lee on bass, who we hope to see more of in the future, and the ever dependable Bronton Ainsworth on drums. But the afternoon was Chelsea’s and she didn’t disappoint.
HIGH STANDARDS: THE DANNY MOSS TRIO WITH MIA SIMONETTE – SUNDAY 27th JUNE, 2021
Last week I mused as to whether Adrian Galante owned Jazz Fremantle. This week he kind of proved my point by returning as one-third of the Danny Moss Trio and Danny too, must have some stake in the Club, so frequently do we see him, not to mention Bronton Ainsworth, who held down the drum chair. We see these three musicians so often we can consider them to be the “house band”. But does that mean we get tired of them? After all, as they say, familiarity breeds contempt. But no contempt here, I feel, as the three in question continue to bring us the best of jazz and they are, indeed, among the finest jazz musicians in WA, not to say the world.
The Danny Moss Trio bring with them fellow travellers, none more so than that sultry singer Mia Simonette, who is virtually the fourth member of the group, while new boy Lachlan Glover on trumpet joined the band with some superbly stylish musings. The afternoon was peppered with standards beautifully played and sung by Mia and the group, together with jazz favourites that heralded the greats. Like, for example, Ray Brown’s tribute to Art Blakey “Buhaina, Buhaina” (the name Art Blakey took after his conversion to Islam) and Johnny Hodges “A Smooth One”, beautifully rendered by Adrian on clarinet. The trio also gave us the little-heard “It Amazes Me” and Lachlan joined the trio on “Chicago” to duet with Adrian’s clarinet. Mia stepped up to give us Stephen Sondheim’s “Old Friends” and standard classics “Sometimes I’m Happy”, “Blame It On My Youth and “Comes Love”.
The Trio with Lachlan returned with a blues and “The Song Is You” and the rest was mainly Mia who took us on a jaunty ride through well-known themes such as “Perdido”, “You’re Getting To Be a Habit With Me” , “Lover Man” and “Our Love Is Here To Stay”. There was also a version of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross’ “Centrepiece”, “For All We Know” and a final flourish with “Honeysuckle Rose”. It was a great programme, beautifully delivered by consummate musicians at their best. They have played together so often that the ensembles are now so smooth and the solos so complimentary. Adrian was his exuberant and confident best on piano and clarinet and Lachlan’s Chet Baker-like trumpet complemented the others well. Let’s hope that we see more of him. Mia’s singing seems to improve every time I hear her and her strong and sassy approach to very familiar lyrics is to be commended. Bronton Ainsworth is a tower of strength on drums and I particularly liked his brush work. Danny Moss Jr. is the focus, the pivot and he is to be congratulated for bringing together such a group of fine young musicians and for bringing out the very best in them. We will certainly see the augmented trio again and again. I, for one, look forward to it.
RAMBLIN’ THROUGH CRESCENT CITY WITH THE SWAN RIVER RAMBLERS – SUNDAY 20th JUNE, 2021
Ever since pop and rock music found its musical feet, there have always been “supergroups”, those manifestations of different solo talent expressing themselves together. I was thinking at the time of the “Travelling Wlburys” which many of you may remember, and they don’t come more super than that. But jazz also has its supergroups. I have a particular love of the flawed concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada in 1953. They called the band “The Quintet” but what a quintet!! There was Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Rubbing substantial shoulders together didn’t always produce flawless results but that concert remains testament to a bunch of giants and their talent.
I won’t embarrass our guests this afternoon by comparing them with The Quintet, but they are OUR quintet and the nearest thing we have to a jazz supergroup in WA. Five consummate musical minds, five expert soloists and five beautifully balanced group members. The Swan River Ramblers were back by popular demand and thrilled a packed Jazz Fremantle with great, laid back jazz with a New Orleans and Dixieland tinge (apart from one excursion into Miles Davis territory that didn’t seem out of place).
So who are these super stars? Well, the Ramblers are led by Pete Jeavons, bassist extraordinaire, deft of touch and with a feel and energy that makes that big old fiddle swing like mad. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Pete picked it up and thrust it under his chin. Big instrument it may be but Pete has the softest of touches and coaxes beautiful solos from what appears to be a cumbersome thing. There are many who say that the bass is only to provide rhythm and keep time – it is not a solo voice. Don’t listen to them. Just listen, as we did, to Pete’s virtuosity on “I’ll See You In My Dreams”. Daniel Susnjar has as many letters after his name as he has credits – he has played with the best and is one of the best and busiest drummers we have. Highly articulate with sticks or brushes, his rhythmic excellence added so much style and nuance to the band whether he was in the role of accompanist or soloist.
Virtuoso guitarist and teacher Ray Walker needs no introduction. He virtually lives at Jazz Fremantle. There is probably no finer in the business in WA and he is rock solid rhythmically and a creative soloist whose solo flights and flurries embellished many of the numbers played during the afternoon. He also sang that singular ditty “Me, Myself and I” and I, for one, was not expecting that. But like everything Ray does, it was perfect.
Adrian Galante also lives at Jazz Fremantle. Actually, he probably owns it. He is a particular favourite of the Jazz Fremantle crowd and never ceases to amaze us with the breadth of his musical powers. This afternoon was no exception as he thrilled on both clarinet and piano. Adrian plays serious jazz, his capacity to improvise and create is boundless. But he is also a showman – he knows how to entertain and he happily followed Adam Hall around the room in New Orleans street marching style. He was also collared by Diana for a dance, which endeared him to the audience. High spots were his pairings with Adam Hall on “Puttin’ On the Ritz” (witty, fast-paced trickery) and most beautifully on “Basin Street Blues”.
Which leaves us with Adam Hall of Velvet Playboys fame. His raggy trumpet stylings are worthy of many a New Orleans street corner and he is the kind of musician you would hire for a rent party. Totally suitable for the wry humour and roots music of the Ramblers. His singing is his own, crossing somewhere between Hoagy Carmichael, Tom Waits, Dean Martin and Nat King Cole. He uses lyrics cleverly, creating his own story and quoting from far and wide. What began as “When My Dreamboat Comes Home” converted to “This Little Light of Mine”, and then to “You Are My Sunshine” and “When the Saints Go Marching In”. There was a gorgeous rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” and it was lovely to hear that New Orleans song about a parade collision between two tribes of Mardi Gras Indians, “Iko Iko”, not an old song by any means (it was written in 1953) but one which is evocative of the Crescent City.
Other highlights included Miles Davis’ “So What”, two themes from Duke Ellington and Count Basie (“Take the A Train” and “Jumpin’ At the Woodside”) a final flourish in “Caravan”.. This was as good as it gets. They say if you want to fill the MCG you put on an Ashes test between Australia and England. To fill the Navy Club at Jazz Fremantle, you only have to book the Swan River Ramblers.
UP THE AVENUE WITH JOYCE MATHERS – SUNDAY 13th JUNE, 2021
Many people like to keep things simple. It is better in life not to make things too complicated, less is more if you like. Joyce Mathers is a master (mistress?) of keeping things simple. Not that this means you are going to be bored or deprived. What you get are beautiful songs beautifully sung, wistful journeys down memory lane and the occasional jolt to bring you back to your senses, all delivered with polish and aplomb as befits the Scottish songstress whose day job is marriage celebrant. There was so much to enjoy in Sunday’s session. Add to the mix the fact that Benny Goodman passed away on this day 45 years ago and you have the recipe for a magical potpourri of gently swinging jazz tunes on the lighter side.
“It’s Been a Long, Long Time” sang Joyce when really it had only been a couple of months since she graced the Navy Club stage. But lovely singing through this and the Doris Day classic “Sentimental Journey”. Joyce extended her global reach into two songs in French, “Jardin D’Hiver” and the Eartha Kitt/Nat King Cole whimsical “C’est Si Bon”. The first set included tributes to Benny Goodman in the form of “Airmail Special” and “Six Appeal” which allowed Phil Hatton’s clarinet and Kim Anning’s guitar some space, as well as pianist Tony Celeberti’s tribute to his father “Empty Chair”. The set concluded with the little heard Stephen Sondheim number “Live Alone and Like It”. Joyce turned her attention to the Goodman canon in the second set with some Peggy Lee – “It’s a Good Day”, “Goody Goody” and “There’ll Be Some Changes Made” – while Phil Hatton and the band reprised other Goodman classics included the haunting “Lullaby of the Leaves”.
The third set dipped into the box of popular music goodies and gave us some tracks of our years but not before a naughty sortie into Bette Midler’s dentist “Dr. Longjohn”‘s surgery. Apparently, he was keen to fill Bette’s cavities!! Joyce’s banter and lighthearted tall stories between the numbers added to the relaxed atmosphere of the gig while she gave us Survivor’s “Eye Of the Tiger” and Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice”. These were followed by the Roberta Flack classic “Killing Me Softly” and “A Night Like This” from the film Casino Royale, a hit for Caro Emerald. The show ended with Fairground Attraction’s “Perfect” which had everybody singing along and was a great reflection of the afternoon. It had been perfect and Joyce is always welcome back to Jazz Fremantle. And thanks to a great band – Phil Hatton (ax and clarinet), Kim Anning (guitar), Tony Celeberti (piano), Manoli Vouyoucalos (bass) and Toby Anning (drums). And Joyce – the wee basket was well received!!
SWINGING ALONG: ERIN ROYER AND THE METRO BIG BAND – SUNDAY 30th MAY, 2021
We are blessed with big bands in the Perth and Fremantle area and while that may mean a lot of the same music is being played, in actual fact the principle big bands that visit Jazz Fremantle are all very different, even if they sometimes play the same tunes. The styles and arrangements are different which is a good reason to go and see them all and big bands certainly attract the customers. Sunday’s session with the Metro Big Band led by the indefatigable Erin Royer is a case in point. The punters turned out and enjoyed a thoroughly good afternoon of big band swing and vocals on the lighter side of the spectrum.
There was mostly ensemble playing from the band with short solos principally on tenor sax, trombone, trumpet, guitar and piano and their space was limited to a handful of numbers from the Sammy Nestico book (“Switch In Time”, “A Warm Breeze” and “Hayburner”) as well as from Neal Hefti (“Cute”) and from that great band of Charlie Barnet from the 1940s and 1950s (“Skyliner”). The arrangements were tight and the band handled the revered material well under the expert musical direction of Erin.
The vocals were shared between Wayne Stanley and Leah Guelfi, both well known musical names around the area and they acquitted themselves well covering a range of content much of which, if not really jazz, was at the jazzier end of popular music. Wayne is clearly identifiable as a Tom Jones impersonator but his voice adapts well to the songs of others (Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble, for example) and he gave us solid versions of well known standards such as “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “Beyond the Sea” and “Mack the Knife”. More unusual were the Paul Anka song “Eye of the Tiger”, which is probably better known as Survivor’s soft rock anthem, and Michael Buble’s “It Had Better Be Tonight”. Wayne also covered more well-known Buble songs such as “Me and Mrs. Jones” and “Feelin’ Good” and it should not be too much of a surprise that he ended his set with “It’s Not Unusual”.
Leah Guelfi’s voice is strong but she can take it down to deliver a soulful ballad. She swung into her opening “Sweet Georgia Brown” and followed with Nina Simone’s “My Baby Just Cares for Me” and the little-heard (these days) “Fine Brown Frame”, Nellie Lutcher’s man-worshipping idyll from 1948. Leah romped through Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol’s “Caravan” and took us further into Ellingtonia with “I’m Beginning To See the Light”, with music written by Ellington, Johnny Hodges and Harry James. There was sensual ballad singing on “Summertime” and “The Look Of Love” before Leah signed off with 007 and “Skyfall”. Mention should also be made of Wayne and Leah’s light-hearted duets, from “Baby It’s Cold Outside” to “Lady Is a Tramp” and that hymn from the fractious Miss Dinah Washington and Brook Benton, “You’ve Got What It Takes”.
Erin Royer is to be congratulated for her dedication to bringing us big band music and we look forward to the next time which, I am sure, will not be too far away. The full line-up of the band is Matt Flett, Ben Moody, Charlie Teakle, Lachie Glover (trumpet), Alex Bradbury, Steve Turnbull, Daniel Kirk, Yasasyn Ho (trombone), Nigel Dinsdale, Mia Vukovic (alto sax), Lachlin Brooks-Crew, Gianni Petta (tenor sax), Frank Vanhoe (baritone sax), Tsun-en Cheng (piano), Chris Meares (guitar), Clint Barrett (bass), Sam Bradbury (drums), Wayne Stanley, Leah Guelfi (vocals), Erin Royer (musical director).
DEEP AND MEANINGFUL: THE DAMIAN DRAC DENYER QUARTET FEATURING MISS PETA LEE – SUNDAY 23rd MAY, 2021
The baritone sax is often portrayed as the poor relation of the sax family – it is not given to the romantic tones of the tenor or the ethereal sound of the alto, or even the fanciful flights of the soprano. It is often seen as the means of grounding the sax section and was to be found in many big bands from the late 1930s onwards, rarely producing a solo but a integral part of the overall big band sound. One thinks of Harry Carney and Charlie Fowlkes and Chuck Gentry. Into the 1950s and the baritone found its solo voice in the capable hands of the peerless Gerry Mulligan and others such as Cecil Payne and Pepper Adams. But it is still rarely heard as a solo voice so it was a pleasurable experience on Sunday to hear a quartet fronted by a baritone. Damian Drac Denyer handles the instrument deftly and there was much to enjoy in his solo excursions. The backing band weren’t bad either – the flamboyant extravagance of Adrian Galante on piano, the rock solid Danny Moss Jr. on bass and the flair and touch of Bronton Ainsworth on the drums. Add to that a new vocalist to Jazz Fremantle and a vocalist new to jazz as well, but one with a great future judging by this performance, and you have a recipe for a afternoon of fine swinging jazz. Miss Peta Lee evoked strong blues singers and soulful voices such as Etta James – she felt her songs and treated them with tender respect.
The programme was accessible, erring on the side of known standards peppered with less well-known tunes – there was Cozy Cole’s “Topsy”, for example, Arnett Cobb’s little heard “Dutch Kitchen Bounce”, and Gerry Mulligan’s well-known baritone feature “Walkin’ Shoes”. The band gave us “Sweet and Lovely”, “Ghost of a Chance” and “When I Grow Too Old To Dream” with some lusty soloing from the leader and fine contributions from piano, bass and drums.
Miss Peta Lee was not overwhelmed by her first gig at Jazz Fremantle. She sang with a lot of feeling and no little class as she led off with her namesake’s “Why Don’t You Do Right” and Nina Simone’s ‘ My Baby Just Cares For Me”. “Just Squeeze Me” was wonderfully expressive and there was a fine, well-constructed piano solo from Adrian Galante who evoked Count Basie and Duke Ellington in tandem. Other vocals from Miss Peta included “Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me” and “Hallelujah I Love Her So” and a beautifully crafted “Since I Fell For You”. Other highlights included Adrian’s breakneck opening to “Tea For Two” and Damian’s expansive solo on “I’ll Never Be the Same”.
I look forward to hearing more of the baritone sax at Jazz Fremantle outside of a big band setting. This was an interesting and rewarding session from a very good band and an emerging vocalist. Thanks go to Damian, Peta, Adrian, Danny and Bronton.
ROLLING ALONG: MARTY PERVAN’S MIDNIGHT ROLLERS – SUNDAY 16th MAY, 2021
Marty Pervan is well known to jazz aficionados in the Perth and Fremantle area. He is a fine trumpeter, composer and arranger as well as an entertainer and the leader of the WAYJO Tuesday Night Orchestra. He brought his Midnight Rollers, a small big band of 10 musicians plus singers to Jazz Fremantle on Sunday and entertained a good audience with a set of swinging, jazz-tinged music from the lighter or more popular end of the jazz canon. In fact, it was mostly vocals all the way, those in the capable hands of Owen Measday and Sarah Ramsey who shared the mike and tore through the set with rip-roaring speed – the audience certainly got value for money as the band gave us 33 numbers over the three sessions. But the Midnight Rollers are a quality band and that quality was certainly not compromised.
The first two sets took us down Memory Lane as the singers evoked Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Michael Buble and many others. Owen kicked off proceedings with “It Had To Be You”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and Sarah stepped up to sing “Big Spender”, “At Last” and “L-O-V-E”. The two singers traded songs for the rest of the set, each voice equal to the task and were accompanied heartily by a band that sometimes sounded bigger than it was. The second set continued in similar vein, Sarah’s “On the Street Where You Live” surprising as the song is usually sung by a man, while her “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall” is rarely heard these days but the original featured the unlikely pairing of Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots. Owen’s surprise was the Stray Cats’ “Rock This Town” but it was no surprise that he finished the set with “New York! New York!”
The third set was a complete surprise. You don’t expect to come to Jazz Fremantle to hear legends of rock and pop but Marty has applied his arranging talents to a number of rock and pop anthems and converted them into the jazz idiom. I was expecting the band to finish with “The Telephone Directory”. The only instrumental was Otis Redding’s “Satisfaction” which Sarah followed with the Katrina and the Waves classic “Walkin’ On Sunshine”. Owen then invaded AC/DC territory with “It’s a Long Way To the Top (If You Want To Rock ‘n’ Roll)”, followed by the famed “Wonderwall” of Oasis and Van Halen’s “Jump”. Sarah took us “Back To Black” (AC/DC) and effectively tried her hand at Bernard Fanning’s “Wish You Well”. Owen completed the set with the Choirboys’ “Run To Paradise” and Hunters and Collectors’ “The Holy Grail”. It was all fascinating and even though the singers seemed less assured with these lyrics than with the standards, somehow it all worked and Marty is to be congratulated for stepping outside the box and boldly taking us where no jazzman has gone before.
The band were superb throughout. The lineup of two trumpets, two trombones, three saxes, piano bass and drums worked well with this largely vocal setting. Not much room for solo expression but the ensemble playing was tight and Marty’s arrangements tidy. The full band lineup was as follows:
Marty Pervan (trumpet/arranger/musical director), Dušan Cuculoski (trumpet), Steven Bickley (trombone), Kieran Hurley (bass trombone), Max Wickham (alto sax/clarinet), James Sewell (tenor sax), Alex Boyd (baritone sax), Tom Salleo (piano/keyboards), Kate Pass (bass), Michael Pigneguy (drums), Sarah Ramsey, Owen Measday (vocals)
LEE-DING FROM THE FRONT: THE GARRY LEE QUINTET – SUNDAY 9th MAY, 2021
The vibraphone (or vibraharp as it is known in the US) is rarely seen, particularly in Western Australia. Those of us who like their jazz sweet and hot and have a catholic liking for the music across the decades will be very familiar with the “vibes”. Relatively new in the pantheon of jazz instrumentation, the vibraphone emerge around 1927 and has always be a featured instrument in jazz. Red Norvo used to play the xylophone but switched to vibes, gaining the softer sound that smoothed the xylophone’s hard edges. Lionel Hampton enriched the Benny Goodman Quartet and he and Terry Gibbs brought the vibes into a big band setting. George Shearing’s quintet sound integrated the vibes and featured one of the few female stars of the 1950s in Marjorie Hyams. Of course, Milt Jackson was integral to the aura that was the Modern Jazz Quartet and modernists like Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton took the instruments to new landscapes. Today, players such as Stefon Harris, Joe Locke and Christian Tamburr still carry the torch, and there are many, many more.
In the hands of Garry Lee, we too can experience that mature and sophisticated sound, and the set by Garry’s quintet on Sunday 9th May brought us some very grown-up jazz. Of course Garry does not only play the vibes. He also plays the guitar proficiently and he was heard to good effect on both instruments during a session which explored a rich vein of material from some of the jazz greats. The quintet opened, for example, with Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing”, continued with Cedar Walton’s “Cedar’s Blues” and Bobby Hutcherson’s “Little B’s Poem” for his son Barry, and launched into Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night In Tunisia”. Throughout this opening salvo the vibes were to the fore and Garry is a master on the instrument whether using four or two mallets.
Enter Ms. Sophie Kerr, all of 19 years of age, and daughter of the group’s drummer Gavin, full of sophistication and class beyond her years. Her scat singing was exemplary. Her precocious talent produced a swinging version of “There Will Never Be Another You” with Garry on guitar and then, while Garry switched back to vibes, a sensational rendition of “Someday My Prince Will Come”, her vocalese reproducing Hank Mobley’s tenor sax solo to perfection.
Enter Jazz Fremantle Vice-President and all-round institution Lew Smith, who has known and played with Garry for years, to provide some alto sax, flute and clarinet licks – but not on his own. He is joined by 17 year old Aaron Caldwell whose prodigious talent on alto sax added an exciting dimension to the music. It wasn’t just the fact that he is a very accomplished jazz musician. It was the additional fact that there is 74 years between him and Lew, which is more in years than this reviewer’s age!! We had Wardell Gray’s “Twistin”, Milt Jackson’s “Bag’s Groove” , the standard “On Green Dolphin Street”and “Sandu” from Clifford Brown, with Lew switching instruments while Aaron matched him all the way on alto sax.
The rest was Sophie, Garry and the band covering jazz standards with aplomb taking us on a jazz journey through familiar territory, covering “Tea For Two”, “But Not For Me”, “Yesterdays” and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s haunting melody “Wave”. We were also treated to a Garry lee original, a piece dedicated to that stalwart of Australian Jazz and inspiration to James Morrison, Don Burrows with whom Garry played. His “Samba DB” was a fitting tribute. The rest of the quintet were exceptional, accompanying the soloists consummately throughout and taking their own excursions into solo space when required. Our thanks go to James O’Brien on piano, Alistair Peel on the bass and Gavin Kerr on the drums
ADRIAN’S WALL OF TALENT: THE ADRIAN GALANTE SEXTET – SUNDAY 2nd MAY, 2021
Even our resident virtuoso Adrian Galante cannot ward off the effects of a COVID-19 lockdown or the hesitation that the pandemic brings to our regular patrons. Hence the audience for Adrian’s session at Jazz Fremantle last Sunday was smaller than might be expected for one of his thrilling and entertaining excursions into the jazz foray. However, Adrian remains the consummate showman and even a handful of enthusiasts will bring out the best in him.
For this session Adrian gathered together a quality sextet. Adrian’s clarinet was complemented by the experience of Don Gomes on piano, Ray Walker on guitar, Danny Moss Jr. on bass and Bronton Ainsworth on drums, all seasoned professionals at the top of their game. If that wasn’t enough, the addition of young tenor saxophonist Lachlan Glover gave extra lustre to the original quintet. Lachlan was just 12 when he joined WAYJO and in 2015, when he was 15 years of age, he won a scholarship to James Morrison’s Music Academy at Mount Gambier in South Australia.
The programme was largely rooted in the jazz canon with clarinet and saxophone combining beautifully, as if, indeed, the two players had been performing together for years. Varied tempos added to the interest as the sextet gave us mainly jazz standards in the first set, including “The End Of a Love Affair” and “More Than You Know”, and a breakneck “After You’ve Gone”. Adrian switched to piano for the second set and excelled on songs such as “Once Upon a Time”. He showed his penchant for the work of pianist and composer Michel Legrand, with a beautiful rendition of “The Summer Knows”, that haunting theme from the movie “Summer of ’42”. Ray Walker’s guitar also featured strongly in the second set which concluded with a version of “Blue Rondo A La Turk” that defied gravity and would have had Dave Brubeck gasping for breath. Adrian dedicated this to Jazz Fremantle Band Booker Bill Dabbs.
Set three demonstrated Adrian’s showmanship on both clarinet and piano. His version of “Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me” was cheekily dedicated to Western Australia’s Premier Mark McGowan, while the lustrous Legrand theme to “The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg” constantly changed character as it moved from the romantic to the swinging, ending with a gypsy jazz flourish.
While the vagaries of COVID-19 may have led some Jazz Fremantle patrons to stay away, the virus is probably the reason why Adrian Galante is available to perform for us with the ability to travel outside of Australia largely prohibited. Those present for this sextet session thanked their lucky stars, I am certain. Thanks go to Jazz Fremantle committee members Pamela Stynes and Mike Rautenbach for their contributions to this review.
YOUTH TO THE FORE: THE WEST AUSTRALIAN YOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA (WAYJO) – SUNDAY 18th APRIL, 2021
It has been said before in these pages that we are considerably blessed in this part of the country (in this part of the world even) by having so many prolific musicians who, over the past year, have not been able to travel because of COVID-19 restrictions. Jazz Fremantle has truly benefited from this fine array of talent as is borne out by the quality of the regular Sunday afternoon sessions. This concert by WAYJO demonstrated another dimension of this wealth – strength in depth. We need not worry for the next generation of jazz musicians if these two sessions were anything to go by. Nigh on 40 musicians with an average age of 19 or 20 gave us such quality big band jazz that we could be forgiven for believing that the average age of these musicians was twice or three times more than the reality. Thanks go, of course, to Dr. Mace Francis whose own dedicated and enthusiastic leadership shines through the obvious joy expressed in the music. For 40 years WAYJO has been part of the Perth cultural landscape with hundreds of alumni making musical careers all around the world. Only 15% of its funding is from government meaning the bulk of its resources come from personal and corporate donations and sponsorships.
This two-hour session was split between the Tuesday night orchestra and the Wednesday night orchestra, named after the evenings each orchestra rehearses. Mace led both bands in the absence of Marty Pervan who normally leads the Tuesday night orchestra. It was that band that we heard from first and they established the fact that we were firmly in big band territory, or more specifically Count Basie territory, by kicking off with “Magic Flea” while later in the set we heard “All Of Me” and “Corner Pocket” from the lauded “Atomic Mr. Basie” album, as well as Sammy Nestico’s “The Plunger”. Featured vocalist Jordan Boase gave us “All Of Me” and other jazz standards such as “It Don’t Mean a Thing”, “Bye Bye Blackbird” and “If I Didn’t Care”. So mostly standard fare from the Tuesday night band although there was a strong reminder of WAYJO’s legacy as the orchestra played the descriptive “Collision Of Clouds” written by WAYJO alumnus Alana McPherson.
The Wednesday night orchestra brought vocal stylist Lucy Iffla to the microphone from the start with a swinging rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Cottontail”, followed by “You Make Me Feel So Young” and bop legend Benny Golson’s “Whisper Not”. The band took us back to Basie with “Splanky” and “Basie Straight Ahead” but Lucy’s lyrical voice was the feature of this second set, adding some unexpected gems to the standard fare such as the beautifully crafted “God Only Knows” arranged by another WAYJO alumnus and WAAPA graduate Johannes Luebbens, and the sensual “Photographs” by American arranger and conductor Ed Partyka, currently resident in Austria. The second set ended with Mace’s own nod to COVID-19 and the vagaries of lockdown. His “Isolation Emancipation” expressed every musician’s desire following a difficult year and he gave many of the musicians in the orchestra the chance to stretch out and flex their musical muscles.
Both orchestras were superb throughout, with confident playing and tight arrangements. While it is difficult to pick out individuals from a stellar group such as this, the rhythm impressed, particularly the rock solid guitar, bass and drums trio, reflecting the mighty Basie partnership of Freddy Green, Walter Page and Jo Jones. It is with pleasure that I give below the full personnel for both orchestras:
THE TUESDAY NIGHT ORCHESTRA
Blake Armstrong, Brendan Arbuckle, Henry Van Der Wall Bake, Harry Falloon (trumpets); Halle Mitchell, William Barrett, Taj Johnstone (trombones); Sophie Bennett (bass trombone); Holly Forster, Abbie Brook (alto saxes); Timothy Andrews, Camryn Thomason (tenor saxes); Benjamin Roseby (baritone sax); Bob Tweedie (keyboards), Bryn Larkin (guitar); Gwyneth Gardiner (bass); Cam Fermoyle (drums); Jordan Boase (vocals).
THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT ORCHESTRA
Dusan Cuculoski, James Chapman, Julia Wallace, Matthew Knight (trumpets); Alex Parkinson, Will Pethick, Jordan Boase (trombones); Sophie Bennett (bass trombone); Jayden Blockley, Shaniqa Ratnasingam (alto saxes); Mitch Wilmot, Oliver Taylor (tenor saxes); Owen Rossiter (baritone sax); Bob Tweedie (keyboards); Sam Forster (guitar); Kieran Barnes (bass); Julius Rogers (drums); Lucy Iffla (vocals).
SOULFUL AND FUNKY – THE HONK, SUNDAY 11th APRIL, 2021
You may not realise but there are some writers and musicologists who believe that the word “funk” derives from a black-slang adjective “funky” meaning a bad smell and as Roger Cook points out in his “Jazz Encyclopedia”, playing funky in jazz probably meant a boisterous and grooving take on hard-bop. Led by Horace Silver, this became prominent in the 1950s, pointing the way to the soul-jazz of the 1960s. Many may remember Horace Silver’s “Opus De Funk”. What we know as funk today, though, is much more a product of the soul scene of the 1960s. It was a largely instrumental take on the music even though vocalists like James Brown were prominent.
The Honk provided us with a healthy dose of funk and far from being a bad smell it was a musical fragrance that wafted though the Club last Sunday in a mix that extended well beyond to a set of eclectic, jazz-tinged cross-over music. Led by guitarist and singer Al Lyford, the Honk are a four-man unit of great class and musicality. If funk is more synonymous with “tightness” rather than “looseness”, this combo was very tight indeed as they played and sang their way through a variety of content conveying a host of soul, pop and jazz sources. Keyboards, drums and bass guitar were to the fore together with the twin voices of mostly tenor sax and vocals.
Al’s gritty vocals, evoking many influences including, I thought, Joe Cocker and a younger Ray Charles, were integral to the band’s sound and a component of the overall instrumentation while his steady bass-line provided a strong foundation for the band’s overall sound. Tony Celeberti, mostly on keyboards, impressed once again with his driving and florid solo work and contribution to the overall “electric” sound of the band. Mike Collinson puts the honk into The Honk with dashing tenor sax work evoking the great funk and soul reed players such as Maceo Parker, Stanley Turrentine and even early Michael Brecker as well as the ensembles Tower of Power and Earth, Wind and Fire. Powerful drumming by Vince Pavitt completed the quartet, as he embraced a wide range of technical skills from jazz to rock to soul, to ensure the band swung throughout.
The programme was a fascinating mix. There were obvious choices such as George Benson (“What’s On Your Mind”), Robben Ford (“Talk To Your Daughter”), Mel Torme (“I’m Coming Home Baby”) and Al Jarreau (“We’re In This Together”) as well as soul icons – Lionel Ritchie’s “Stuck On You” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”. Less obvious choices were Patti Austin (“In My Life”), the Beatles (“She’s a Woman”), Paul Carrack (“How Long Has This Been Going On”) and Toto (“Georgy Porgy”). There was a stunning sax solo on Jeff Lorber’s “Tune 88” and the whole band gave us a highly accomplished “Pick Up the Pieces”, that funk/soul anthem from the Average White Band. There were a couple of Tony Celeberti originals (a lot to do with tickling!!) and a beautiful soulful version of Nat King Cole’s “The Nearness Of You”.
This was a set that reminded us of what a broad church jazz-tinged music is and in the hands of a bunch of real professionals, even the telephone directory might be made to swing!!
THOROUGHBRED JAZZ – ROGER GARROOD QUINTET WITH BRONWYN SPROGOWSKI, 28th MARCH 2021
There are days when you just feel thoroughly satisfied. Sunday 28th March at Jazz Fremantle was one of those days as a band of seasoned musicians provided us with a quality session of bop and mainstream jazz that you would find it hard to better anywhere. We have said it before – we are very lucky to be in this part of the world and one of the positives from the COVID-19 pandemic is that the region’s jazz musicians cannot really go anywhere. They are stuck here and we are the ones to benefit, thankfully. Roger Garrood is well-known to many, not just as a fine reeds player but also as an educator and he brought that aspect of his career to the session in the person of young protege Jarryd Vrcic whose contributions on tenor saxophone demonstrated that the next generation of jazz musicians is there and ready to take over the mantle of their senior colleagues.
And by senior I don’t just mean Roger (who was probably the most senior). His quintet also featured longstanding Jazz Fremantle favourites Mike Nelson on piano and Ray Walker on guitar and it was great to see Murray Wilkins on bass as we have not seen him in a while. The musicianship of these three between them can hold a candle to any of their ilk in the world. The quintet was completed by not-so-senior Pete Evans on drums and his performance was a standout for this reviewer as he drove the band with power and finesse showing a fine and fluid technique. If that was not enough, the vocals were handled with flair and brilliance by Bronwyn Sprogowski, who demonstrated her consummate ability as a singer of standards and as a fine practitioner of scat and vocalese. I believe that we have not heard so consistently as good a set as hers was for some time at the Club.
The band’s repertoire was jazz all the way dipping into the bop canon with “Four” and “Well You Needn’t” and the great American songbook with “How Soon”. There were originals too, Roger’s “Demannu” and two numbers, “Mr. Biggles” and “Miss Pepper”, dedicated to the musicians’ canine friends. Bronwyn also explored the bop canon and her vocalizing of some of these difficult numbers was simply brilliant – Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird Suite”, for example with Eddie Jefferson’s sinuous lyrics, and Gerry Mulligan’s “Walkin’ Shoes”. Beyond these, Bronwyn picked standards that showed off her expressive and melodious voice and some of the best scatting that we have heard at Jazz Fremantle, songs such as “Second Time Around”, a wonderfully pacey “Lover Man” (about as far from Billie Holiday as you could wish for), “It’s De-Lovely”, “The Days Of Wine and Roses” and “Blame It On My Youth”. Ray Walker took us back to the swing years with a classy rendition of “Opus One” while Pete Evans demonstrated his marvelous brush and stick work on his feature, Neal Hefti’s “Cute”. Jarryd Vrcic at 16 years of age must be among the youngest musicians to have featured at the Club and he stepped up to give us “A Night In Tunisia”, standing with his mentor to produce the kind of solo that made you wonder to what heights this young man would go. He also featured in the finale “Straight No Chaser” with the rest of the Band and Bronwyn.
So yes, I was thoroughly satisfied or maybe that is just a bit of an understatement. This was very good jazz. If you were in New York or Chicago or even Tokyo you would not necessarily hear such professionalism and such exemplary musicianship. Thanks to Roger and the Band.
A GRAND AFFAIR – MIKE NELSON QUARTET WITH TAMEKA LEGENDRE AND GUESTS, 21st MARCH 2021
It’s no secret that Jazz Fremantle audiences love their singers and the Club has highlighted the fine talents of many singers over the years. Sunday’s session gave us not one, not two but three singers together with the experienced Mike Nelson and his equally experienced quartet. Three voices led by one in particular – the ever soulful, ever bluesy Tameka Legendre who was given great solo space to perform a wide repertoire. Guests Jenny Wren and Kat Nelson (yes, a dynasty at work here) provided additional layers of interest, Jenny with her lyrical qualities and Kat with her youth and raw power. On stage together the singers backed each other as if it was a Tamla Motown recording and the different voices blended well in harmony and euphony.
The songs were many and varied, Tameka leading from the front with “The Boy From Ipanema” and “Let’s Fall in Love” and then Sting’s “An Englishman In New York” with beautifully controlled harmonies with Jenny and Kat. The songs were not just standards. Tamika took her content from many different sources – Lalah Hathaway (“A Song For You”), Esperanza Spalding (“I Look Around”), The Real Thing (“You To Me Are Everything”) and Norah Jones (“Don’t Know Why”) – all delivered with consummate ease and a confidence that shows what a very fine singer she is becoming.. There was standard fare too – “Stormy Monday”, “Straighten Up and Fly Right”, “All That Jazz” and “I Got Rhythm” – which all found their rightful place in this eclectic programme of swinging jazz and blues. Mention must also be made of Tameka’s haunting rendition of a song written and performed in her native Torres Straits Islands language. Jenny and Kat got their solo spots too – Jenny with a soulful “In the Heat of the Night” and a sensuous “So In Love” and Kat with an upbeat “Hallelujah I Love Her So” and an eerie rendition of “Street Life” that could have come straight from Randy Crawford.
The band accompanied with aplomb throughout with beautiful piano lines from Mike Nelson, some great tenor and alto sax playing from Simon Styles, and solid and inventive rhythm from Freddie Grigson, switching from guitar to base guitar, and the dependable Peter Evans on drums. They had their instrumental moments too, initially “Stolen Moments”, that Oliver Nelson jazz classic, and then John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” and a couple of originals. The finale was a rousing “A Night In Tunisia” with Tameka leading Jenny, Kat and the band in a flourishing send-off.
HATS OFF TO PHIL – PHIL HATTON AND THE MANHATTONS, 14th MARCH 2021
It is not often that you go the Jazz Fremantle to see and hear a lineup of flugelhorn, bass clarinet and banjo. But that was part of the fare served up to Jazz Fremantle by Phil Hatton and his Manhattons. And very satisfying jazz fare it was too. Phil is a multi-instrumentalist who featured on tenor sax and clarinet as well as the rarely heard bass clarinet. Any fan of Eric Dolphy or Buddy DeFranco will know what an interesting contribution that instrument can make to a jazz ensemble. Phil and his band were joined by vocalist Bronwyn Sprogowski whose light and melodic voice added a little spice to the repertoire. The resulting programme covered a wide variety of styles – some standards, some surprises and some originals. Kicking off with Sonny Clark’s boppish “Black Velvet”, the band moved into Dixieland with “Exactly Like You” (with Bronwyn on the vocal) to folk/pop with a beautiful rendition from bass clarinet, bowed bass and banjo on “Scarborough Fair”.
Phil and the band can be found more or less every week at “Rodney’s Bait and Tackle” in Mosman Park where they can be heard offering renditions of the Dave Brubeck canon. among other things. So from the famous “Time Out” album came “Blue Rondo A La Turk”, “It’s a Raggy Waltz” and, of course, “Take Five”, all tricky excursions into different time signatures but handled masterfully by a truly exceptional group of musicians.
What set this session apart from most Sunday afternoon performances was the number of originals composed or arranged by band members. Kim Anning stunned with his guitar work, getting amazing sounds from his instrument as well as doubling up on banjo when the need arose. He also contributed the originals “C Breeze” and “Ruff, Riff, Raff” as well as reminding us all where we were with a swinging arrangement of “Waltzing Matilda”. Ben Hodgkin’s trumpet and flugelhorn lines were beautifully crafted and this reviewer particularly liked his flugelhorn solos as he massaged the mellow notes from that most sensuous of instruments. Ben also contributed the original “Would You Rather”. Tony Celeberti impressed during his last appearance at Jazz Fremantle and he did so again with strong accompaniment and some inventive solo work on piano. His original, “Empty Chair”, written in memory of his father, was particularly moving. Manoli Voyoucalos on bass and Nathan Winterflood on drums completed the stellar line-up both contributing solos, Nathan’s particularly memorable as it shadowed Joe Morello on “Take Five”.
Bronwyn Sprogowski’s songbook was mostly standards, all delivered tastefully and with true homage to their history and lineage. “No Moon At All”, “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” and “Slow Boat to China” were joined by “My Baby Just Cares For Me”, “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and “I Only Have Eyes For You”, all well-known favourites from the Great American Songbook. Less well-known, perhaps, is Hoagy Carmichael’s “Skylark” which demonstrated what a great writer of ballads he was. The real rarity was “Sweet Home Cookin’ Man” from singer and pianist Karrin Allyson’s 1994 album of the same name and it was good to break new ground, this probably being the first time it has been played and sung at Jzz Fremantle. The audience were very satisfied with what was a truly great jazz set and we look forward to seeing Phil and his colleagues again in the near future.
SWINGIN‘ INTO MARCH – PAUL MILLARD’S STRAIGHT AHEAD BIG BAND, 7th MARCH 2021
At the outset, I have to confess a bias, a conflict of interest even. I’m a sucker for a big band. I have loved big band swing for much of my jazz listening life and among those I listen to again and again are the bands of Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman and many more. If you definitely want me to be at Jazz Fremantle on any Sunday, put on a big band and I’ll be there. Everything else can wait. On the local scene we have a few good bands that feature at Jazz Fremantle but the one that really fires me is Paul Millard’s Straight Ahead Big Band (SABB).
SABB’s session on Sunday 7th March actually exceeded expectations. I have been watching and listening to the band now for 6 years and this was the tightest and loosest I had heard it. Great arrangements, consummate musicianship and terrific repertoire geared to showcase the band’s many talents. The late Sammy Nestico was the featured arranger for the afternoon. He was best known for arranging for Count Basie but he also arranged and conducted for many of the greatest stars. He even conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra. Sadly he passed away on January 21st this year aged an incredible 96. SABB gave us a good cross-section of Nestico arrangements including “Easy To Love”, “Lonely Street”, “It’s Oh So Nice”, “Switch In Time” and “Fun Time” which showed off the band at its swinging best. There was new material too – “Atlantic Bridge” for example – and a tribute to the late Chick Corea, who died only a couple of week’s ago – “Crystal Silence” .
In the absence of Victoria Newton who unfortunately was sick, vocal duties rested totally on the able shoulders of band trumpeter Mark Underwood who presented his Frank Sinatra stylings, reprised the Dean Martin favourite “Ain’t That a Kick In the Head” and took us to the heights with an alluring and sensuous version of Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful”. Mark has a mature and rounded vocal talent which is highly suited to the material he favours. Nobody was unhappy with his sign-off feature “New York, New York”.
Fresh from a long stint in Germany, guest keyboardist Al Pithers provided a quality performance at the heart of the band, featuring effectively on “Tune 88”. As always, the band was led from the front by the energetic Paul Millard whose solo journeyings mainly on alto sax are always the pinnacle of taste and musicality. The entire band was in excellent form and if this reviewer had to select any one musician for accolades from a magnificent ensemble it would be Ray Walker on guitar, rock solid on rhythm and beautifully sinuous in his solos. I could listen to “No More Blues” over and over. One telling indication of the success of the afternoon’s session was the number of dancers on the Navy Club’s dance floor. I have never seen that many and it was a fitting tribute to the band’s swinging vibe all afternoon. I was not the only punter who left the Navy Club happy and content.
Full personnel for the SABB – Paul Millard (Musical Director and saxes), Grant Rickman, Jeremy Trezona, Brad Swope, Lee Buddle (saxes); Mark Underwood, Benn Hodgkin, Adrian Kelly, Rob Bresland (trumpets); Anthony Dodos, Catherine Noblet, Carl Harper, Bill McAllister (trombones); Al Pithers (piano); Ray Walker (guitar); Shane Pooley (bass), Pete Evans (drums).
SUPER SUBSTITUTE – MICHAELA STEELS QUINTET, 21ST FEBRUARY 2021
Sometimes in English Premier League football, clubs find a player who they use as a strategic weapon by putting him on as a substitute for a short time. During that time the best of these players can turn a match. Some are even dubbed “Super-sub”. Michaela Steels and her Quintet stood in at relatively short notice for the booked band at Jazz Fremantle to great effect. With a programme of distinctly love-tinged vocals and solid instrumentals, Michaela and the band gave us good jazz over three sets and even though the audience could have been a little bigger, those who were lucky to be there were given a real treat.
Michaela has a beautiful jazz-inflected voice and her phrasing is exquisite turning the most syrupy of love songs into a masterful jazz rendition. She also scats well, although unlike some singers, she uses scat selectively, waiting for the right song. Her programme was standards, opening with “The Very Thought Of You” and “Comes Love” and moving into Rodgers and Hart with “This Can’t Be Love” (who remembers that musical ‘The Boys From Syracuse’?) and the lesser-known “He Was Too Good To Me” and on to “‘S Wonderful” and “PS I Love You” finishing with “These Foolish Things”, Harry Connick’s “A Little Bit Of Me” and “L-O-V-E”. Every song was fashioned beautifully and with care using a fine technique.
Michaela’s husband Steve Searle is a one-man horn section and through the afternoon played trumpet, trombone, soprano sax, tenor sax, clarinet and flute, all with great aplomb. There was an incisiveness to his playing, no matter what the instrument and the session contained some fine instrumentals including a nod to John Coltrane on “My Favourite Things” and an evocation of the 1940s and 1950s Paris of Sidney Bechet with “La Vie En Rose” and “If You See My Mother” (or more correctly “Si Tu Vois Ma Mere”). Perhaps Steve’s most interesting work was on soprano although that is not to denigrate his performance on the other instruments, notably on tenor with “You Don’t Know Me” and on trumpet with “The Nearness Of You”, delivered as a samba.
Michaela and Steve were ably backed by the ever reliable Ookii Effendi on piano, He, together with Dijon Summers on bass and Tim Woolley on drums, formed the trio that backed Michaela on a couple of numbers. This was an afternoon of honest jazz performed by a group with wide-ranging talent and always with an eye on entertainment – the perfect band for Jazz Fremantle. So it would be good to see “Super-sub” Michaela Steels again but next time, not as a substitute. We’ll allow her to play the whole match!!
SWINGING OUT OF LOCKDOWN – CHRIS ROSS AND BROADWAY SWING, 14TH FEBRUARY 2021
The dividing line between jazz and other musical genres is often tenuous and there are many examples of jazz musicians and singers lending their talents to pop and rock, often to great acclaim. Ronnie Ross‘ beautiful baritone solo on Lou Reed’s “Walk On the Wild Side” is an example as is Phil Woods’ exciting climax to Paul Simon’s “Have a Good Time”. And nobody minds. With vocals there is often a dovetailing of jazz, pop and cabaret. There has been an endless discussion as to whether Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett are truly jazz singers and the truth is probably “sometimes”. But we cannot forget Charlie Parker’s passion for Sinatra’s phrasing and sheer musicality.
So we were given a rip-roaring dash through some popular vocal classics by Chris Ross and Broadway Swing. Chris has an uncomplicated vocal approach and sings a song honestly and with feeling. He was backed by an exceptional band containing some Perth jazz royalty who, perhaps, apart from a funky 1980s opening, were not given enough opportunity to stretch out and were largely contained by slick, tight arrangements. We had a beautiful tenor solo from Paul Millard on “You Don’t Know Me” and nice guitar work from Rick Webster on Mark Underwood’s soaring version of “My Funny Valentine”, trading his horn for a very fine vocal. But the rest was largely accompaniment for Chris Ross who deftly gave us Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra with a touch of Michael Buble and Tony Bennett, including some less well-known numbers such as Darin’s “Artificial Flowers” and also “New York On Sunday” which this reviewer always associated with Mark Murphy.
Through most of the three sets there was a foot in the jazz camp and Chris certainly gave us our money’s worth in this swinging session of 30 numbers. Jazz content? Limited. Did it matter? Probably not. The audience had a great time and wanted more and I have no doubt that Chris will be back by popular demand.
The downside, for this reviewer, was the Al Jolson set. Chris is obviously an admirer and there is no problem with that as Jolson was a consummate entertainer. However, even though he may have been the highest paid act of his day, he was vaudeville plain and simple, about as close to the jazz genre as the Beatles were. The audience loved it and for that we must be thankful. As the first concert following our brief COVID lockdown, it was important to get off to a good start. And we certainly did that. Chris’ encore of “When You’re Smiling” neatly summed it up – there were lots of smiling faces as the audience wended home.
The band were superb, providing Chris with very superior backing. Apart from Paul Millard on saxes and flute, and Mark Underwood on trumpet, we had Kieron Hurley on trombone, Greg Schultz on keyboards, Rick Webster on guitar, Lee Millar on bass and Robbie Cavaia on drums. We will see them all again I am sure.
AN ENTERTAINING POT POURRI – JOYCE MATHERS AND AVENUE, 24th JANUARY 2021
Joyce Mathers has a winning way. Possessed of a sweet voice (Stacey Kent is a favourite), a bubbly personality and the kind of wit and banter that only the Scots produce, she can’t go wrong. Add to that a group of musicians who successfully glue everything together with aplomb and no little technical skill, and you have a recipe for an enjoyable afternoon’s entertainment. Joyce’s band “Avenue” was to include Kim Anning on guitar but unfortunately he fell sick although nobody could complain about his substitute, Tony Celiberti on piano.
The programme was eclectic, not all jazz but a selection of popular music, standards and some genuine driving jazz which made for a versatile performance. Joyce handles her material with ease, her singing interspersed with drole anecdotes and tall tales which kept the audience mirthfully engaged. Joyce sings quite beautifully, her coverage of standards such as “What a Difference a Day Made”, “In the Wee Small Hours Of the Morning” and “No More Blues”, for example, sensitive and full of character. Then there were the surprises – a gypsy jazz rendition of “Karma Chameleon” was enjoyable if left-of-field – and we forgave her her nod to Burns’ night, a tale about what is underneath a Scotsman’s kilt! These renditions were enhanced by a dip into more popular music as Joyce gave us some Dusty Springfield (“Spooky”), that old Johnny Mathis hit “When Sunny Gets Blue” and, bringing us right up to date, Meghan Trainor’s 2014 hit “It’s All About That Bass”.
The band was superb, accompanying Joyce with consummate ease and taking the stage themselves with some strong instrumentals. Phil Hatton’s versatility on reeds and woodwinds was given full reign as we heard him on tenor saxophone, clarinet and flute as well as the rarely heard bass clarinet. He led excursions into bop and swing with Clifford Brown’s “Joy Spring” and two numbers on clarinet from the Benny Goodman canon, “Memories of You” and “Opus 1/2”. The excellent Tony Celiberti thrilled the audience as he evoked Keith Jarrett on “Memories Of Tomorrow” and Dave Brubeck on “Someday My Prince Will Come”. The whole performance was grounded by the powerful rhythm section of Manoli Vouyoucalos on bass and Toby Anning, son of Kim, on drums.
Joyce Mathers was surprised and pleased by the size of the crowd that greeted her at Jazz Fremantle and wondered whether the audience knew they were coming to see her. Well, if they didn’t realise who she was before, they do now and I am very certain that nobody left the Navy Club feeling that they hadn’t been throrougly entertained. Joyce, we look forward to welcoming you back.
B-LUCKY FOR SOME – THE SUE BLUCK QUARTET, 17th JANUARY 2021
Sue Bluck is an experienced pianist, singer and erstwhile trumpeter who is very well known on the local scene. She hails from a very musical family. Her mother was a jazz singer and her father Harry will be well known to many older members and friends as a musician and bandleader in the State for many years. Sue herself has performed widely in various settings, including as a member of the female singing group “Birdland”. With that kind of pedigree it is not surprising that we were treated to a wonderful afternoon of music as Sue put the focus on the great female singer/pianists from the jazz pantheon.
Sue covered a wonderful array of great singers including Peggy Lee, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Dinah Washington and Diana Krall. Her laid-back vocals, spare and understated, covered a range of great material which she delivered with exceptional aplomb. The songs were mostly standards and the session was delightful for that as Sue took on the material that made these singers famous – Peggy Lee’s “Black Coffee” and “Why Don’t You Do Right”, for example, Sarah Vaughan’s “Love For Sale” and “I’ve Got the World On a String”, Dinah Washington’s “What a Difference a Day Made” and Diana Krall’s “Devil May Care” . I particularly like Sue’s sympathetic reprise of Carmen McRae’s “Satin Doll”.
There were instrumentals too, reminding us that Sue Bluck is not only a mature singer but also a consummate pianist. At times her keyboard playing is her great quality rather as it is with Diana Krall and she accompanied herself brilliantly as well as giving us very smooth instrumental renditions of such classics as “Besame Mucho”. Sue was joined by a trio of fine musicians. Stand-out must be John Pin on guitar – we hard some George Benson and outstanding solos on many of the songs delivered, such as “Black Coffee”.
Completing the band were Joe Powell on bass and Garry Howard on drums, both equal to the task of providing first-class accompaniment. This was a fine performance by a well-organised band who gave us the kind of straightahead jazz that is appreciated by Jazz Fremantle’s aficionados.
For the transcript of an interview with Sue Bluck’s father Harry by Ronda Jamieson, from the State Library of Western Australia, please click the link below:
https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b1795518_612
A DELIGHTFUL MIXTURE: FIRST CONCERT OF 2021, 10th JANUARY
nAfter the horrors of 2020, many of us have been looking forward to 2021. It was important, therefore, to ensure that Jazz Fremantle’s first Sunday session of 2021 gave the New Year a good send off. And so it proved. We were provided with a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable set by singer Brenton Fosdike (late of the Mixtures pop group, purveyors of the “Pushbike Song”) ably assisted by Jenny Wrenn and an accomplished band led by Jenny’s husband and local jazz stalwart Mike Nelson.
Jazz purists may have been dismayed by some of the content but the spirit of the occasion demanded a lighter touch which came via Brenton’s treatment of a variety of material from the jazz, rock, pop and blues canons. There was good solid jazz too, mostly courtesy of the Band with excellent treatments of the bop classic “A Night In Tunisia” as well as “Have You Met Miss Jones” and a beautiful piano trio piece “A Child Is Born” which highlighted Mike Nelson’s lyrical touch with a sentimental ballad.
Brenton’s lived-in, gravelly voice was applied to a wide variety of songs from the Buble hits “Everything” and “Cry Me a River” to standards such as “I’ve Got the World On a String” and “Mack the Knife”. He produced his guitar late in the session to accompany himself on such diverse tracks as “Summertime” and “Let the Good Times Roll”. A highlight was surely his beautiful rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “It Was a Very Good Year”.
Jenny Wrenn gave us mostly standard jazz fare with well-crafted renditions of songs such as “Angel Eyes”, “Satin Doll” and Ella’s early hit “Cow-Cow Boogie”. And there were some touching duets with Brenton, notably “Send In the Clowns” and “That’s Life” while that lovable two-hander “Baby It’s Cold Outside” could have been written for them.
I could not complete this review without referring to Brenton’s outrageous abduction of “Pennies From Heaven” converted to satisfy the outcome of the story about a soldier who returned home form the war after three years to find his wife with a young baby named Benny. When he asked her how could this be, of course she sang “Benny’s From Heaven”!! All in all it was an entertaining three hours and thanks go to Brenton and Jenny for starting the New Year off for us. Credit must also go to a superb band led by Mike Nelson (keyboards), with Simon Styles (alto and tenor saxes), Alistair Peel (bass) and Peter Evans (drums).
A FULL HOUSE WITH LOTS OF CAKE – FINAL CONCERT OF 2020, 13th DECEMBER.
It was so good to get a full house for the final concert of the year. The Jazz Fremantle Committee provided cake and other goodies and we are so grateful to volunteer and committee member Michele Rautenbach for her efforts in ensuring there was a plate for every table. I note also that husband Mike turned in a great performance as a waiter although I understand that currently he is not looking for work!! There were three hampers also, offered as raffle prizes, and these were duly won and taken away for the Christmas festivities.
We also paid tribute to two stalwart members of Jazz Fremantle. Ken Bateman has just retired as Treasurer after fifteen years keeping the Club on the financial straight and narrow. He retired with the Club in a strong financial position and we wish him well for the future and hope to see him frequently at Jazz Fremantle concerts.
Ken was presented with Honorary Life Membership of Jazz Fremantle for his services to the Club.
We also celebrated the work of long-term volunteer Al Cook, who for some years now has undertaken the task of running the raffle at our Sunday concerts. This is not just a case of selling tickets at each of the tables, there is also the tedious tasks of screwing up the tickets ready for the draw as well as stapling five tickets together many times before the sale. Thanks Al for all your hard work and congratulations on behalf of all the members of Jazz Fremantle.
As to the music, three young singers took to the stage – Lucy Iffla, Daisy Fanning and Owen Measday – with an equally young band. The repertoire consisted mostly of standards and there were a couple of original songs and a trio rendition of that Christmas classic “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”. For me, there could have been more up-tempo numbers in tune with the celebratory feel of the function – there were too many slow ballads, there was too much scatting and perhaps the band could have been given more opportunity to stretch out.
The highlight for me was Owen’s rendition of an original song by drummer Will Chiew, “A Life Lived Well”, which showed great promise. As well as Will, the band consisted of Dusan Cuculoski (trumpet), Finn Owen (tenor sax), Tom Salleo (piano), and Ben Craig-Wadham (bass). There were some nice touches from Tom and Finn in particular.
REVIEW – THE SWAN RIVER RAMBLERS (SUNDAY 6TH DECEMBER 2020)
“Way Down Yonder In New Orleans” the old song goes and the spirit of the Crescent City was with Jazz Fremantle last Sunday channeled through the Swan River Ramblers, a travelling band more used to the gentle breezes of the Swan River aboard the Paddle Steamer Decoy than the hallowed hall of the Navy Club. But here we were, transported through the French Quarter, down Basin Street and South Rampart Street and on to Congo Square in the company of some of Western Australia’s finest. By that estimation this is an all star band, the best you can get and boy were we privileged to be in their company. The repertoire was solid and standard, mostly the good old good ones associated with the New Orleans pioneers, although not just delivered rote but rather given the once over by the Ramblers’ rare skill, humour and ultimately good taste. They even had the audacity to throw in a couple of boppish numbers – “How High the Moon” and “A Night In Tunisia” but even they did not seem out of place is this stunning tribute to jazz.
The Ramblers are led by Pete Jeavons, as popular a man about Perth and Fremantle as anyone, a consummate artist and driving bass player around whom the band pivots with confidence. Pete was joined by Ben Vanderwal on drums, who wouldn’t normally be with the travelling band, but whose deft brush and stick work gave a quality foundation to the band’s swinging performance. Ray Walker would normally have played the banjo but in his absence the band recruited Jeremy Thompson whose guitar work was fluid whether accompanying or soloing. Shades of Tal Farlow, I thought, although as an early modernist his style might have been out of place, but Jeremy was grounded and in harmony with the music played. Adrian Galante was back, this time chiefly on clarinet although he did make one magnificent excursion to the piano. Adrian is almost resident now at Jazz Fremantle and we are inclined to lock the doors and keep him there! His soaring tones embraced all those early stick players like Johnny Dodds and George Lewis but he embraces so many influences, including even Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Adrian was particularly effective in the lower register during this concert, which demonstrated his skill on the instrument which had you believing that he may be even better than all of his influences put together. Which leaves Adam Hall.
Adam has a huge following locally and is one of our great entertainers. As he told us, he should have been in New Orleans last April playing at the Jazz and Heritage Festival but we all know what happened. If he had gone he might not have come back. So we thank our lucky stars that he is still here and his talent shone through whether it was through his trumpet or his voice. Adam is developing into a strong vocalist while his trumpet demonstrated a good New Orleans style embellished with wider influences. I detected that early Ellingtonian Rex Stewart in some of his work and in true New Orleans style, he took his trumpet to the audience.
There were so many highlights. From the early pot boilers such as “Sheik of Araby” and “Basin Street Blues” featuring Adam’s vocals to the less well known “Right or Wrong” with its western swing sound and Adrian’s breathless “Puttin’ On the Ritz”, the band had the audience pretty much spellbound and wanting more. Adrian began the second set channeling Liberace is his introduction to his only piano piece, “I’ll Be Seeing You”, before settling into some superb jazz improvisation. His playing was completely his own although I heard the ghosts of Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner and even Dave Brubeck. Adam went on his Paddle Steamer walkabout on “When My Baby Comes Home” while “Just In Time” was a strong Jeremy Thompson feature. Adam reprised the Phil Harris vocal “The Bare Necessities” from the movie “The Jungle Book” and Adam showed what a fine singer he is while channeling Nat King Cole in “Stardust”. We look forward to his Nat King Cole tribute coming soon to a venue near you.
Adam also had a merry time with “When You’re Smiling”, substituting his own lyrics for those time-honoured sentiments. “When you’re drinking,” he crooned, “When you’re drinking, the show looks good to you!” Well Adam, the show looked good to us even without the drink. The final number announced “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing”. Never a truer word and this session epitomised swing from start to finish. You are welcome back Swan River Ramblers, anytime!!
JAZZ FREMANTLE AT THE RAILWAY HOTEL, EARLY 1993
The following reminiscence comes from Penny Allan and is published in “Twenty Years of Jazz Fremantle: A History of Jazz Fremantle 1992 – 2012” published by the Jazz in Fremantle Publishing Group:
“The Railway hotel in Tydeman Street, North Fremantle was built in 1894. It was always a wharfies’ pub because of its location near the docks and railway marshalling yards, opening for business at 6 am, where workers could get a solid breakfast.
It has a long history as a jazz venue. The Saturday afternoon session were legendary. Jazz bands began playing there in the early 1970s with the West Coast Jazz Band followed by the Cornerhouse Jazz Band. The Stevedores Jazz Band played for a while, then the Cornerhouse returned and still play there every Saturday. It is possibly the longest running jazz venue in Australia.
When it appeared that Jazz Fremantle would need to find a new home due to changes at the Orient, the management at the Railway was keen for the club to be based there. The plan was that future meetings would be held there on the second Wednesday night of every month. On Wednesday 20th january 1993, a fundraising jam session was held, with a barbecue in the beer garden.
A Wednesday evening session was held in February and again in March. There was a jazz breakfast on Sunday 4th April but the April and May jazz nights were both cancelled.
The management at the Railway hotel was very helpful but the place lacked the sort of amenities that Jazz Fremantle wanted for a more intimate concert style of event. The fact that it was already the home of a regular jazz session was also a disadvantage.
On 19th April a special meeting was called by the committee to discuss the future of the club.”
REMINISCENCE – PAMELA STYNES
Pamela has been Committee Seretary of Jazz Fremantle for the past 15 years. Recently, she mused over her introduction to jazz and her jazz journey….
“In my late teens I was a classical piano student, a member of the Guild of Young Artists in WA and I achieved success at eisteddfods and in examinations. When I left Western Australia and my fiance for the UK at the age of 20, I had only heard jazz through attending dances where Jazz At Dalkeith were the band. Their clarinetist was Jackie Harrison who was moonlighting from his day job as Principal Clarinet with the WA Symphony Orchestra. His version of “Golden Wedding” would always bring down the house once we had stopped jiving!! I had heard only a little modern jazz and didn’t care for it much. I remember thinking “The melody is lost”. It was only when I was on that long boat trip to the UK that I started to “get it” when a friend would play me modern jazz recordings. I got married in London when my fiance followed me over and we lived on the bread line in a series of bed-sitters. While we were in London, in the early 1960s, we saw Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and Thelonious Monk and when we could afford it we went to Ronnie Scott’s.
A long hiatus occurred between 1967 and 1978 when I was busy working, getting divorced, bringing up my three children and not listening to any music at all because my hearing was becoming increasingly bad. A friend talked me into coming to a Jazz Fremantle concert – I lived in Tuart Hill! – about 15 years ago and I was coerced into becoming the Secretary, a position I still hold. I’m filled with admiration for our great pool of talent in WA with the wonderful Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) graduating students of an extremely high calibre, many of whom sing or play at Jazz Fremantle quite frequently along with some of their tutors.
COVID-19 has put a crimp on the travelling aspirations of many musicians which has been to the benefit of local jazz clubs. Our world class performers such as Troy Roberts, Tim Jago, Adrian Galante, Jessie Gordon and Harry Mitchell to name a few, are staying home in WA and providing our audiences with superb performances. New York, Paris and London will have to wait!!”
IF YOU HAVE JAZZ REMINISCENCES TO SHARE WITH US THEN PLEASE CONTACT ME ON kenneth@jazzatmytable.com. WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO SHARE THEM WITH OUR READERS.