Greg Malcolm & Lucien Johnson at Pyramid Club

 Nice to get out two nights in a row and hear some quality music., albeit very different. Pyramid Club was the scene for Friday night for two sets by guitarist Greg Malcolm - joined by Lucien Johnson's soprano saxophone for the second set. There was a healthy crowd without it being totally packed. It would have been nice to see a few more of the jazz crowd there, but I wasn't surprised that they weren't (benefit of the doubt.... maybe they all had gigs). I was particularly keen to hear the second set as it featured pieces by Steve Lacy (Greg's album Leather and Lacy is worth hunting down). Greg has a unique take on Lacy - a slowed down, drone-y type thing - and it really works. Lucien has a deep understanding of Lacy's music and he easily slotted into Greg's approach. Plus, it was great hearing Lucien sticking just to soprano - I can't remember the last time I heard that.... if ever, and I really enjoy his soprano playing. His tone has great clarity without getting bright or thin. He also created some sounds on a mystery box that I don't really know what it was!

 

The Woods at Lovebite

On Thursday night the Wellington Jazz Co-operative presented The Woods at Lovebite. The room was full and the band was on form. Sometimes you can just tell things are going to click, and right from the start Rick Cranson had a spark in his playing that lit the fire that burned all evening (well, the two sets…who know, maybe there’ll still on fire). Sometimes it got a little loud, but I’ll let that slide on this occasion. I haven’t heard The Woods sound better. I’ve been pretty selective as to the Wellington Jazz Co-operative gigs I attend. This was my first since Third Eye closed and they started presenting concerts at Lovebite. It’s a small space, but a good vibe.

 

Devil's Gate Outfit at Meow

 Okay, I’ve been dragging the chain with this post… but here we are……. finally. Devil’s Gate Outfit played at Meow every Wednesday in March. I got along 4 weeks out of 5. Anthony Donaldson (d) Tom Callwood (bass) Dan Beban (g) Cory Champion (vibes/percussion), Steve Roche (trumpet/euphonium/electronics) David Donaldson (percussion/stringed instruments (not sure what they are!) Blair Latham (as/ts/b.cl) And Johnny Marks (vocals/percussion) subbed for Dan one night (and did a great job). It was great to hear how things developed and shifted over those weeks, particularly as I became more familiar with the tunes. The live sound was some of the best I had heard at Meow (it can be pretty hit and miss there… usually everything is over-amplified). The most disappointing thing was the audience. Some weeks it was pretty quiet in there, but the final night had a pretty decent crowd. Meow doesn’t seem to have the same built in crowd the way Rogue and Vagabond does.

 

Sunday at Rogue and Newtown Festival

Sunday evening began at Rogue and Vagabond to hear the Aleister James Campbell Quartet with Lucien Johnson (ts/ss) Paul Dyne (b) John Rae (d). There was a smaller crowd (but attentive) than a typical Sunday (no doubt due to Newtown Festival). I'm looking forward to catching Lucien again later in the week.

I couldn’t really be bothered dealing with the Newtown Festival crowds during the day so I was glad that Cory Champion’s ‘Clear Path Ensemble’ was performing later in the night. It was nice to get down to the old ‘hood again – I haven’t spent much time down there since moving into the city. It seemed that technical issues had delayed the previous band and the Clear Path Ensemble set seemed pretty short as a result (30 mins max). I was a little disappointed that they were sans horns but I’m sure festival budgets was a factor in stripping things back a bit. People still dug it though.