The return of Swagman

Last Friday night it was off to Raumati Social Club for the first gig by Swagman for quite a while (prior to lockdown sometime). The crowd was small to start but it picked up and was pretty much a full house by the end of the first set. As usual they started out mellow - even mellow-er than usual - and then ramped it up during the second set. It wasn't the dancing/party crowd this week (perhaps everyone was electioned out?) but they were digging it nonetheless. Gabe played a lot of vibraphone during the first set - more than usual, it seemed. He fired up the alto during the second set, playing a couple of solos that were as good as I've heard from him. I always enjoy making the effort to hear Swagman whenever I can. It's a fun gig - fine musicians, sweet guys, and good vibes. There's been plenty of good vibes at gigs I've attended recently. Maybe people have worked out how lucky we are to have live music soothing our souls. Long may it continue.

Usually I only catch glimpses of Brent McFarlane as he's tucked away in the corner somewhat obscured by Joe and Gabe, so this time around I made a point to grab a shot of the Swagman engine room.

Arthur Street Loft Orchestra - Rosie Langabeer & Zirkus

After a 13 year hiatus, last Monday the Third Eye was the scene of the revival of the Rosie Langabeer's large ensemble, Zirkus. It was part of the Arthur Street Loft Orchestra series, which continues providing plenty of variety for those interested in hearing original large ensemble music (although they may be looking for a new home in 2021). The group included some of the original members plus some new faces (19 musicians in total). And with people in from out-of-town to play and listen along with fond memories of the group "back in the day", there was a great vibe in the room even before things got started. Those good vibes are something I have always associated with Zirkus. That, and a little but of quirkiness/zaniness. I'm pretty certain most (all?) of the tunes came from the Sirius Music recording and hopefully more gigs might expand on that repertoire. At times the band teeters on the brink of chaos - just long enough to keep things interesting - and I was impressed by how well they navigated it considering that lack of rehearsal time leading into ASLO gigs (try getting the same 19 musician's in the same room at the same time on more than one occasion). I think of it more of a collective effort than as a band for soloists, although there were some nice solo contributions - Blair Latham (tenor sax) Mike Taylor (trumpet) and Nick Van Dijk (tuba) come to mind. Fun is the glue, it kept things moving and engaged the audience, but not at the expense of the music. Instead it is an integral part of the music. It was a really enjoyable evening, and hopefully we don't have to wait another 13 years to hear Zirkus fire up again.

none of the pics I took that night really captured the mood

Jasmine Lovell-Smith Quartet at Third Eye

Last Thursday, it was off to the Third Eye for the Wellington Jazz Cooperative gig featuring the Jasmine Lovell-Smith Quartet - Jasmine (soprano sax), Daniel Hayles (piano), Emma Hattaway (bass), and Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa (drums). This was the first outing of this line-up. I'd heard Hikurangi a few times with Jasmine and he is well-suited to her music - a sensitive and creative accompanist who isn't afraid to interject and kick things along as needed. I hadn't heard Emma before, and she slotted in nicely. At times her tone was a bit lost in the mix but it got better as the gig went along. Her melodic conception works well with Jasmine's compositions. I was most curious to hear how Dan fit into the group as I thought it was bit of an odd choice. It seemed to take him a while to settle, and for me there was a marked difference between his playing in the second set as he found his groove in the music. Overall they created a nice band sound that filled the room without being loud. There was nice mix of material from Jasmine's output - older pieces, new pieces, and adaptations of larger works - and her melodic, lyrical vibe hit the spot for someone who's brain needed to relax.

Little Symphony Sax Trio + Blair and Anton at Rogue

Still playing catch up with the blog. Here's a couple of shots from gigs back on the 23 and 25th of October. First up was the Little Symphony Sax Trio (l-r: Blair Latham, Jake Baxendale and Oscar Laven) at Photspace Gallery. I heard The Noveltones there earlier in the year (or was it longer ago than that?) and it's a nice venue for this type of thing. The quartet was minus one (Anton Wutts) but that didn't stop them as they played through a recently written suite - 6 short pieces based on colours (Purple, Green, White, Red, Black and Pink) and some other older and newer material.

 When Anton made it to town on the Sunday, he was at the Rogue & Vagabond along with Blair, Paul Mouncy (electric bass) and Peter Elliot (d). The group had a fun name but I forget what it was now.... (that'll teach me for not taking my notebook). It was great hearing Anton and Blair join forces again - the pairing goes back over 20 years and the spark remains.

Anton stuck mostly to alto sax (and some synth too), with the tenor only a making an appearance towards the end of the evening. In addition to the usual tenor sax and bass clarinet, Blair also busted out the guitar too (a rare doubling combo). It was a fun gig, high energy and a little quirky - not unexpected with these guys.

Arthur Street Loft Orchestra - Elliot Vaughan and Tristan Carter

After many moons away, I’ve moved back to Wellington. The last time I lived here was 2009, in some ways things haven’t changed much... in some ways. It would be nice to document some of the gigs I attend to try and kick start getting back to a somewhat semi regular blog schedule. It has been taking of a sideline to the radio show (which hasn’t had much of a mention here... I need to work on that). It’s not the first gig attended since the move (a couple of weeks ago), just the first I’ve written about. In fact, following my first day at the new job, the Arthur Street Loft Orchestra (ASLO) was just the ticket.

This week the Arthur Street Loft Orchestra featured works by Elliot Vaughan and Tristan Carter. Having heard Tristan with The Troubles and The Noveltones, I was keen to hear what he came up with for a large ensemble. I hadn't heard any of Elliot's music before. This time around the ensemble was a ten-piece - 2x violin, 2x bass, viola/voice, cello, drums, bass clarinet, trombone and baritone sax. I wasn’t too keen on the music playing as everyone was milling about... not hitting the mood of what was to come. It would have bugged me if I was about to play. But the opening blast put an end to that! And it was a very enjoyable night of music with a bit of, if not everything, then plenty - raucousness, shuffle, swing, abstraction, fun, even some more tender moments. At times there was bit of a 'The Troubles' vibe, not surprising as 6 or 7 of this incarnation of ASLO are regulars with John Rae's group. A couple of things popped out when I looked at my (very messy) notes the next day. The first piece, "Surreal Multiverse", paired sections of the ensemble - horns/strings, strings/rhythm, and rhythm/horns - for a long time before the entire unit played together. Subtle yet very effective as I waited for the full group sound to be revealed. The penultimate piece was a three-part suite. The last movement wound down the evening beautifully and harnessed cellphones in an unexpectedly enjoyable way. For me, that could have been it for the night, but they played one more piece. It made for a much more energetic end to the night. The only thing wrong with the piece was its placement in the programme.... I minor complaint. It sounds like there are a couple of interesting shows coming up, so I'll try and keep up a bit of blog momentum.

Arthur Street Loft Orchestra: Daniel Beban

It’s always bit of a rush to get into Wellington straight from work but I made it nevertheless. I was keen to get along this week as a Daniel Beban led large ensemble is hard to resist, plus I missed him last time I was part of the ASLO series. This was the first time I’ve managed to get along to season 10(?). Also, it was first gig I have attended during level two restrictions. Social distancing was in place (as best it could be) and ticket sales were limited to 40 in order to help facilitate this. It was nice to see a decent crowd in – I guess it was sold out.

 

The evening started with Beban’s composition for two tubas and percussion. Joe Lindsay and Dan Yeabsley were droning on the tubas and Cory Anderson and Daniel Beban filled bowls, placed inside the tuba bells, with various bits and pieces to rattle around (balls, beads, chain, tambourines etc). The constant drone with the ever-changing shimmer and rattling made for a nice way to relax following the drive into the city. The piece ended somewhat abruptly, to applause and laughter, as Dan ran out of steam and the tuba won.

 

The main event was “Daily Deaths” - sonic interpretations of COVID--19 daily death counts from eight countries (I recall Italy and Afghanistan getting a mention, and saw Brazil was on the conductors music stand). The 16-piece ensemble comprised of pairs of Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Alto Sax, Bass Clarinet, Flute, Violin, and Bass. And each pair was assigned a country to play. It might seem a pretty opportunistic approach to music making (much like all those streaming playlists that take advantage of words like COVID or isolation). But, unlike those playlists, the results were worthwhile. Early on, breathe sounds were prominent and the droning vibe continued. At times there was a disorientating feeling as I couldn’t always tell what instruments were producing what sounds. Beban was conducting the work, and while the hands signals meant nothing to me (and sometimes I didn’t notice a marked difference when he signalled something), when he took control of the dynamics the piece took on some welcome variety. Up until then, dynamic shifts had been less abrupt, but this section had various parts of the of the ensemble swelling and falling bring a completely different energy to the piece. Jake Baxendale used the term “beautifully tragic” to describe the music - he was on point.

 

Once again, solid programming from the Jake - this season has had plenty of variety, and hopefully I can get to more. 

 

Times Flies with Jazz Escapism

Where does the time go? Sometimes (most times, actually), the weekend just flies by. Today, that was the case. Jazz just let the time drift by with its usual effortlessness as I listened to potential tracks for the radio shows. Some recent releases (2019/2020) from tenor players - Jimmy Heath, Eric Alexander, Houston Person, Jerry Bergonzi, James Carter, a couple from Joshua Redman. Bit of a mixed bag really. Part of me really doesn't want to showcase a bunch of music I'm not really into. Not that all my programmes only feature music I dig.... but an entire (or majority) show of stuff that doesn't hit the spot for me might be pushing it. We'll see. I'm not afraid of spending some time with things that aren't my cuppa tea. At the urging of a friend, I spent a bit of time listening to Joey Alexander. His latest release, Warna, got a spin but I found my concentration fading in and out. Hype and media buzz often puts me off listening to artists/albums. And Alexander fits into the that category for me. I've always found that the music that sticks with me is stuff I "discover" for myself. But I'm willing to hang in there and give him some more time. Then there was a bunch of Miles Davis live recordings from 1960-64. Thought it could be good to put something together from the final Miles/Coltrane tour through to Wayne Shorter joining the group. Some of these are pretty familiar to me (Four & More/My Funny Valentine, the Plugged Nickel recordings), but it was nice to revisit the Blackhawk recordings which I hadn't heard in years (probably since music school) and the 1960 Tour "Bootleg" box set is new to me. I definitely want to spent a bit more time with the latter. It's the final tour Coltrane made with Miles, and you can hear he's ready (overdue?) to go his own way. From the little I heard today, Miles seems a little up and down (first impression) and the rhythm section sounded on form throughout. The fidelity of these sides are nice too... not essential, but an added bonus for sure. But as much as I enjoyed hanging with the jazz today, I still didn't manage to finish off the next two radio shows... and that was the plan.