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.

Swagman at Moon

 Just found this photo of Swagman playing at Moon in Newtown back at the start of February. Better late than never I guess. My first time hearing them somewhere other than RSC. Different vibe to the night, with more amplification and effects, and none of the RSC locals.

Lily Shaw Quartet at Rogue and Vagabond

Lily Shaw (tenor sax/flute/vocals) Hector McLachlan (p) Phoebe Johnson (b) Cory Champion (d)

Really decent turnout and nice to see lots of people actually paying attention to the music (not always the case at Rogue and Vagabond). I don’t recall having heard Lily in the past. Nice tone and quite a melodic player. It was a bit noisy to be able to focus on the lyrics but some of them grabbed my ear. A little more melodic/harmonic tension from the sax and piano would have been nice. But perhaps that would have distracted from the relaxed Sunday afternoon vibes. As usual, Cory’s drumming was a standout. Based on age, instruments in tow, and that they were nursing half a glass of water throughout the evening, I noticed plenty of what I assumed to be students from the music school. No cover and no minimum - I don’t think they realize how lucky they are. You’d expect to see at more gigs than I do. A new intake will just be kicking off so maybe they will get out more.

Swagman album release at RSC

I couldn’t pass up getting along to Swagman’s album release gig at Raumati Social Club on Friday night. Beautiful evening and the place was packed (and the crowd was a bit noisier than usual), but as usual, it was a fun evening – great to see and hear the guys again. I’m looking forward to sending some time with the album.

 

 

 

Jazz | Pint | Warne Marsh

I thought of this set of recordings last night when I was playing on the street (accompanied by the sounds of fireworks and New Years revelers). Back in the day I used the money gained from playing on the street to feed my CD habit. One such purchase was the Mosaic Records set of Atlantic recordings by Tristano, Konitz, and Marsh. It took some saving up as I never made much money (mostly I was just practicing) and I remember the exchange rate really wasn't in my favour either! In fact, it way have been the first thing I purchased online.

When I got the set, it was the solo Tristano and Warne's albums that excited me the most. And that's probably still the case, although now I appreciate the contribution of the rhythm sections far more. I think that back then I was so taken by Warne - especially his tone - that the others just faded into the background. Tonight, I spent a bit of time just digging the lines laid down by Paul Chambers and I was still able to marvel at Marsh. There are other albums I was really into back then, that when I hear them these days just don't resonate with me nearly as much. Whereas Warne's self-titled Atlantic album has got better with time. It's funny, as what were favourite tracks over 20 years ago are still my favourites today (well they are tonight anyway!) - "Yardbird Suite" and "Excerpt". "My Melancholy Baby" is great too as is "Just Squeeze Me" and makes me wonder why I'm playing favourites tonight. It always pains me to look in the liner notes and see listings for other tracks from these two sessions... "unissued, master no longer exists". We can only imagine. The upside is that we do have six tracks, and if you haven't heard them, please set aside 35 minutes and give it a spin (or you could just put it on loop like I did tonight).

While I may not listen to this music as much as I once did (for a long time it was a daily occurrence), this music still travels with me. A great way to kick of what was otherwise a quiet start to 2021.