NZ Jazz: C.L. Bob - The Great Flash

CL Bob: The Great Flash (Yellow Eye) 2005

Simon Bowden (guitar/banjo/keyboard) Steve Cournane (drums) Tim Jaray (bass) Toby Lang (trumpet/Synth) Nils Olsen (saxes/clarinets) Chris Williamson (guitar) and guests Nick Van Dijk (trombone) Blair Latham (clarinet) David Chickering, Donald Maurice, Rupa Maurice, Greg Squire (strings)

There has been a little nostalgia floating around at times this month. I can't remember if I heard the line-up before the addition on Toby and Chris... maybe... but I heard the latter version of CL Bob fairly regularly during the time I was at music school and a little less frequently after graduation. But giving them a spin again this month has definitely taken me back to that time. Not just thinking of CL Bob gigs, but some of the off-shoots – who remembers Bertha? (Nils, Chris and Steve) - a group that focused on Mingus and Monk tunes. And then there was the scene in general, particularly the vast array of happenings at The Space. There must be something about this band that does it - I just took a glance at the NZ Music Month post from 2017 on their self-titled debut.... that too had me in a nostalgic mood.

Of the three albums from CL Bob, The Great Flash, is the one I have listened to the least. Or it's the one that I'm least familiar with the material. I heard the band a lot during the Stereoscope period and as a result I probably didn't listen to that album as I could have at the time, and I didn't pick this album up when it was released and heard them live playing this material only once or twice.

As with all their work, CL Bob pull in a wide range music and make it their own thing. Quite dense and dramatic (“Raewyn”), at times dark and angular (“Greed”), plaintive (“Unheard Voice”), sombre (“Hira”), groove driven yet slightly of-the-wall (“Craters on the Moon”), quirky and fun (“Old Bob”), even a little tongue in cheek (“Ted and Sylvia”) and epic (“Carpet Master is Vanquished”[brilliant title!]) - they provide plenty of variety for listeners.

This is another album were I don't feel it's about soloists – there's plenty of collective playing, and a lot of focus on textures rather that soloists out front. Yeah, Nils has a bass clarinet feature on “Unheard Voice” and both the horns have some room to stretch out on “Psyion” (with some minor hints at Ornette's Quartet) but these are exceptions rather than the rule. You could hear “Raewyn” as a feature for Tim Jaray but it's really a three-way dialogue between Jaray, Bowden and Cournane.

Texture and colour are key and the big change between this and their previous recordings is the addition of keyboards and synth. The groove on “Craters on the Moon” does a nice job at making the keyboards and synth not seem all that odd. And it's pretty fun how they are deployed on “Old Bob”.

Nils spends much more time on alto here than I remember him playing and Toby Lang's tone is perfectly suited to the sound of “Ted and Sylvia”. And then there's the addition personnel. The string quartet works really well on “Greed” and Nick's trombone slots in fine on “Old Bob”. I remember hearing them live with additional personnel and it really didn't do it for me, and at the time, I remember feeling that it seemed like the right move to call it quits as things may have run their course. Listening here I do feel that the extra personnel distracts from the group sound which had taken on quite a different weight with the synth and keyboards in the mix. But I still enjoy the album, and it still sounds like CL Bob... so what am I saying? I'm not too sure!

One thing I noticed this month that hadn't occurred to me before – the CL Bob albums are pretty much the only examples of the individuals I have on record (John Bell is an exception, and Steve and Tim are on one of Norm Meehan's albums). I see Steve has a few recordings up on BandCamp ( https://stevecournane.bandcamp.com/) including Boat (with Simon and Nils) an album I've been on the lookout for quite some time.

Maybe the one thing that is missing from The Great Flash is a version of “Endings” that's heavy on bass clarinet, synth and banjo. But maybe that was would have been too obvious

Music for Commuting: A Bunch of Sam Newsome

For the last couple of weeks solo recordings from Sam Newsome have been accompanying the ride. I regularly read Sam's blog and follow him on social media, but it was about time I started catching up with his discography and these four are all new to me. I don't particularly like having to drive to work, but the music helps ease the pain - even if it is far from an ideal listening situation.

Sam often uses "extended" techniques in a way that those unfamiliar with them may find quite approachable. Over the last couple of years he's been working with "prepared" soprano saxophone
and while I dig the results of "Chaos Theory", I do miss the tone of his "unprepared" straight horn (although there are a couple of tracks where it appears).

There’s plenty here to keep me out of trouble (as there are with the other 4 discs I have of Sam’s), and I'm going to give each of these some dedicated time in the near future. And eventually I’ll get around to hearing his earlier work on Steeplechase... and his more recent ensemble recordings too (keen to hear him with Fay Victor).

Swagman, Norm and The Woods

Swagman at Raumati Social Club (June 2019)

I’ve been totally slack keeping up to date with things here... time to catch up!

I'm trying to make a habit of catching Swagman's monthly gig at Raumati Social Club (the last Friday of the month). I really enjoy hearing a group working with a set of tunes over a period of time. This time around they included one or two news tunes too. It's been a while, so I'll be brief.... but a couple of memories are that the balance was a bit off - louder than usual and lack of clarity. And, Brent quoting Max Roach's "For Big Sid" during one of his solos over an ostinato from Joe and Gabe (I think Brent was surprised that someone picked up on it). 

Norman Meehan's farewell concert (June 2019)

The following night it was off to St Paul's Lutheran Church for Norman Meehan’s farewell concert (Norm is now based in NYC). The two sets featured pieces (old and new) from varying line-ups comprised of Norman (p) Hannah Griffin (vocal) Blair Latham (ts/b.clarinet/g) Lance Philip (d) Martin Riseley (v) Andrew Laking (b). Hannah seems to get better each time I hear her (admittedly only twice since I've been home) - I particularly enjoyed her duo with Martin Riseley. And when was the last time you heard someone double on tenor sax, bass clarinet and guitar? Blair managed it well (even playing all three on one tune). There was almost a house concert feel about the evening (maybe it was the cuppa tea and ginger nuts?).

The Woods at Raumati Social Club (July 2019)

The Woods play that dreaded mixture of jazz, world music and rock. It was the first time hearing this group (aside from a sneak peak on bandcamp a while back.... begs the question, “Why don’t I have their album yet?”) and once again, hearing original compositions being performed without sheet music is refreshing!

Hearing Blair twice in a week playing the unlikely combo of instruments, I couldn’t help giving Blair a little shit that he now has to lug around a guitar, pedals and an amp (he said that wasn’t lost on his bandmates either - after years of him hassling them for all their equipment). I have to give him credit for doubling on guitar in the same band as Joe! And his raspy tenor tone is the perfect fit sonically for this group.

I'm really glad to have caught Joe as much as I have since I’ve been home. I've probably mentioned it before, but I dig his relaxed intensity, and it makes it look easy. And and much as I enjoyed Tom’s playing on upright earlier in the evening, the electric pulled out a different quality in the group sound that really worked. By the second set the volume started getting a little out of balance with the room (I was sitting somewhere different too), with the bass getting a bit too buzzy but it seemed to settle down eventually. I haven't heard Rick Cranson all that much since I've been home. He knows when to turn up the power but didn’t overdo it. He did unleash over the vamp on final tune and the dynamic shift at the end was nailed by the entire band. The two sets flew by, and that's always a good sign.

NZ Jazz: Jonathan Crayford - Dark Light

Jonathan Crayford: Dark Light (Rattle)

Crayford (p) Ben Street (b) Dan Weiss (d) 2014

After a couple of saxophone heavy recordings, I headed back to the piano trio for June edition of the NZ Jazz series. Dark Light provided some great accompaniment when driving at night pondering the mysteries of life. For some reason, putting this post together was a hard slog. I'm not sure why as I've really enjoyed spending time with the album this past month.

The overall feeling is one of introspection with a focused intensity that keeps things moving along and draws you in. Dark Light is more of a long simmer than a rapid boil. And for me, it's more about the mood generated by the compositions and the group sound rather than individual solos.

I like the tension that Weiss creates and the way he moves between tension and release. If he sounded more conventional, sticking to the groove of the piano and bass, it would be a far less exciting recording. Throughout, Weiss' accompaniment is often not what you'd normally expect - but it works. The are countless examples: 2.25-3.35, 5.45 on the title track; 1.30 on “Rita Finds the Light” (and the release at 1.53 into the light, skipping is tasty); the snare on “Galois' Candle”; and how do the fills at 1.45 and 3.40 on “Panties” work? Plus, I dig the tone he gets from his kit.

Taking care of business, often with the minimum amount of fuss, Ben Street's playing is nicely understated. That might be shortchanging him though... I don’t want to give the impression that he is phoning it in - but his tasty use of space on “Impetus”, lets you know he's not. Weiss is much more in the background here and the bass comes to the fore. The opening section of “Bikes in Space” caught my ear too.

I wouldn't describe Crayford's playing on this album as flashy (and he's definitely not trying to impress the first-call rhythm section), but he has a vitality that I dig much more than showy pyrotechnics. I particularly enjoy his sparse, melodic moments: 2.09-2.17 and 5.25 on “Rita Finds the Light”;3.50 “Impetus” (there's a welcome touch of blues here too). And the teaser at 3.55 on “Bikes in Space” is a nice touch (and the band feel on the out head is really on point).  All the tunes are by Crayford, and in a couple of spots, there were moments with a Herbie Nichols vibe (the second section of “Skyscraper Scaffold” and maybe the opening of “Bikes in Space” too).

The way the title track shifts mood so naturally is highlight. Dark Light couldn't be more apt name for the album. The mix of dark and light throughout the album brings plenty of mystery that I find very appealing. It's dark, yet uplifting.

I was surprised that this didn’t win jazz album of the year (not taking anything away from Dog). Maybe it was a victim of not being New Zealand enough (only 1/3 Kiwi) - I know of other nominations that were marked down for that reason. It seems that that line of thinking has subsided with the trio’s follow-up, East West Moon, winning in 2017 - I’m looking forward to giving that a spin too... eventually. 

Notes from the Wellington Jazz Festival

I didn't get to nearly enough at the 2019 Wellington Jazz Festival, but I was really happy with the gigs I managed to attend.

Saturday was a full-on evening. I kicked things off at the Third Eye with a first time meeting between pianist Jobic Le Masson and his rhythm section for the evening – Tom Callwood (b) and Anthony Donaldson (d). I would have liked to get to Jobic's quartet gig, but I just couldn't make it happen. But was really I glad I caught this set of improvised music (a 45 minute piece and a shorter one). It speaks volumes of the musicianship of each involved, that they can come together as a unit, and create such an engaging set of music. The piano was percussive and angular, and I really enjoyed how he utilized space (and this was picked up by the rest of the trio). Being the overseas guest, it could easily have been a piano show, but it wasn't. There was plenty of interaction and each of trio had room to move on their own. A couple of standouts from Tom was his use of harmonics (both plucked and bowed) and his solo stretch about half way through the first piece. He and Anthony together are sounding better and better (I've been listening to them as a pairing for 20 years), and I can't recall hearing Anthony play better – power, subtlity, space, swing, interaction – wonderful drumming. It was great to have a standing-room only crowd digging a set of improvised music. You couldn't beat it for $10 – that's value!

After a bite to eat it was over to the National War Memorial Carillon for Ponguru – Al Fraser and Phil Boniface. Again, it was great to see a good crowd present (standing room only). The acousitcs really suited the music and it was nice hearing a bass played sans amplification. I picked up their album, Ponguru, some months ago but I have only given it a cursory listen. 

The natural variation of the taonga pūoro is a plus but wanted to hear more variation from the bass (both tonal and approach).

A group I've been wanting to hear for a while now are The Noveltones. It's an interesting line-up comprised of soprano saxophone (Jasmine Lovell-Smith), bass clarinet (Blair Latham), violin (Tristan Carter) and bass (Alistair Isdale) playing original works by the band members. Pyramid Club was good spot for them – intimate and suitable acoustics – and they played to a full house. I really enjoyed the two tunes I did hear and was dissapointed to leave, but due to the crowded program, I had to bail to get down to Meow for John Pål Inderberg's trio.

When I ran into Jeff Henderson a couple of month's ago, he mentioned Inderberg's tour and recommended I check him out. When I arrived at Meow I was pleased to see another solid audience. As is often the case at jazz festival gigs there were a lot of unfamiliar faces in the crowd (great! But I do wonder how much of a flow on effect the festival has on the scene the other 51 weeks of the year). I was pleasantly surprised when the set opened with “My Melancholy Baby” and there were a couple from Konitz - “Kary's Trance”/”Play Fiddle Play”, “It's You” and I think “Dream Stepper”. Jeff hand mentioned the influence of Tristano et al, and it was present. You don't hear that influence too much in these parts you it made a very welcome change (likewise it was great to hear a baritone sax specialist). The shtick between tunes was a bit much at times (the crowd seemed to enjoy it) but the music was all business. Håkon Mjåset Johansen (d) Trygve Waldemar Fiske (b) were rounded out the trio and while I was focussing most closley on the baritone, I enjoyed their playing. I picked up the trio's album, Linjedalsleiken,but haven't had a chance to give it a spin just yet – I'll hone in a bit more on the rhythm section then.

As I was leaving I ran into Jobic and mentioned that I had picked up his album (Song) and was intrigued to hear Steve Potts in a setting other than with Steve Lacy. It was great chatting to him and he said how much he enjoyed being in town for the entire festival. I would like to see the festival bring out more players along these lines. Not the star-power, big names, but high calibre players to spend the week (or more) in an artist-in-residence capacity, playing gigs, recording, teaching, and interacting with local players. I think this would be far more productive for the scene than “music of” and “classic album” gigs that plague the festival (there was well over a dozen).

It was back into town on Sunday for the Jazz Kōrero – Talking about Jazz and New Zealand Indentity. The panel was headed by Aleisha Ward and she was joined by Dave Wilson, Jasmine Lovell-Smith, Nick Tipping, Ron Samsom, and four students of Dave's from the New Zealand School of Music. While the conversation didn't contain too much revelatory information, it's nice having the discussion and it's an excellent addition to the festival program. I would have liked at little more room for Q&A and it would be really worthwhile videoing or live streaming future talks. By the time it had wrapped up, the Wellington Jazz Co-Op Sunday Sessions was well under way - it's a regular Sunday afternoon gig that I need to get to. I hung out listening for about 20 minutes and then hit the road.

On the train ride home I wrote these notes on my phone:

If a scene is active, robust and diverse it’s true nature will reveal itself as a byproduct of the activity from those involved. That may be a New Zealand jazz “identity” or it could be could be a number of separate or interconnected, individual identities. Either way, if gaining a New Zealand jazz identity is the goal, the result may be something that is forced, rather than a natural progression. Tokenism is a risk, as is an identity becoming a characterture of itself. If a New Zealand jazz identity does develop, we may very well be unaware that it is happening in the moment. 

It doesn’t mean that there aren't things that may help develop identity. Featuring compositions by New Zealanders, awareness of the history, supporting local artists (live concerts, buying recordings, commissions) etc, but again, this can be seen as developing a robust scene rather than developing an identity.
There was a lot of talk about composition - but what about free improvisation? If composition is the only means to an identity, does that mean it is off limits to improvisers?

Friday night at Raumati Social Club: Swagman

You gotta dig Joe’s relaxed focused intensity 

I couldn't think of a better place to be on a stormy Friday night. Although it had been a while since I last caught Swagman, getting to hear a group working the same tunes over a period of time is a treat. I’ll actually be pretty familiar with them by the time the album is released. I like they way they ease in to the evening. By the end of the first set things were driving along. Then they ramped it up, kicking off the second set with "Valley of the Dry Bones" and "Mr Ze Ze", and from there it continued. On this particular night they were getting bit more of a wall of sound vibe than I had picked up previously (some of it was due to the room sound). Deliberate or not, there was more emphasis on the whole sound rather than the individual parts - even the solos were quite textural. The crowd were packed in (especially for the first set) and those that didn't stay for the second provided dancing room for those who did. And then, at the end of the night, it hits.....I have to go to work tomorrow.

Joe, Gabe and Brent (somewhere in the back)

NZ Jazz: Tim Hopkins - Seven

Tim Hopkins: Seven (Rattle)

Hopkins (ts) Dixon Nacey (g) John Rae (d) Richard Nunns (taonga pūoro) 2011

Last month featured the longest single track of the series so far. This month we have the shortest album of the series to date. Clocking in at 33 minutes and 38 seconds, Seven is the shortest album I've heard in a some time. I'm sure people have written about this and I'm late to the party, but with the decline of the compact disc will we see (have we seen?) a change in recording lengths and approaches. Maybe the vinyl uptake will see a return to shorter albums (not that this album was released on vinyl). 

The trio executes Tim's vision well, and his own playing is on game. Any of the trio could have over-played their hand and filled in the space – but they don't. You can tell it's Tim's album as he's the most

prominent soloist throughout the album. But the brevity of Seven keeps things from being a saxophone show and puts a lot of emphasis on the trio and how they interact – something I've really enjoyed focussing on. Tim's choice of personnel was crucial. One change and the album would sound extremely different.

I think this is only the second time I've heard Rae outside of The Troubles – the other occasion being a performance with Paul Dyne and Tim at Victoria University (there was someone else too, but I forgot who). His use of dynamics are a great asset across the album, ramping things up when needed but not afraid to back off either. John's playing is less boisterous than with The Troubles, but highly effective. When he's busy, it's appropriate and never out of character for the piece. 

Guitar has hardly been featured in this series (I need to work on that)and it's underrepresented in my collection, so it's been nice spending some time with Dixon Nacey – he never overstates his case. And his comping, in particular, was a stand out. He provides just enough to maintain that push-and-pull between sound and space. I could be tempting to have the guitar hinting at the missing bass by playing lots of ostinatos of bass-like figures. There's a little of that, and it does help pull things together, but not enough of of it to grow weary.

I'm not sure the addition of Richard Nunns on a few tracks was entirely necessary. It provides a change in colour and texture, and I like the way his playing helped transition between tunes (“Road from Perdition” into “The Sleeping Giants”), but if he wasn't present I don't think the impact on the album overall would be that large [yeah... I'm contradicating myself here with what I said about personnel choices!].

Higher energy pieces bookend the album, the funky-ish “One Set to Rest” and uptempo swing of “Biting the Big Apple”. In between there's the stark blues of “All Blacks and Blues”, the ethereal “The Sleeping Giants”, the grooving “Road from Perdition” and a lilting “23rd Century Love Song.” The odd track out could be “Brown Frog”, a piece for unaccompanied saxophone. But it actually slots into the flow of the programme nicely. [Side note: I can't think of (m)any solo albums by NZ jazz artists]. 

The space aspect is something I kept coming back to. It's something I want to address in my own playing. How do you utilize space without sacrificing momentum? 

Seven has provided a refreshing set of music to listen to this month and it's the finest album I have heard from Tim.