JAZZ ALBUM REVIEWS IN THE AUSTRALIAN
In September, 2017 Eric Myers commenced reviewing jazz albums in the Review supplement of The Weekend Australian. All reviews in this folder are written by Myers.
JAZZ
THE NECKS
THREE
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Fish Of Milk
Four-and-a-half stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, February 22, 2020
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The most striking aspect of the 21st album by The Necks is the melodic beauty in pianist Chris Abrahams’s playing, which has been underestimated by past reviewers. His vintage improvisations reveal a brilliant capacity, over time, to modify his playing with changes so minimal they may not be immediately perceptible. But even when his figures are back in the sound mix, his melodic gift is palpable. Otherwise, the album is business-as-usual for this great Sydney improvisational trio, with three 20-minute tracks entitled Bloom, Lovelock and Further. Bloom is a high-energy work, built throughout on an exhilarating rock-like time-feel, courtesy of percussionist Tony Buck’s unique ability to create propulsion, alongside the driving bass of Lloyd Swanton. A whining guitar figure is overlaid at the beginning, before it fades away, to reappear later. This piece is dominated by repetition, which used to be the kiss of death in jazz. The Necks, however, turn repetition on its head so that it becomes a virtue, and ironically, this creates interest. I found myself glued to this track, wondering what might happen next. As it turned out, nothing much happened, except for some subtle added layers of sound. It continued to rocket along indefinitely, until a sudden ending, with a brief satisfying coda. The out of tempo Lovelock is a rather eerie soundscape with lots of percussion and drum rolls, long pauses, keyboard figures, occasional bass notes, and industrial noise, until it quietly expires. Further is not unlike Bloom but with a more gentle, beautifully laid-back groove, and a complex time-feel, apparently in 5/4. Abrahams’s signature piano figures are there, rippling figures over a strong bed of percussion, with the soundscape spiced up again with a whining guitar line, and organ chords. This tour de force is the album’s highlight, underpinned by a strong bass figure from Swanton, prominent in the sound mix. We know that Abrahams, Buck and Swanton are superb players of what one might call orthodox jazz. 30 years ago, this trio stumbled onto what is, in effect, a new but related genre – let’s call it “textural jazz” – which could have been invented only by jazz musicians. Unusually resilient, and with a life of its own, its influence is now being felt far and wide.
Eric Myers
JAZZ
TRANSIENTS VOLUME 2
ANDREA KELLER
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Independent
Four stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, February 29, 2020
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This is a lovely album from Melbourne’s Andrea Keller, with music recorded in October 2018. Nine tracks not on Transients Volume 1 (May, 2019) are here, so this is a chance to again savour the playing of nine outstanding modern jazz musicians Keller has gathered together. They include herself, a vastly superior pianist. The aggregations are small: one duo, seven trios, one quintet. All the musicians here are extremely gifted players, including Flora Carbo (alto sax), Julien Wilson (tenor saxophone and bass clarinet), James Macaulay (trombone), Stephen Magnusson (guitar), Sam Anning (double bass), Christopher Hale (bass guitar), Leigh Fisher or James McLean (drums). With her clever arrangements and compositions, the fascination in Keller’s music primarily lies in what her side-persons are prompted to play, given the freedom of expression that is in the air.
Eric Myers
JAZZ
WHATEVER IT’S WORTH
COL NOLAN & THE SOUL SYNDICATE
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Pacific Theatre Encore
Three-and-a-half stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, March 7, 2020
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This 1968 reissue captures the brashness of a time when American servicemen on R & R from Vietnam were everywhere in Sydney. The late Col Nolan, playing at the notorious Whiskey A Go Go discotheque in Kings Cross’s red light district, was a big man with a huge sound on the Hammond organ. So hot was his playing that accompanying musicians often felt the organ would melt. Legendary multi-instrumentalist John Sangster is on drums, pounding his way through classic Motown rhythms with Jimmy Doyle (guitar) and John Allan (bass). A young Col Loughnan - who had played the saxophone for only a year when this was recorded - is sometimes too far back in the sound mix, and consequently tends to sound diffident, while his pleasant vocal on By The Time I Get To Phoenix is a reminder that he was once lead vocalist with the famous Delltones.
Eric Myers