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
EARTH MATTERS
NUMBER JUNKY
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Cool It! Records
Four stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, October 29, 2022
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In 2017 the brilliant Danish guitarist Kristian Borring and family settled in Perth. A prolific recording artist, his new album Earth Matters includes eight of his originals plus two Charlie Parker tunes. It’s an experimental work, exploring odd time signatures and complicated time-feels, placing it in many ways at the cutting edge. It’s a challenge for both the listener, and Perth musicians Zac Grafton (double bass) and Peter Evans (drums) who spent 12 months workshopping the music. The music’s success is built on their great ability to navigate busy rhythmic minefields, and also on the immaculate time inherent in Borring’s strong playing. Paradoxically, the album is also deeply traditional in that the warm sound Borring produces on his archtop guitar is highly reminiscent of past greats (Jim Hall et al), and there’s no sign of jazz/rock fusion which has long preoccupied comparable jazz guitarists. The extraordinary Cuban pianist Fabian Almazan, who was resident in Perth during COVID, guests on three tracks.
Eric Myers
JAZZ
UNDERTONES
TIM ROLLINSON TRIO
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Independent
Four-and-a-half stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, December 3, 2022
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Many new Australian jazz releases recently have been decidedly introspective, so hearing an album like Undertones provides a real contrast. This is an album unashamedly dedicated to straight-ahead, in-your-face swing. I first heard organist Clayton Doley at one of the Sydney Con International Jazz Festivals and immediately felt I was in the presence of a keyboard master. This album features him on Hammond C3 and Leslie 122 speaker, playing nine compositions by guitarist Tim Rollinson, with Jamie Cameron on drums. While the legendary giants Jimmy Smith and Joey De Francesco played their bass lines on the instrument’s foot pedals, Doley plays them with his left hand on the lower manual of the Hammond, but still achieves the distinctive, groovy bass sound which characterises the organ trio. Brilliantly fluent solos from both Rollinson and Doley reflect the blues-based jazz with elements of R & B that were well-known in an earlier era, the 50s and 60s, but to my ears they sound exceedingly fresh and contemporary today.
Eric Myers
JAZZ
DISRUPTION! THE VOICE OF DRUMS
JEREMY ROSE & THE EARSHIFT ORCHESTRA FEATURING SIMON BARKER & CHLOE KIM
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Earshift Music
Five stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, December 10, 2022
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This Art Music Award-winning work from Sydney saxophonist & composer Jeremy Rose, four years in the making, shows what can be achieved when an inspired musical idea – to examine the power of the drums – is explored through systematic collaboration. On one level it’s a showcase for the superb drumming of the influential master Simon Barker, and of the equally impressive Chloe Kim who, given her relative youth, could be considered a prodigy. Nine originals co-composed by Rose with either Kim or Barker, make up the bulk of the album, plus two other miscellaneous tunes: one a traditional tune arranged by Kim and Barker; the other a Rose original. On another level it’s testimony to the imagination of Rose, who uses an octet full of leading Sydney players to bring to life his contention that the drums have been, since time immemorial, an elemental force accompanying social change. The two drum virtuosos are given the benefit of a powerful and beautiful setting by the ensemble, providing plenty of energising sounds which fans of contemporary jazz should eagerly devour.
Eric Myers