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
KINSHIP
BEKTET
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Independent
Four stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, June 10, 2023
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I like this album very much, having come to regard it, after extensive hearing, as freewheeling, fearless and full-blooded. The music is brimming with youthful enthusiasm, but at the same time it’s grounded in a good balance between high energy and what one might call rumination, providing the album with the sort of variety which is essential to a satisfying jazz experience. Leader tenor saxophonist Jared Becker is a musician who is not afraid of understatement; pianist Matt Steele is adventurous enough to go beyond normal cliches; and extroverted drummer Lewis Pierre-Humbert is completely alive to the evolution of modern jazz drumming to this day. Plaudits also to the other two musicians in this brilliant Melbourne quintet, Harry Tinney (guitar) and Angus Radley (double bass). Becker’s seven compositions are melodically attractive and cleverly constructed, with thoughtful bridging sections which contribute to the album’s overall variety. All in all, I detect a strong philosophy as to how jazz should sound, and a surefooted implementation of that vision.
Eric Myers
JAZZ
BOOK OF BOOBOOK
PADDY FITZGERALD
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Earshift Music
Four-and-a-half stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, June 17, 2023
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This is an unusual and very different debut album, which I found completely captivating. Double bassist Paddy Fitzgerald leads an excellent Melbourne quartet with alto saxophonist Tom Noonan, explosive drummer Lewis Pierre-Humbert, and young pianist Max Teakle, with Brennan Hamilton-Smith playing bass clarinet on two tracks. One of the album’s strengths is Fitzgerald’s compositional vision which is said to explore “the threshold between consonance and dissonance”. These elements have long existed in modern jazz but Fitzgerald adds interest by positing the influence of the classical composer Ravel, which will fascinate musicologists. The album’s other chief strength is the extraordinary playing of Teakle. His touch on the piano is superb and he’s beautifully recorded, enabling his sound to cut through strongly. Teakle’s rhapsodic style, his inventive comping, and technique to burn when required, all suggest a brilliant career ahead for a musician aged 20 when this was recorded. The album’s title reflects Fitzgerald’s growing up in the Byron Bay area, where the Boobook owl is found.
Eric Myers
JAZZ
PASS THE RAINBOW
BLACK MONEY
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Independent
Four stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, June 24, 2023
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When your younger brother is a highly celebrated jazz musician, some might assume you are walking in his shadow. This is not so. Black Money’s leader John McAll, pianist Barney McAll’s sibling, has enjoyed a distinguished musical career in his own right since the 1980s. This excellent album, which has given me great pleasure, provides clear evidence of John’s major talent. His sextet mixes established players (trombonist James Macaulay and saxophonist Anton Delecca) with other musicians who illustrate the substantial depth of talent now in Melbourne jazz. Six McAll originals and one standard are played convincingly. The album’s strengths are incisive piano solos and fills from McAll; time-feels which work well, courtesy of a fine rhythm section in bassist Paddy Fitzgerald and drummer Aaron McCoullough; and beautiful improvisations throughout, particularly from Macaulay and Delecca. The rich colours which McAll achieves, particularly in the compositions Gould (dedicated to pianist Tony Gould) and I’m a Fool To Want You are enough to suggest that an arranger with superior knowledge is at work.
Eric Myers