jOHN Pochée BIOGRAPHY
This folder contains reviews and articles pertaining to Eric Myers’s biography of the late Australian drummer/bandleader John Pochée, who died in November, 2022, Readers can click on the INDEX button for a list of reviews or articles in this folder.
REVIEW OF TALL STORIES
by Alan Brooking
Ten Part Invention: Tall Stories (Rufus Records)
On The Street, April 12, 1994
Four years after a somewhat uneven recording debut Ten Part Invention has produced a gem with Tall Stories, a CD worthy of the formidable array of talent. Four compositions by Roger Frampton, two each by Miroslav Bukovsky and Sandy Evans and one by Mike Nock provide a wide range of musical textures, moods and colours to inspire the musicians. They respond with brilliant soloing and totally assured ensemble playing. Frampton's Jazznost Suite, written after he toured the then Soviet Union with The Engine Room in 1989, takes up the first four tracks. It's been a staple in TPI's repertoire over the last three years, but the intricacies and humour embedded in the music have only been revealed fully since the band began performing regularly in Sydney in the latter part of 1993…
REVIEW OF TALL STORIES: THE STARTING POINT FOR A COLLECTION
by Gail Brennan/John Clare
The Guide, Sydney Morning Herald, April 18, 1994
In 1989, the rhythm section of Ten Part Invention toured Russia as The Engine Room. Roger Frampton then wrote his Jazznost Suite, which, as this CD movingly demonstrates, is a much greater thing than the pun might suggest. My favourite section is The Long Journey, inspired by the rail ride from Kazan to Moscow. There are no train imitations here, except for a passage of displaced rhythms which uncannily summons up the bumping and veering of coupled carriages. This is an evocation of an endless night (not too literal at eight and a half minutes), of momentum, insomnia and anticipation…
REVIEW OF TALL STORIES: HIGHLIGHTS TOO NUMEROUS TO LIST
by Doug Spencer
The Western Review (WA), August, 1994
“A big small band rather than a small big hand approach" is how John Pochée -drummer, leader and founder - describes Ten Part Invention. It's an occasional but enduring band whose members are all leaders in their own right and each is one of the leading Sydney-based Australian jazz musicians. The music they've played since they began in 1986 has all been written and arranged especially for the group, and often by its own members. This is only their second CD, and it's light years better than the first one (which wasn't awful by any means. It was, however, a rushed recording which appeared years after the event and I suspect it didn't really do the band justice even at the time of recording. Certainly, by the time the recording was issued, Ten Part Invention was clearly both "tighter" and "looser" in the desirable senses than was their debut CD)…