Monique diMattina        (Image supplied)

ARTICLE

Ausjazz blog takes a look at how singer/songwriter Monique diMattina has taken some song ideas through customs, taken a flight overseas, and come home with a new album

It’s an intriguing and original way to record an album: Take an idea provided by someone else, spend 45 minutes writing lyrics and a melody, carry those ideas on a plane to New Orleans, team up with some fine musicians and lay down the tracks at Piety Street in the Bywater.

That’s how Monique diMattina made her fourth album, Nola’s Ark, on a pilgrimage to New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA to the locals) when she was 20 weeks pregnant.

The imaginative approach to song writing is not new for diMattina, who appears weekly on Tim Thorpe’s 3-RRR program Vital Bits for her Shaken Not Rehearsed segment, in which she writes and performs a song within an hour, based on listener’s requests.

The gestation of the second track on Nola’s Ark, Dig A Hole, is an example of how this creative and courageous process works.

First, there’s the challenge, issued by diMattina over the radio waves: “I’m here to write a song, every Sunday, so at 7.45 the challenge is out there. Call in and give me an idea and I’ll run off and write it.”

Then comes the idea.

A listener rings in: “I want to have my Saturday morning lovin’, but I’ve got to go out and dig trenches because of all the rain.

diMattina: “Oh, don’t you hate that.”

Listener: “I had to, yesterday.”

diMattina: “So you want your Saturday morning lovin’, you have to get out from under the doona, put on your … “

Listener: “Get the shovel out of the shed, and dig trenches down the side of the house so little rivers will escape my property.”

diMattina: “And who’re we talking to?”

Listener: “Greg

The delivery: In 39 minutes, diMattina has lyrics and a melody for Dig A Hole For Love.

It starts like this:

Come on babe hug me ‘coz I’m feeling all right

It’s warm under the covers gonna take you for a ride
She says “Hold on baby what you tryin to do?
you knooow I can’t stay and get hot with you -
‘cos the water’s risin, so quit your cryin and
Pick up a shovel dig a hole for love

This is a familiar routine for diMattina at 3RRR. On her website, she explains:

“Assuming I arrive on time, listeners call in 7.45am with a song idea. I hole myself up in Studio B, pray to the song gods, align my chakras with a complex ritual involving caffeine … and more caffeine … and receive whatever chaff they throw me.

“Some time just before 9am I play the fresh-born song live to air, coughing, spluttering, covered in vernix, but usually alive.”

Another caller, Rick, rang in after a Melbourne summer downpour wanting a song about the release of rain on the dry, dry earth. He had a property in Gippsland.

“I was struggling a bit, Tim,” diMattina says on air.

“It just felt like a bit of a boring song about rain and stuff and then I remembered the feeling, when I was living in Harlem when Obama came in, and Rick said, if release had a smell that the smell of the earth after rain would be it. And that started to strike a nerve with me, so that helped me along.”

The result was the song Bring On the Rain.

diMattina does not shy away from serious topics. Her song Godzilla is a response to a request from Steven, who had been watching footage of the devastation caused by 2011’s earthquake and tsunami on Japan and its nuclear reactors. He likened the images to Godzilla stomping across Japan.

As diMattina originally sang Godzilla on Triple R, she did without her piano “in solidarity with our friends in Japan”.

At Piety Street, the line-up for Nola’s Ark was diMattina on vocals, piano, Wurlitzer and Hammond organ, Leroy Jones on trumpet, Rex Gregory on clarinet, Loren Pickford on sax, June Yamagishi on guitars, Matt Perrine on acoustic bass and sousaphone, Eric Bolivar on drum, Richard Scott on accordion and Anthony Cuccia on percussion.

The talented ensemble is used to good effect on the five hastily written and four other originals, plus standards Young at Heart (Richards/Leigh), Let’s Do Something Bad (Matt Munisteri), I’ll Be Seeing You (Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal) and Numb Fumblin’ (Fats Waller).

If it seems surprising that songs written on the run could work so well when taken into a New Orleans studio with musicians new to the composer, it’s worth taking on board diMattina’s long affection for the music from NOLA.

In her album notes, she writes that all her life she has “loved and lived off the sounds and spirits of this swamp, that cross time, swim seas, pump blood for dancing, singing, crying winging, for suffering, truth, for soothing, sneaky grooves that move and woo”.

It would be interesting to know whether the five people who rang in with their ideas to Triple R are aware that they inspired a song that would be recorded overseas. And diMattina’s approach to composing raises the possibility of jazz fans turning up at gigs with a riff or two they want turned into a tune to be played on the night.

If instrumental “jazz karaoke” does take off, you heard it here first.

ROGER MITCHELL

Nola’s Ark is being launched on Friday 24 May at Chapel Off Chapel as part of a Stonnington Jazz concert with singer/pianist, Kate Kelsey-Sugg.

Joining Monique will be six Australian musicians who are guaranteed to help her launch the album with verve and panache: Eamon McNelis (trumpet, vocals), Stephen Grant (accordion), Paul Williamson (saxophone), Doug de Vries (guitar), Howard Cairns (sousaphone, bass) and Tony Floyd (drums).

Monique diMattina studied at the VCA in the mid 90s, then studied and worked in the US. Her earlier albums are Senses (2007 Elwood Records), Welcome Stranger (2010 Head Records) and Sun Signs (2011 Head Records).

Nola’s Ark is released on Jazzhead.

Monique diMattina has some of her Triple R songs on her website.

Monique diMattina       (Image supplied)

Andrea Keller (Image supplied)

ARTICLE

Andrea Keller talks about her new album, Family Portraits, which she launches on Friday 24 May at The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre

The lives of those who we have loved and lost return to us in fragments.

A photograph, a smell or a familiar location may bring to mind a parent or grandparent. Unconsciously we may pay homage in our sayings, our favourite recipes or our ways of behaving.

But can we recall the sound of their voices? And what if we never had the opportunity to hear the voices of those who have gone before?

When pianist and composer Andrea Keller remembers her father and the one grandparent she knew, she hears “the sounds of their voices in my head: the timbre, the pitch, certain pronunciations and sounds of words they repeatedly used”.

“It’s part of how I feel connected to them,” says Keller, who refers to her latest album, Family Portraits, as an aural family tree. It is a collection of 11 pieces dedicated to her ancestors and loved ones.

Without Voice is dedicated to Jan and Ruzena Werner, and Vladimir Keller, who she did not have the chance to meet. Keller says it conveys “a sense of absence” rather than regret: “I miss knowing what their voices sounded like.”

Andrea Keller’s parents, both World War II babies, escaped from former Czechoslovakia to Australia in 1968. As children they were forced to leave their homes with no more than 50kg per family, escaping camps and living in hiding. They both lost their fathers at young ages and knew little if anything about their families beyond parents and siblings.

“I grew up loving hearing their stories, but had a sense that there was so much about me entwined in the history of my ancestors that I knew nothing about, and so I felt large pieces of me were missing,” Keller recalls.

“As kids we weren’t allowed to visit Czechoslovakia because of the political situation and the fact that our parents had escaped. So I had no chance to meet the few living relatives I had over there. There were efforts at contact through gifts and photos sent in the mail, and broken, difficult and brief phone calls once a year. I was envious of my friends who had large extended families, with enormous support networks and opportunities for connecting with cousins and grandparents.

In 2002, after winning the inaugural Freedman Foundation Jazz Fellowship enabled her to live in Prague for six months, Keller met and had regular contact with her paternal grandmother, Zdenjka Kellerova.

“That was a really priceless experience for me. I loved simply hanging out with her at her flat. We had some trouble communicating, but that was half the fun! We both really cherished the opportunities to be together.”

Keller’s longing to know more about her heritage led her to ask her grandmother to share all she knew about her past.

But the idea of Family Portraits came much later, in February 2010, when Keller and husband Michael Meagher took their children to the Czech Republic to see Zdenjka Kellerova .

“At the time there were a lot of things that seemed to be telling us not to go, but somehow we made the trip happen. Fortune was truly smiling on us, because as we flew back home to Australia, my grandmother passed away in her sleep.

“Instantly I knew I wanted to write music that could somehow keep her spirit alive for my children and theirs. It saddened me to think that after the deaths of all of us who knew her, there would be no memory of her left in this world, bar a few unnamed photographs. The writing of the music is my small offering of gratitude to her and an acknowledgement of her contribution to my life.”

Liner notes on Family Portraits tell a little about the origin of each of the pieces, which are dedicated to Zdenjka, daughter Eve, father Erik, brother Peter, sons Jim and Luc, husband Michael, mother Rita, grandfather Jan and to the three grandparents never met. Paper Sandals, written for Keller’s mother, is as delicate as the footwear Rita Keller spent days constructing with cardboard, needle and thread after being deported to Germany.

Keller describes Belonging, written as part of a larger work entitled Place, as “a self portrait … that embodies my own sense of identity and belonging”.

Keller says her musical portraits are ethereal representations of the person or of a memory.

“In some pieces I focused on depicting a specific story and the music is … a musical representation of actual events, but in others it’s a mirror of the person’s general character — the qualities that define them to me. In others still, it’s more about my feelings towards the person. These pieces are generally an enormous mish-mash of emotions.”

The composer finds communicating through music “extremely freeing” and offering “an unending horizon of possibilities” limited only by her music vocabulary and skills, which she is always working to expand.

“I think I’m drawn to communicate through music because I don’t feel I’m that good at communicating with people through words and dialogue. I get a greater sense of satisfaction communicating through music. I have freedom to express myself however I wish and, yes, it seems more private because of the personal nature of musical language. People can draw their own conclusions based on their own experiences in life, and I like this element to it.

“In conversation I feel frustrated if I’m misunderstood, if someone has a contrary interpretation of what I’ve tried to express, but in music, I celebrate the different interpretations. My hope is to make people feel; feel something the music has given them an opportunity to experience; feel something they’d like to feel more of. The specifics aren’t that important to me.”

Asked how the recollection of love, humour and sadness is translated into music, Keller says that most of the time music and all art is expressing these sorts of emotions, which are imbued through the process of creation.

“I don’t know how to explain the translation except that it’s through intention. There is an element of magic and there are quite possibly involuntary effects, but most importantly there is the intention for expression.”

In Family Portraits, Keller performs solo, but uses a Boss RC50 loop station, Line 6 delay pedal and minimal preparations (temporary alterations) to the piano to broaden her musical palette.

“At times, the music I’m striving to create can’t be realised on an acoustic piano alone. With Incomparable (the tune I use the Line 6 delay pedal on), I had in my mind a sound from the piano that I could not find a way to make with my hands, feet and the acoustic instrument alone.

“I am drawn to texture in music, art and life. In the context of solo piano, texture has definite limits. So the use of the loop station was purely a way of reaching a musical vision I had in terms of playing ‘solo’.”

The mechanics of how Keller uses these devices may not be important to an audience or listeners to the album. At times she improvises over pre-composed lines that loop; at others loops are improvised from the start.

“I may just have a key centre, a general sequence of events preplanned, and perhaps a mood I’m aiming to convey. So in many ways the music can be unpredictable.”

The effect of listening to Family Portraits is unpredictable. It could take you anywhere, possibly on a journey that loops back into the lives of people you knew and those you have yet to discover. Privileged to be invited to share in Keller’s family, we may be drawn to explore our own family trees.

ROGER MITCHELL

Andrea Keller (Image supplied)

Andrea Keller’s album launch is at 7pm Friday 24 May at the Melbourne Recital Centre Salon

Family Portraits is released on Jazzhead Records

There were two options last night — stay home and watch the Opposition Leader respond to the Budget, or hear two vocalists at Malvern Town Hall. Not a difficult choice, really. One wonders whether Tony Abbott would judge these accomplished singers as “vocalists of calibre”.

As usual it was a great night at the festival’s opening concert, on this occasion featuring vocalists Kristin Berardi and Michelle Nicole, each with top bands. It’s not an evening — or the venue — for hard core jazz fans, but in the elegant setting of the town hall, with patrons at candle-lit tables, it is fitting for the launch of this festival celebrating 100 per cent Australian jazz.

Here are a few images from the concert, which will repeated tonight, May 17, at the same venue.

The sets were very different, as you’d expect from these vocalists, but both demonstrated their immersion in, and the joy they obviously take from, the music they present.

Kristin Berardi at Malvern Town Hall with Brendan Clarke and Carl Morgan.

Kristin Berardi and Carl Morgan.

Kristin Berardi

Kristin Berardi and Brendan Clarke.

Michelle Nicole

Michelle Nicole

Michelle Nicole with Jonathan Swartz and Geoff Hughes.

Michelle Nicole

Michelle Nicole

ROGER MITCHELL

Sput from Snarky Puppy

Update: Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2013

Due to popular demand, the MIJF is moving US instrumental fusion band Snarky Puppy from the Forum Upstairs to the Forum main stage for its concert with Alison Wedding on Saturday, 1 June at 8pm.

Billed as “one of the hottest new names on the international touring circuit”, Snarky Puppy make its Australian debut at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.

All other event details remain the same and ticketholders can use their existing tickets on the night.

Snarky Puppy

A MIJF media release says, “The Texas-and New York-based collective has gained a reputation for putting on virtuosic live shows. Combining raw funk, soul and jazz this is music ‘to move the brain and booty’.”

The festival has also announced that with deep regret it has cancelled all performances by Rebirth Brass Band at the festival due to the illness of a core member, preventing the band from travelling to Australia in June. Rebirth Brass Band sincerely apologise to their fans for this unavoidable cancellation.

“The Festival apologises for any inconvenience caused to our audiences by the cancellation of this much-anticipated event. We’re naturally disappointed that Rebirth Brass Band will not be part of the 2013 lineup,” the release states.

For anyone that has purchased tickets to Rebirth Brass Band’s performance at The Forum on Sunday 2 June, the Festival is offering the option to exchange tickets for Snarky Puppy featuring Alison Wedding (USA) at The Forum on Saturday 1 June at 8pm and a complimentary ticket to Chucho Valdés and the Afro-Cuban Messengers (CUBA) at Hamer Hall on Saturday 8 June at 8pm. Alternatively, a full refund is also available.

Anyone with Rebirth ticket/s should hold on to them until contacted by Ticketmaster.

The Second Line Street Party planned for Saturday June 1 has now been cancelled in light of this news.

For full program details visit the Melbourne International Jazz Festival website.

ROGER MITCHELL

Past winner, pianist Barney McAll, now lives, composes and performs in New York.

NEWS: The 2013 National Jazz Awards: Piano

Entries close on 10 June 2013 for this year’s National Jazz Awards, which carry a top prize of $10,000. This year Australia’s most prestigious jazz instrumental competition will be open to Australia’s leading young jazz pianists.

Musicians of any nationality up to the age of 35 will be vying for a spot in the final 10, to compete at this year’s Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues on Sunday, 3 November.

The National Jazz Awards winner will receive $10,000, the runner-up $5000, and the third placegetter $2500. In addition to these cash prizes, the winner will be invited to record in the ABC studios for ABC Classic FM’s Jazztrack With Mal Stanley, and to perform at the 2014 Stonnington Jazz Festival.

Renowned jazz pianist Mike Nock will again serve as Chairman of judges for the awards. He will be joined by two other outstanding jazz pianists, previous National Jazz Award winner, New York based Barney McAll, and the festival’s patron, Paul Grabowsky.

The judging panel will assess the recordings submitted on a blindfold basis. The 10 highest-ranked entrants will be invited to participate in the finals at the 2013 Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues, on the weekend of 1 – 4 November.

Entrants must be no older than 35, as at 1 November 2013. The closing date for entries is 10 June.

The festival’s artistic director, Adrian Jackson, said, “I know there are some outstanding jazz pianists around Australia who are eligible for the awards, and it would be great to see some of them performing at the festival. At the same time, one of the great things about this event is it helps unearth some exciting young talents from different corners of the country who are just starting to establish their careers, and gives them a chance to be heard on the national stage.”

The finals on Sunday 3 November will be broadcast live to air nationally on ‘Jazztrack with Mal Stanley’, on ABC Classic FM, from 5pm.

The National Jazz Awards have been an integral part of Australia’s premier jazz festival since the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues began in 1990. This year is the first time that piano has been featured since 2006, when the first prize was awarded to  Jackson Harrison. Previous pianists to win the title are Barney McAll, Mark Fitzgibbon, the late Jann Rutherford and Matt McMahon.

Entry forms can be downloaded from the festival’s website

ROGER MITCHELL has based this post on a media release.

Joe Lovano will headline the first Perth International Jazz Festival.        (Image supplied)

PREVIEW: Perth International Jazz Festival, Friday 24 May to Sunday 26 May, 2013

If you’ve never heard of this festival, that’s because this is the first. Co-owner of the Ellington Jazz Club Graham Wood, who is also Program Director of Music at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, has planned the festival as an extension of the club, though PIJF is a not-for-profit incorporated association.

The festival has an illustrious artistic sub-committee comprising Jamie Oehlers (Head of Jazz at WAPA), Johannes Leubbers (President of Perth Jazz Society), Mace Francis (Musical Director WA Youth Jazz Orchestra) and Pete Jeavons (General Manager JAZZWA).

PIJF aims to become nationally and internationally acclaimed as one Australia’s best Jazz festivals within five years. The three-day festival hopes to attract 15,000 people to paid and free events. More than 40 performances will be presented over seven stages — The Perth Concert Hall, Bishop’s Gardens, Perth Cultural Centre, Brookfield Place, Weld Square, Barrack Square and The Ellington Jazz Club.

The only Jazz festival in Western Australia, PIJF is intended as a regular event in Perth’s cultural calendar and a source of long-term cultural and economic return. There will be an educational component and PIJF provides access for diverse and disadvantaged sections of the community.

The major headline act for the inaugural festival is saxophonist Joe Lovano, who has eight Grammy Award nominations (winning in 2001 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album), is signed to the famous Blue Note record label and has worked with some of the biggest names in international jazz. He will perform in a headline concert with four-time Aria Award winning vocalists Katie Noonan and Vince Jones at the Perth Concert Hall on Saturday 25 May at 7.30pm.

Lovano will open the evening with a set accompanied by Perth musicians Sam Anning (now living in New York) on bass, Ben Vanderwal on drums and Tal Cohen on piano.

Katie Noonan in concert.

Lovano collaborated with Noonan on her 2009 ARIA Award-winning release Blackbird. After a few numbers with Lovano, Noonan will perform music from her album Elixir featuring Steve Magnusson (guitar) and Zac Hurren (saxophones). Noonan will also perform duets with celebrated vocalist Vince Jones, with whom she worked on Songs of Love and War.Noonan and Jones will be backed by a trio led by pianist Matt McMahon (piano).

In a media release, PIJF Artistic Director, Associate Professor Graham Wood said, “I’m genuinely excited to hear and see such an amazing selection of musicians performing, as well as collaborating, for the Lovano/Noonan/Jones concert. To see artists of this calibre as headline acts on separate concerts would be sensational, but to combine them on the one bill headlining PIJF will provide a rare experience that promises to be extraordinary.”

Other artists on the program include the cutting edge Kneebody (USA), guitarist Gilad Hekselman (Israel/USA) and gypsy jazz from the UK guitarist Hank Marvin. Some of Perth’s favourite sons, now based overseas, who are returning to help celebrate include bassist Sam Anning, saxophonists Troy Roberts and Brandon Allen and eclectic trio ‘The Grid’ (featuring Tim Jago, Dane Alderson and Ben Vanderwal), and fusion supergroup ‘VOID’.

And of course there are many award-winning, highly acclaimed local artists such as Jamie Oehlers, Tom O’Halloran Trio, Mace Francis Orchestra, Johannes Luebbers Dectet, Russell Holmes Trio, Tal Cohen Quartet and Libby Hammer.

Good luck to the inaugural Perth International Jazz Festival!

Tickets for the headline concert ($80, concession $60) on sale now through Ticketek 1300 795 012

Perth International Jazz Festival

ROGER MITCHELL

Johnny Tedesco in Chris Hale’s suite Sylvan Coda, which will close Stonnington Jazz.

PREVIEW: Stonnington Jazz 2013, May 16 to 26

In last year’s preview of this much-loved festival I wrote, “It’s a big year for vocalists”. Well, back then we didn’t know what “big” meant. So, to borrow the words of Paul Hogan as Dundee, 2012 wasn’t a big year, THIS is a big year for vocalists.

It’s taken some ferreting about in the program, and I may have missed some, but on my count 22 vocalists are performing at Stonnington Jazz this year in 18 concerts, with two taking to the stage twice. You have to admit that for a festival lasting 11 days to provide patrons with so much vocal talent is an amazing achievement. By the way, of the 22, only four are men, so there is a definite gender imbalance. But among instrumental players it’s skewed in the other direction.

This year’s outings do not all feature vocalists, of course, but a look at the singers’ gigs is a good place to start when browsing the program with a view to selecting highlights.

Winning vocals: National Jazz Awards winner Kristin Berardi at Wangaratta.

The opening night concert at Malvern Town Hall on Thursday 16 May at 8pm will feature National Jazz Awards winners Michelle Nicolle and Kristin Berardi in a Jazz Vocals Showcase. Both are well known and much-loved artists, with extensive experience and acclaim. Nicolle will be accompanied by her long-standing band, Geoff Hughes (guitar), Tom Lee (bass) and Ronny Ferella (drums). Berardi will treat us to Sydney musicians Carl Morgan (guitar), Greg Coffin (piano), Brendan Clarke (bass) and Tim Firth (drums).

It’s worth running through all the other vocals gigs in date order:

Thursday 16 May, Globe Café, 8pm: Rita Satch
Jazz standards and originals from Satch’s EP Awoken. Band: Luke Howard (keys), Phil Rex (double bass) and Hugh Harvey (drums)

Thursday 16 May, Red Bennies, 7pm: Herb Armstrong
Floor show featuring the music of Louis Armstrong as well as Zydeco and Second Line grooves by Brisbane’s Herb Armstrong and The Royal Street Krewe.

Friday 17 May, Globe Café, 8pm: Tamara Kuldin
Sass and sophistication of the vintage eras from Melbourne’s Tamara Kuldin with Paul Williamson (tenor sax, vocals), Steve Paix (keyboard) and Kim May (bass).

Saturday 18 May, Globe Café, 8.15pm: Rebecca Mendoza
Music of Billie Holiday by Melbourne’s Rebecca Mendoza (daughter of jazz pianist Noel Mendoza), accompanied by Joe Ruberto on piano and piano.

Sunday 19 May, Chapel Off Chapel, 2pm: Julie O’Hara
Swinging classic jazz in the “gypsy swing” style by Ultrafox vocalist Julie O’Hara with guitarist Peter Baylor, Michael McQuaid (saxophone, clarinet), Jon Delaney (guitar) and Andrew Scott (bass). Another set will feature Coleman Hawkins songs by saxophonist Michael McQuaid’s Coleman Medallists.

Sunday 19 May, Globe Café, 5pm: Mandy Meadows
Jazz infused with soul, Motown and blues from Meadows with Alexander Nettelbeck (keyboard), Aaron Searle (saxophone, woodwinds, guitar), Andrew Horneman (drums, guitar) and Jon Mellor (electric bass).

Much-loved: Vince Jones performs at Stonnington Jazz.

Sunday 19 May, Trak Live Lounge Bar, 8pm: Vince Jones
Originals and contemporary versions of jazz standards by much-loved jazz vocalist, trumpet-player and composer Jones with Simon Barker on drums, Matt McMahon on piano and Ben Waples on bass.

Tuesday, 21 May, Chapel Off Chapel, 8pm: Josh Kyle
Interpretations of Australian jazz compositions, sung by Kyle with pianist Sam Keevers under the title Songs of Friends.

Wednesday 22 May, Chapel Off Chapel, 8pm: Cameron Giles-Webb and Hetty Kate
Pianist Steve Sedergreen’s band features these vocalists with Gianni Marinucci and Brae Grimes (trumpets), Dave Palmer (trombone), Lachlan Davidson and Paul Williamson (saxophones), Shane Ryall (guitar), Kim May (bass) and Michael Jordan (drums). Another set by Anton Delecca Quartet.

Wed 22 May, Café Latte Upstairs, 8.30pm: Emma Franz
Filmmaker Franz is a guest with a trio led by pianist Dr Allan Zavod, who has played The Glen Miller Orchestra, Frank Zappa, Sting and Jean-Luc Ponty.

Thursday 23, Chapel Off Chapel, 8pm: Jacki Cooper
One-off outing by Bob Sedergreen’s Come Together Band with Cooper on vocals, George Golla guitar, John Morrison drums, Mal Sedergreen saxophone, Gareth Hill bass and Dave Palmer as trombonist, arranger and bandleader.

Thursday 23 May, Globe Café, 8.15pm: Diana Clark
Interpretation of the Brazilian music of Antonio Carlos Jobim and other pioneers of Bossa Nova by vocalist Clark and guitarist Doug de Vries.

Monique diMattina has recorded an album in New Orleans. (Image supplied)

Friday 24 May, Chapel Off Chapel, 8pm: Monique diMattina and Kate Kelsey-Sugg
Originals by singer-pianists. Monique diMattina dips into her latest album, Nola’s Ark, recorded in New Orleans, which draws inspiration from traditional jazz, blues and R&B, accompanied by Eamon McNelis trumpet & vocals, Stephen Grant accordion, Paul Williamson saxophone, Doug de Vries guitar, Howard Cairns sousaphone & bass and Tony Floyd drums. Kate Kelsey-Sugg, who took second prize at last year’s National Jazz Awards is joined by her father, Andy Sugg saxophone, McNelis trumpet, Marty Holoubek bass and Aaron McCullough drums.

Friday 24 May, Globe Café, 8pm: Julie O’Hara
Elegant, romantic, swinging and hot ’30s and ’40s Paris club music delivered with some vocalese by vocalist and composer O’Hara and her band.

Saturday 25 May, Chapel Off Chapel, 8pm: Hetty Kate
Elegant, swinging interpretations of standards by Kate with Daniel Gassin (piano), James Sherlock (guitar), Marty Holoubek (bass) and Danny Farrugia (drums). Second set by the always uplifting Paul Williamson Hammond Combo.

Saturday 25 May, Globe Café, 8.15pm: Fem Belling
Music of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Blossom Dearie, Sarah Vaughan, Liza Minnelli by vocalist and violinist Belling backed by Joe Ruberto on keyboard.

Nichaud Fitzgibbon performs at Stonnington Jazz in 2009 with James Sherlock.

Sunday 26 May, Malvern Town Hall, 2pm, Nichaud Fitzgibbon
Tribute to Peggy Lee by Fitzgibbon, who continues the legacy her father began at Smacka’s Place. Accompanied by Luke Howard (piano), James Clark (bass), Danny Fischer (drums), Craig Fermanis (guitar), Anton Delecca (saxophone), Paul Coyle (trumpet) and Dave Palmer (trombone).

Emma Gilmartin and Gian Slater in Sylvan Coda, which will close the festival.

Sunday 26 May, Chapel Off Chapel, 2pm: Gian Slater, Jacq Gawler, Emma Gilmartin
Sylvan Coda suite by bassist Christopher Hale, winner of the 2012 Freedman Jazz Fellowship, with flamenco and Afro-Cuban influences. Also features Johnny Tedesco (percussion, dance), Nathan Slater (nylon-string guitar), Julian Banks (saxophone), Simon Barker (drums, percussion) and Javier Fredes (percussion). Opening set by Red Fish Blue.

The performance of Sylvan Coda will be a highlight, I’m sure. The performance at Bennetts Lane in February this year was a beauty — read Ausjazz blog’s review.

The other outings I’m particularly looking forward to — if I don’t have to work — are as follows:

• Jazz in Focus at 6pm on 17 May (Allan Browne shares stories about his career in a free session presented by APRA at the Globe Cafe)
• The Australian Art Orchestra’s Hard Core on the Fly at Chapel Off Chapel on 20 May at 8pm  — spontaneous solo and ensemble improvisation in which younger musicians work with Scott Tinkler (trumpet), Peter Knight (trumpet, laptop, electronics), Erkki Veltheim (violin), Simon Barker (drums), Brett Thompson (guitar), Scott McConnachie (alto saxophone), Matthias Schack-Arnott (percussion) and Ida Duelund Hansen (double bass).
• The second set at Chapel Off Chapel on the evening of 21 May, when drummer, band leader, raconteur and poet Allan Browne will lead a sextet through original music inspired by his published poetry, Conjuror. Allan will be joined by Eugene Ball (trumpet), Phil Noy (saxophone), Marc Hannaford (piano), Geoff Hughes (guitar) and Nick Haywood (drums).
• Sydney-based and internationally renowned pianist Mike Nock will play a set of improvisations with guitarist Stephen Magnusson and saxophonist Julien Wilson at Chapel Off Chapel during a performance — including a set from the Jex Saarelaht Trio — beginning at 8pm on 23 May. Nock’s gig with Magnusson at Wangaratta last year was magnificent.
• Recent inductee to the Australian Bell Awards Hall of Fame, James Morrison will join pianist Joe Chindamo at the Malvern Town Hall at at 8pm on Friday, 24 May. In the first set Chindamo, accompanied by Philip Rex (bass) and Danny Fischer (drums), will rearrange familiar music as a tribute to Dave Brubeck. Morrison and Chindamo will then play duets or with Rex and Fischer.

That’s the preview. It’s a feast for lovers of vocals, with lots of other highlights. And of course Stonnington Jazz is always a  friendly festival with a really nice vibe. That may be in part because it is displaying the talents of Australian jazz musicians.

Full program details are available at Stonnington Jazz website.

ROGER MITCHELL

Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival, including 2013 APRA Composer Commission Concert, Sunday 5 May, 2-8pm at
 Northcote Town Hall

Steve Grant

The Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival runs on a shoestring, but that doesn’t prevent it running like clockwork. There was a little “bracket creep” during the afternoon, but generally performances started pretty much on time. So, when I arrived about 15 minutes late — mainly because I set out later than planned — Steve Grant was already well into his allocated half hour at the grand piano.

Armed with a coffee generously given to me on the way in by Ronny Ferella — he had bought too many — I quietly moved to a seat closer to the front, then settled into listening mode. With Marc Hannaford playing next, this was a chance to indulge in my recent practice of trying to focus on the individual approaches of pianists and gain some clues as to why they sound so different or similar. I can definitely hear similarities and differences, but I lack the know-how to attempt a technical explanation.

This brief excerpt of Steve Grant’s performance seemed to provide welcome space, a sense of reflection or reverie, and great fluidity.

Marc Hannaford

Marc Hannaford also left plenty of space between his carefully selected notes, which were delivered with great precision. His improvisation gradually evolved, building in intensity as patterns emerged of immensely pleasing complexity. It became more percussive, with bold, emphatic statements, before slowing to take on a feel of solemnity. I had a sense of Hannaford listening intently, hearing pitches or tones or sounds and either repeating them or adjusting slightly.

I could not help but wonder what it would be like to be in Marc Hannaford’s brain — would there be joy, a sense of wonder at the discovery of what happened when he played these notes, or would it be delight in complexities or mathematically appealing combinations?

The piece became faster, with an insistent right hand, before a busy period. Then it was all over, too quickly for my liking, because I was really enjoying this as a journey of discovery. What a privilege we have, as audience members, to be able to share in these journeys when musicians of calibre (that one’s for Tony Abbott) are improvising.

IshIsh

Next up in this afternoon on the fringe was drummer Ronny Ferella’s band IshIsh, which has a fondness for the music of Ornette Coleman. That’s a big plus in my book.

Magnusson and Wilson

The line-up varies, but on this occasion it was Jordan Murray trombone, Julien Wilson saxophone, Mark Shepherd bass and special guest Stephen Magnusson (recently a recipient of an Australian Jazz Bell Award for his Magnet album) on guitar.

Julien Wilson

IshIsh played four pieces, including Ferella’s What Should Be (the title track from the band’s 2000 album) and “a tribute to Joe Lovano’s tribute to Ornette Coleman”. I really liked the organic feel of this group and the absence of the cycle of solos.

Jordan Murray

 The music changes gradually within each piece, evolving rather than being more compartmental.  To me IshIsh has a European feel that escapes regimentation, with the musicians seeming to lose themselves in ebbs and flows as the pieces develop. The guitar, sax and ‘bone provided a rich array of textures and timbres.

Ronny Ferella

Shepherd’s bass was more evident in the Lovano-Coleman tribute, which opened as a sharper, faster piece before evolving to a slower resolution with great resonance and depth. Magnusson produced some lovely high “scribblings” in this.

IshIsh was definitely a welcome inclusion in the day’s outings.

Ren Walters

The next set was to be a trio, but saxophonist Scott McConnachie was too ill to join Erkki Veltheim on viola and Ren Walters on guitar. Before the final duet Ren Walters said that he and Eki would “dedicate the healing energy from our music to our friend Scott, who is going through a terrible time”. I’m sure the audience shared the hope that Scott’s health would improve.

Erkki Veltheim

In this totally improvised exchange, I was struck first by the extraordinary flexibility and fluidity of Veltheim’s playing, as well as his dexterity and the rapidity of his movements. He is amazingly virtuosic, though there is absolutely no hint of showmanship accompanying his ability. He is totally focused on the interaction with Walters.

Ren Walters

Next I noticed the attentiveness of Walters, which is hardly surprising given that the nature of this exchange is utterly based on each player listening and responding. I don’t believe I was imagining it when I saw Walters’ face display signs of delight as he puzzled out responses to Veltheim.

Erkki Veltheim

This absorbing work was full of contrasts, switches of direction, sharp and edgy attacks followed by passages of great fluidity. Veltheim seemed to be plucking strings while bowing, and at other times he dragged his bow abrasively across the strings. For a while Walters was changing the tunings constantly as he played.

Erkki Veltheim

The rapidity, lightness and almost spindly nature of the sounds in the final piece were striking. At one point I visualised mice on a skating rink. In the whole outing I greatly appreciated the beauty and clarity of notes played, the occasional gentleness and the abundant space.

Again it struck me how privileged we are to hear this music being created. The other day I heard Kavisha Mazzella on ABC 774 telling how she was attracted to Melbourne because of the city’s vibrant music (or words similar). We are indeed lucky to have many hard-working musicians, but their work too often slips by unnoticed.

Pat Thiele, Gideon Brazil, Luke Moller and Julien Wilson perform in Howl.

Now we come to the big event of the festival, the APRA Composer Commission, which this year was awarded to pianist composer Darrin Archer. He chose to focus on Allen Ginsberg‘s poem Howl, using modern composition and improvisation to explore the sex, drugs and spirituality of the beatnik as a sonic landscape.

The work was titled Drunken Taxicabs of Absolute Reality: Howl to music.

Sam Zerna bass, Maxine Beneba Clarke voice, Danny Fischer drums in Howl.

I was not familiar with Ginsberg’s epic poem, so probably ought to have done my homework before this performance by reading it with care and attention in order to be properly prepared. As it was, during the longish sound check I called up the text on my phone and scanned through it, wondering whether we would hear excerpts or the whole poem. It also seemed highly likely, given the blasts from the band during the check, that I may not be able to hear the words, so I was taking belated precautions.

Darrin Archer

When the music began, and Maxine Beneba Clarke began to read from her long paper roll containing the text, I realised my fears were well founded. It may have been different in other parts of the auditorium, but I could only hear the words clearly when the volume dropped at various points in the piece. So I followed the text on the phone screen while listening to the musical drama unfold.

Maxine Beneba Clarke reads Howl.

Archer’s composition certainly had the appropriate dramatic force and complexity to match Ginsberg’s words, which were articulated clearly and with feeling by Beneba Clarke. This was dark music to match dark imagery.

The poem opens thus:

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
looking for an angry fix, 

It does not shrink from bleakness or harshness. Archer’s music undeniably had to be robust, strident at times.

Maxine Beneba Clarke

My issue with this work is that I felt torn between wanting to hear the poem being read (or at least read the words as they were delivered) and on the other hand giving up on Ginsberg’s imagery so that I could concentrate on the musical imagery unfolding under Archer’s direction. It seemed that, with the exception of some quieter passages, that was impossible. The spoken word and music were too often competing.

Pat Thiele in Howl.

Beneba Clarke’s delivery was excellent, particularly in the oft-repeated “Moloch”, which was audible and effective as a way to communicate all the evil that Ginsberg meant by this name. Repetition of “Rockland” towards the end of the poem was also a chance for the voice to come to fore and achieve more of a balance with the ensemble.

Sam Zerna in Howl.

I hope that this work is revisited, as have been other works commissioned for the Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival. But I think either the words of the poem need to be audible over the music, or they should be projected somehow so that the audience can ponder and appreciate them at the same time as the music. It also would not hurt to remind patrons to be familiar with the poem before the performance. Drunken Taxicabs of Absolute Reality has the potential to be a powerful interpretation of Howl, but in this debut outing it did not quite succeed.

Maxine Beneba Clarke nears the end of Howl.

After the commissioned work, in Chris Port’s Mixer at about 7pm, Port on drums and laptop joined James Gilligan on bass/tape machine/effects and Marty Hicks on piano and Nintendo DS to explore Beat and hip-hop culture through improvisation.

I was only able to hear the very beginning of this outing before having to leave.

In terms of bums on seats, the MJFF did not score spectacularly, which is a great pity. A lot of creativity and inventiveness was on display at an excellent venue. I’d definitely rate the afternoon as a success, but in an ideal world more people would be there to share.

ROGER MITCHELL

BIG NIGHT OUT: Australian Jazz Bell Awards 2013, Plaza Ballroom, Regent Theatre, Melbourne on Thursday, May 2

It’s a strange night and yet it fits. The oddity is that jazz is being celebrated and its champions honoured in a place of such ostentatious opulence, when its performance is often conducted on lean budgets and rewarded with slim takings. The aptness is that this is one night when exponents of jazz and improvised music can dress up, wine and dine, and celebrate as if this source of such complex pleasures were up there on society’s pedestal along with the Oscars.

It also fits in the way that Melbourne’s Kelvin Club did for the Sun Ra Arkestra performance during the 2011 Melbourne International Jazz Festival — there’s an eccentric, idiosyncratic feel to the Bells that is right on the money for jazz.

Albert Dadon

Speaking of money, the significant prizes handed out at the Bells — albeit low by the standards of mainstream arts — are provided by a string of sponsors (TarraWarra Estate Winery, Monash University, Palace Cinemas, Ubertas Group, APRA/AMCOS, Brand Partners, Fender Katsalidis Architects, Allans Billy Hyde) — but Bell Awards chairman Albert Dadon is behind the scenes making it all happen.

Albert Dadon spoke with feeling about this being the first awards night since the passing of Graeme Bell MBE, AO, after whom the awards are named. Sadly, Bell, one of the most respected Australian jazz musicians, died last year.

Dorothy Bell

His wife, Dorothy, was invited to the microphone and provided us with a frank and engaging portrait of the man with whom she spent so many happy years. She let on that Graeme was “not so good with the money”, but he was “a really nice, caring person who liked to do things for people”, including arranging a live cello recital at home for her birthday, because she loved the instrument so much.

“I miss him terribly every day. There’s not a day goes by that I don’t think about him,” Dorothy told the gathering, bringing warm applause.

Michael Danby, Parliamentary Secretary for the Arts

The mandatory politician on the night was Michael Danby, Parliamentary Secretary for the Arts, who paid tribute to Dadon’s contribution to raising the profile of jazz in Australia and mentioned that the guitarist’s sixth album, Long Way, had reached the top 50 in the US.

Danby also urged musicians to apply for money via the music board of the Australia Council for the Arts. He said former Arts Minister Simon Crean had ensured there was an extra $3 million put aside for contemporary music, including $1.75 million to Sounds Australia to grow Australian music exports and $1.25 million to promote career pathways for contemporary musicians. 

Let’s hope some of this money can end up in the pockets of Australian jazz artists.

David Ades wins

In the first round of awards, saxophonist David Ades picked up the first two, which we hope cheered him up in Germany, where he is having further treatment for cancer. His outing at Wangaratta Jazz Festival last year was a ripper.

Ades won Best Australian Jazz Ensemble for A Glorious Uncertainty and Best Australian Jazz Song of the Year for  Joe The Kid

Amelia Thomas receives the Best Jazz Song of the Year award for father David Ades.

MC Tracey Curro noted that Joe the Kid was written for David Ades’ father, who was famous for selling potato peelers on the streets of New York. David’s daughter Amelia received the awards on his behalf and said she couldn’t wait to tell him because “he’ll be over the moon”, adding “he deserves this”.

Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album:
Chris McNulty – The Song That Sings You Here

The winner of Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album was Chris McNulty for The Song That Sings You Here. McNulty, who had just flown from New York, paid tribute to the hard work of her band.

Flap! members work out who’ll take their award home.

After an entree, there was much hilarity when the award for  Best Australian Traditional Jazz Album went to Flap! for A Great Day For The Race.

Steve Magnusson and Eugene Ball, from Magnet, hand out credit to others.

It was especially heart-warming to see the happiness that the award for Best Australian Contemporary Jazz Album to Magnet brought to the face of much-loved guitarist Steve Magnusson. He and Eugene Ball received the award, paying compliments to all involved in the album as well as praising the other nominees — Jamie Oehlers Quartet featuring Ari Hoenig  and Bernie McGann.

Steve Barry

Steve Barry was in New York (isn’t every young Australian jazz artist these days?) and could not receive his award for Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year.

Marc Hannaford

More broad smiles came with the award of  Most Original Australian Jazz Album to Marc Hannaford for Sarcophile, which he released only online. This is a great send-off for Marc, who leaves soon for New York to take up a fellowship at Columbia to complete a PhD in music theory. It will be sad to see him go, but we look forward to some amazing work emerging from his study and performance abroad.

Marc Hannaford

We were treated to a short, but vibrant performance by Marc.

After the main course came Tony Gould’s moving solo piano tribute to the Australian jazz musicians who died during the past 12 months. It is always an important opportunity to reflect on the contributions that these artists have made during their lives.

James Morrison

Then came the announcement most of us knew before the ceremony — that the affable, but retiring multi-instrumentalist James Morrison would be entering the Graeme Bell Hall of Fame.

James took the opportunity to speak about the Generations in Jazz Festival in Mount Gambier and its rich history in educating and encouraging young jazz artists.

James Morrison watched by fellow trumpeter Paul Williamson

James had to have a jam session and, luckily, had brought his horn in case that opportunity arose. Good on him, I say. You can’t keep an irrepressible man from having fun, and there’s nothing wrong with some fun in jazz.

Tamara Murphy

Tamara Murphy was, as usual, on fire behind the band.

Tamara Murphy, Tim Wilson, James Morrison and Paul Williamson go for it.

It was short, but sweet, and, yes, fairly loud.

Schroder’s Big Band

To finish the night, Schroder’s Big Band played to an audience who were mostly interested in talking and drinking, but that’s showbiz.

Schroder’s Big Band

Michelle Nicole showed us how a vocalist can work with a band and an audience.

Michelle Nicolle and Carlo Barbaro

They showed the power of voice and big band.

Michelle Nicolle

The winners went in search of a gin palace — well some did. The judges avoided anyone who looked likely to disagree with the results of their long hours of hard work.The rest of us took to taxis or, in my case, the last train.

The Bells had tolled again.

ROGER MITCHELL

Preview: Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival, including 2013 APRA Composer Commission Concert, Sunday 5 May, 2-8pm at
 Northcote Town Hall

Lovers of popular music, including fans of classical and opera, may regard many incarnations of jazz as being on “the fringe”. Purely in terms of bums on seats at concerts, that is probably a reasonable view. But anyone familiar with the improvised music on offer in Australia knows there are gigs that sit on the fringe within the broad genre.

It’s not worth wasting energy on where to draw the line between more mainstream jazz and material that’s “out there”. But some context can be helpful. Martin Jackson, who runs the Melbourne Jazz Co-operative, has suggested that patrons of gigs sponsored by the co-op should keep in mind that the diversity of music on offer means they may find some outings a challenge.

I can recall a few occasions on which people looking for some live music after dinner have lobbed at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club not knowing what to expect, then discovered that what’s on offer on the night does not appeal to them. On the other hand, anyone who finds the way to the Make It Up Club at Bar Open in Fitzroy is likely to expect performances that stretch the boundaries of music.

Organisers of the Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival have had to do some hard thinking in recent years about the challenges of staging a festival with limited resources, declining patronage and arguably some encroachment on its turf by the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. If anything the MIJF is now leaning to the more accessible side of the spectrum, but under Sophie Brous it ventured into experimental music with the hugely popular day-long multi-stage Overground at Melbourne Town Hall, which was similar in concept to the MJFF’s previous Big Arse Sundays.

That’s hardly a comprehensive summary of the issues facing the hard-working MJFF organisers, but the upshot is that this year’s festival will consist of one afternoon of concerts grouped around the 2013 APRA Commission Concert, which has become a significant landmark for the festival and in Melbourne’s annual jazz calendar. For anyone unfamiliar with this concert, it’s worth saying that each year APRA funding enables MJFF to invite proposals for a commissioned work that breaks new ground. The chosen work is given its debut airing during the festival. These are always innovative and interesting.

This year Darrin Archer has chosen to focus on Allen Ginsberg‘s poem Howl, using modern composition and improvisation to explore the sex, drugs and spirituality of the beatnik as a sonic landscape. If that sounds weird, it probably will be, but surely that’s what we want from a MJFF concert. The work, titled Drunken Taxicabs of Absolute Reality: Howl to music, will debut at 5.30pm.

But the music begins at 2pm with solo piano performances by Steve Grant (a multi-instrumentalist who is often playing cornet or accordion) and Marc Hannaford (who will soon leave for New York to take up a fellowship at Columbia for a PhD in music theory). It will be a treat to hear these pianists at work solo.

At 3pm drummer Ronny Ferella will usher on his band IshIsh, which has its roots in the music of drummers Eddie Moore and Ed Blackwell’s groups, and the music of Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman. The line-up has varied since the ensemble’s first album, but for the latest CD End of a Line it featured Eugene Ball trumpet, Jordan Murray trombone, Julien Wilson saxophone, Mark Shepherd bass and Javier Fredes percussion. A special guest for this outing will be Stephen Magnusson on guitar.

At 4pm, expect things to move a little further out there as Scott McConnachie on sax joins Erkki Veltheim on viola and Ren Walters on guitars in a trio that emphasises process of creation rather than any planned result.

After the commissioned work, at 6.30pm Chris Port on drums and laptop will join James Gilligan on bass/tape machine/effects and Marty Hicks on piano and Nintendo DS in exploring Beat and hip-hop culture through improvisation. Titled “Mixer”, this will draw inspiration from Kanye West, Ableton Live, Drake, Pro Guitar Shop videos, Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, Aphex Twin, and the Boston Celtics.

Tickets for this biggish arse Sunday cost $35/$25 and are available at the door or online or via Northcote Town Hall website.

Don’t let your fringe down. Be there.

ROGER MITCHELL