Two tasty, then special Omelette

As Victoria begins another lockdown and once again musicians and venues face cancellations and postponements, it seems appropriate to remind ourselves of how important live music has been in the short interludes in which we have been able to escape pandemic restrictions and get out to hear it.

The idea is to share images rather than words about these gigs, but it is hoped that the photographs capture some of the magic in performances that have cost little to attend compared with those in grander settings and yet have brought so much joy to those in the audience and, I’m sure, those at work on stage who have often had little opportunity recently to play for people in the same room and not on screens.

Schulz – Tsiavos meets Omelette
Socialist Jazz Club
Friday 25 June 2021, Cross Street Hall, East Brunswick

Anthony Schulz (accordion) and Nick Tsiavos (acoustic bass) have been, in their words, “exploring the instabilities of improvisational practice to develop a musical language that transcends the idiosyncratic ideas around their instruments – at all times searching for beauty within the chaos and dissonance of modernity”. 

In the engrossing opening set on this Friday evening, Tsiavos and Schulz produced plenty of beauty, but also much tension at times. One image in the gallery below reveals the intensity – even ferocity – that can be conveyed on the accordion. There was literally not a dull moment in this encounter.

In the second set, Jordan Murray on trombone joined Ronny Ferella on drums and Stephen Magnusson on guitar as Omelette, creating in the moment as they do so well. Later they were joined by Tsiavos, Schulz and Sam Keevers on piano to cap off a sublime evening – again demonstrating that the Socialist Jazz Club’s “experiment in collective energy” has delivered.

Roger Mitchell

Images © ausjazz.net

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