back to the sound lounge at the seymour centre
for another friday night of jazz
plan was to get there early enough to secure a good seat
and maybe take a few photographs during the performance
we got there 15 minutes or so before the advertised time
to find it sold out
but the jazz gods were smiling down on us
the doorman remembered that 2 separate patrons
had a spare ticket each and promptly hunted them down
in we went to then try and find good seats
best we could do was far right of stage
with a great view of the drummer (james waples)
and the sax player between solos (bernie mcgann)
the double bass player represented by a solid concrete pillar (ben waples)
and a direct view of the piano player (paul grabowsky)
the digitally enhanced photo above shows james waples at work
with bernie mcgann seated to the right
i'd seen him and paul grabowsky separately at the wangarratta jazz festival
where i was also first introduced to ben waples regular band triosk
his brother james on drums/percussion
offered the promise of a very satisfying performance
i do not even begin to rate myself as a jazz affecianado
the appeal of it for me is the number of times
that i have witnessed a jazz performance
and have been transported
you have to get close
you have to get comfortable
you have let it all go (man)
stop thinking for a while
close eyes
go with the music
and realise there is no better place to be
at that moment
they played 8 tunes in 2 hours over 2 sets
each one introduced in good humour by mr grabowsky
the mc for tonights show
they started with night and day by cole porter
did tunes by the likes of thelonious monk and charlie parker
and finished with d-day by bernie mcgann
every tune was superb
the quartet was perfectly balanced
each musician seemingly in sync with each other
or dropping back to allow another to feature
at those times you could see and sense the on-stage respect
for he who was leading at the time
for me the highlight was james waples on drums and percussion
hunched over his instrument
making noises and rhythms often with the deftest of touches
playing and sounding like jack dejohnette
who i have observed many times
on my small collection of jazz concert dvd's
the crowd tonight were totally there for the music
not a whisper at the quietest moments of performance
and loud appreciative applause at the end of each tune
i think i like the sound lounge
that's 2 friday nights in a row now
and next friday also promises to be a treat
locked in....
