a fine 6 piece band that i have had the pleasure of seeing a few times in recent years
they get my vote on the name alone but they also feature australia's premier brass duo
miroslav (mike) bukovsky on trumpet and flugglehorn and leader slash composer
james greening on trombone and his usual role of comic relief duties
and joined by jeremy sawkins on guitar once again playing with fabia hevia on drums
steve arie is on double bass and the outfit is complete with alister spence on piano
mr spence opens proceedings with a long rambling solo piano piece
that sees the other members of the band join in quite stealthily
you can sense the excitement on stage as they very quickly figure out tonight is going to be special
there's nods and glances and eye-twinkling to confirm the feeling down in the pit that all is good
i'm particularly excited to hear jeremy sawkins making noises on his guitar
that very definitely point to a keen interest in the style of pat metheny
when he gets into guitar synthesiser and lets rip with some amazing soloing
jeremy i suspect given half the chance would do the same but plays with and for the material
flugglehorn or trumpet and trombone in the hands of these 2 experts make for a fine sound
when they take the spotlight it's a pleasure to see and hear the result of their many years of playing together
the rhythm section seems to be up for the task and mr spence adds his piano flourishes with ease
so in the first tune they are up and running in grand style and out in their own part of the musical world
parked very nicely in the territory between a tight brass based jazz outfit
and a much fuller miles davis / gil evans style big band collaboration
we are definitely witnessing a performance born of composition, rehearsal and repeat performances
but when we venture from that things go somewhat awry
bass player, drummer and guitarist were handed the reins at one point in the long opening number
seems they either forgot the lines or the fall back on improvisation fell flat
for this section of music was downright bad - a jam session better left in private
the effect was palpable on stage with the 3 other members of the group almost reeling in disbelief
and left to pick up the pieces and get the music back on track
it was quite a strange sensation to go from bliss to bland in one tune
but it would be unwise to underestimate these guys and they hauled it back
another tune had a beat and feel that had me churning through the musical memory banks
for it was so reminiscent of something and then i came up with brian eno
the groove was quite closely aligned to some of his work on my secret life in the bush of ghosts
so this is fine by me and great to see them back in control and enjoying their time on stage
after the mid performance break jeremy guitarist opened proceedings with a long solo
again with reference to pat metheny but displaying his own virtuosity and earning a big round of applause
the second set i think was made up of one tune with various movements
allowing all 6 musicians to take the spotlight at times
the most memorable being james greening providing an excellent demonstration of control
working with fabian hevia playing a single note on the bass drum
and james challenging with who can play the quietest but still sustain a note
he really is a master of the trombone and always a pleasure to watch and hear
all in all a night of fine musical entertainment
wanderlust
great name
