20th century dog

interesting name for what promises to be an interesting band
the pre-show publicity also tantalising in its enthusiasm -
one of the most revolutionary bands to have emerged in australia in the last decade
i'd previously seen sax player matt keegan and guitarist james muller
for me the stars of the mark isaacs resurgence band
drummer simon barker also a known force
cameron undy tonight on electric bass and leader
these 4 started the evening tentatively with a warm-up tune
though leaving no doubt that tonight would be different
the promise of some big noise possible with this lineup
for the second tune their keyboards player joined them
the quintet complete with gerard masters on pianos
yamaha grand c5 and rhodes electric both set to go
a quick shuffling through of sheet music and off we go
another tune with a very definite nod to electro-jazz
a very solid and fluent bassline with other splashes of noise
with guitar, sax and piano featuring at various times
otherwise all 5 musicians independently filling out the sound
which is about where i started getting a bit suspicious
a reminder of a recent conversation bemoaning this scene
some wonderful musicians and eclectic combinations
maybe in fact too many of them with too much cross-membership
meaning combinations are often under-rehearsed
and therefore relying on skills rather than connection
but we the (lack of) audience no doubt are also a factor
tonight we were all trying to get to musical nirvana
this band happily heading off in a electro-jazz-rock direction
with a distinctive 70's/80's funk sound mixed in
the first set over quickly and not entirely convincingly
even cameron undy promising a bigger and better second set
after a long break the band re-assembled on stage
gerard masters leading off on a long solo piano piece
very well played too on the yamaha grand
reminding me of locomotive breath by jethro tull
and similarly followed on by an all-in rock-out tune
what happened next though was beyond belief
lack of material, rehearsal, ideas and possibly enthusiasm
meant for the longest, most mediocre, embarrassingly bad tune
a jam session with no leadership, direction or spontaniety
gerard masters trying to wig-out with some electronica
cameron undy justifying things by telling us they are jazz musicians
as though that means anything goes - nope - sorry not here not now
i'm feeling a bit sorry for them all as i suspect they want it to work
but by now the damage has been done and the weak material exposed
the big ballad with matt keegan on sax also fell mostly flat
and not through lack of trying by one of the best sax players around
but...all is not lost - as he and james muller step it up
one of the final tunes of the night sees them finding a connection
harmonising brilliantly and effortlessly on a quite melodic tune
each of them also soloing most convincingly on their chosen instruments
at times such as this the band seems capable of it's promise
the rhythm section providing all that is needed for the stars
but in the end it's all too patchy and inconsistent
the audience were mostly polite and gracious
but certainly no demand for an encore
which was just as well really
cameron undy tells us they hadn't rehearsed one
thereby summing up my impressions of the performance