klumpes being the one known as adrian ex triosk and now 3ofmillions
ahmad being previously neither heard nor seen noise-maker shoab ahmad
adrian klumpes came into my musical radar about 5 years ago
saw him playing as one third of triosk at the wangaratta jazz festival
an unforgettable performance by that band that lead to many more
sadly for some as yet unknown reason the band is no longer after 3 strong albums
but adrian klumpes has not stood still and continues to record and perform
there's an excellent solo album and a debut from latest venture 3ofmillions
so it was with some surprise that i learned another album has been created
this one in partnership with shoab ahmad and being launched on this day
at a late afternoon concert in the stone gallery - the paddington methodist church
i had the pleasure of seeing the alister spence trio perform there in 2007
a special ambience in this venue with it's sandstone walls and high ceilings
appropriately today alister spence is doing the opening set in solo mode
he plays a set of tunes demonstrating his quite superb musical talents
adrian klumpes is also exceptionally talented in 2 quite diverse skills
first and foremost he is a master pianist with an impressive fluid style
secondly he has a command of electronica that he also uses to great effect
to his right a bank of gadgets, switches and knobs laid out on a stand
there's also an effects pedal (wah-wah?) and shakers, etc at hand
his hands constantly moving between the keyboards and this gear
each twist of a knob, flick of a switch or pressing of a pedal a subtle change
mostly an indiscernable difference in the immediate generated sound
but there's some wicked sounds coming out - all very organic sounding
this i suspect because of the choice of analogue and acoustic equipment
meanwhile musical partner shoab ahmer is similarly cranking it out
wired up through his own p.a. and doing unorthodox things with an electric guitar
laid on a table while he goes to work on the strings and also on a mac laptop
there's metal cylinders being rolled on the strings and drumsticks tapping them
so between the 2 of them there's potential for a real racket to be made
but it's somehow held in check so that instead it's very accessible
a case of not getting too caught up in the technicalities of it all
but rather acknowledge that the sound is actually warm and even melodic
the piano sound a constant amongst the fuzz, echoes, loops and monotones
one impressive trick being the live recording of a shaker or similar
then some time later that sound coming back on a looped playback
it occurred to me that this must all be quite difficult to control
in a studio situation it would be one track at a time recording and mixing
but no such luxury here - this is a very live hands-on production
the end of the first piece and adrian tells us it's all improvised
and then off we go again - piano playing the underlying component
over in the guitar department and it's now being held conventionally
still an assortment of noises being generated and warped beyond recognition
but the same feeling - organic electronica sounds like a good term
a shorter tune this time followed by very hearty applause
a number of people coming forward to learn all about it
me - had a chat to a very proud mother of mr klumpes
she happy to pass on a few stories about her son
at the age of 15 he had mastered classical piano
then someone introduced him to jazz music
and the rest as they say is history
this man is going places i reckon
mind-boggling music - really
