the bohemian grove is an underground venue - figuratively speaking
it's actually 2 floors up in a warehouse in surry hills
apparently some of the local jazz fraternity live there
they part of the new wave of young guns in the sydney scene
i suspect frustration with lack of venues has driven them
so every sunday night it's an open invitation to their place
each night a local or touring act plays 2 sets at the venue
tonight it's the nick bowd quartet that is playing for us
the main man most recently seen in snap - the 4-part saxophone quartet
he's got drummer extraordinaire dave goodman also in the band
and megastar-in-waiting james muller on electric guitar
his claim to fame being a stage-sharing gig with john scofield
karl dunnicliff on double bass not seen before but he must be good
not a large audience - about 20 of us on lounges and milk crates
but such is the atmosphere at this place it doesn't really matter
my feeling is that this is the jazz equivalent of garage bands
on any given night chances are you will see something special
in this case about 2 bars of music confirmed that expectation
it's quite a gentle and melodic opening tune they are playing
nick bowd and james muller already into some nice harmonising
one of the sweetest sounds in jazz being sax and guitar together
there is serious concentration happening with all 4 reading sheet music
being a new band this indicating it's as much a rehearsal as a gig
i personally don't mind that - catch them at their rawest i say
but raw does not mean sloppy especially with this group
continuing a fine tradition in this town amongst the young guns
a clear dedication and love of their craft that drives them
nick bowd for one as leader, composer and saxophone player
i've only seen him once in snap on his baritone sax
but tonight he's playing a very fluent tenor sax
the rest of the band mostly playing around his lead
though in this long first piece he's happy to step aside
take up a seat like the rest of us and watch mr muller at work
who takes the lead and delivers some outstanding guitar sounds
this man is fast, fluent and very inventive with his playing
you can never tell what is coming and nor can he i suspect
a real sense of giving over to the moment and trusting his skills
it's hard to imagine guitar-playing getting much better than this
helped along by a rhythm section that is also holding their own
dave goodman on drums by reputation able to deliver the goods
and as suspected karl dunniciff is a very capable bass player
between tunes nick bowd takes the time to chat to the audience
briefly talking about his compositions or advising of covered tunes
in one case happy to admit the next tune only written the day before
and not yet played by the band so we are as new to it as them
this could be cause for concern but not with these musicians
watching this band interact on the fly is quite absorbing
their faith in their own and their peers skills well placed
the tune played a bit tentatively but to me also faultlessly
tradition at this venue means 2 sets so a chance to catch breath
and in the case of james muller time to study the sheet music
the second set sees the confidence levels go up a notch or 2
me thinking that this is a quartet that could really go places
a fine balance of sounds, great skills and excellent material
and also not afraid to stretch out with some interesting covers
a steve reich piece in particular challenging james muller
his stunning chops playing now replaced by repetitive chords
dave goodman's drumming now also stretched with some tub-thumping
karl dunnicliff again seen to be playing at speed all over the bass
in the final piece titled arrival nick bowd plays his baritone
lets rip with some deep and rich blasts from this large saxophone
a shame it all has to come to an end really as it's been fun
though there's a plug for an upcoming show for this new group
and a bit more of a permanent reminder - youtube'd
on any given night chances are you will see something special
in this case about 2 bars of music confirmed that expectation
it's quite a gentle and melodic opening tune they are playing
nick bowd and james muller already into some nice harmonising
one of the sweetest sounds in jazz being sax and guitar together
there is serious concentration happening with all 4 reading sheet music
being a new band this indicating it's as much a rehearsal as a gig
i personally don't mind that - catch them at their rawest i say
but raw does not mean sloppy especially with this group
continuing a fine tradition in this town amongst the young guns
a clear dedication and love of their craft that drives them
nick bowd for one as leader, composer and saxophone player
i've only seen him once in snap on his baritone sax
but tonight he's playing a very fluent tenor sax
the rest of the band mostly playing around his lead
though in this long first piece he's happy to step aside
take up a seat like the rest of us and watch mr muller at work
who takes the lead and delivers some outstanding guitar sounds
this man is fast, fluent and very inventive with his playing
you can never tell what is coming and nor can he i suspect
a real sense of giving over to the moment and trusting his skills
it's hard to imagine guitar-playing getting much better than this
helped along by a rhythm section that is also holding their own
dave goodman on drums by reputation able to deliver the goods
and as suspected karl dunniciff is a very capable bass player
between tunes nick bowd takes the time to chat to the audience
briefly talking about his compositions or advising of covered tunes
in one case happy to admit the next tune only written the day before
and not yet played by the band so we are as new to it as them
this could be cause for concern but not with these musicians
watching this band interact on the fly is quite absorbing
their faith in their own and their peers skills well placed
the tune played a bit tentatively but to me also faultlessly
tradition at this venue means 2 sets so a chance to catch breath
and in the case of james muller time to study the sheet music
the second set sees the confidence levels go up a notch or 2
me thinking that this is a quartet that could really go places
a fine balance of sounds, great skills and excellent material
and also not afraid to stretch out with some interesting covers
a steve reich piece in particular challenging james muller
his stunning chops playing now replaced by repetitive chords
dave goodman's drumming now also stretched with some tub-thumping
karl dunnicliff again seen to be playing at speed all over the bass
in the final piece titled arrival nick bowd plays his baritone
lets rip with some deep and rich blasts from this large saxophone
a shame it all has to come to an end really as it's been fun
though there's a plug for an upcoming show for this new group
and a bit more of a permanent reminder - youtube'd
