WPAC sound variations and re-assessing the blues...

After the Hoodangers, there was another interlude involving beers, which then turned into dinner and a little visit to the Blues Marquee. I'd wanted to hear Linda Oh, who was playing in the Hall at WPAC at 8:00 pm, but figured she was on again on Sunday morning. Sometimes friends and beers come first! As it turns out, the accidental decision I made to postpone listening to Linda was a good one. A punter I spoke to in a queue on Sunday (as you do) mentioned that he'd heard both of her gigs and the sound in the theatre had been far superior to the sound in the hall. While we'd both heard Ish Ish in the Hall (more of that later) and it had sounded great, the particular line-up or sound or something of Linda's trio had been better suited to the theatre's ambience. I tested that on Sunday morning (separate post).

In the Blues Marquee, heard the tail end of Andrea Marr and the beginning of Hamilton Loomis. Energetic, and very much appreciated by the crowd, both of them. And Helen Jennings doing a superb job of Blues Emcee, as she does every year. Punter comment about Loomis 'very seventies'. Yes, he was. And it was here that I realised how this particular Wangaratta is very much about the joy of listening to improvised music.... the unpredictability, the call to an open heart and open ears. Rushed back to Ford Street to hear some jazz.

Kristin Berardi

Kristin has a beautiful voice and I love her songs, so I was looking forward to her gig. Not disappointed! A great thing about Wangaratta is the way you can run into musicians in the street during the festival and I had met Kristin's little son Oliver, being cuddled by husband Dave Theak, in the morning. He seemed a lovely little chap, playing with his dad's nose and stuff, like little kids do... and having met him made Kristin's song 'Ode to Oliver' particularly special. A little bit moisty eyed, I was... And 'Just a girl' for some reason twanged the heart strings. Really enjoyed Mike's piano playing this afternoon, and Dave Theak's saxophone seemed to fly out over us.

More than one punter comment afterwards about Krstin's pure voice and this band of hers is wonderful. Mike Nock on piano, David Theak on saxophone, James Sherlock on guitar, Alex Boneham, bass and Tim Firth on drums. St Pats Hall was packed, and entranced by those pure Kristin notes and the original tunes she shared with us.

Smiley and ...

After the Hoodangers, Scott Tinkler and Simon Barker. Another good Sydney / Melbourne Combo. I loved the picture of them in the programme... scanned in here for your amusement.

Aside: It's funny what people expect of musicians and I wonder sometimes how much effort it takes to develop the sort of thick skin where an overheard comment doesn't start you questioning yourself. A punter in the street was saying, after hearing this gig, that she had been disappointed to hear that the two of them weren't playing like a duo. "It was like, Scott did this [does this trumpet playing thing with her hands] and then Simon did his thing and then Scott did his thing again and it was like, not what I expected, really." It seemed like she'd let that 'not what I expected' get in the way of what it was... or am I being too harsh?

I was late to this gig as well, but there were seats, so I managed to sneak in. I came in at the end of a trance-like segment of sonorous gong and cymbal sounds from Simon, with Scott standing by. I wish I'd been there for the beginning. I took no notes, spent most of the gig with my eyes closed. I know what these guys look like and I like the surprises that happen when you don't now when Scott's picking up the trumpet and when Simon's picking up the sticks. What was it? These two musicians, colleagues, friends have a rapport and a shared approach that means their shared and complementary energy create beautiful sound spaces. It was fun, uplifting and energising. "Like, awesome."

Saturday afternoon

Saturday afternoon is where the festival always seems to get hectic and this year is no exception. So many bands to see and hear and then there are the people you haven't seen since last year, or last week; musicians, enthusiasts, writers, photographers and people you haven't seen for 27 years!

After the National Jazz Awards, I remember there were some Baileys of Glenrowan reisling, some laughs. I signed a copy of extempore, I think. There was heat. It's up to 34 degrees today and the square in front of the WPAC is radiating heat. Old friends. New friends. Then lining up for the Mike Nock and Niko Schauble gig but not getting in. Interesting sounds from our side of the door. I hope to hear them again soon. This is one of those Melbourne / Sydney combinations that Wangaratta facilitates, and I'm sorry I missed it. Damn queues! But never one to let a moment be wasted, off to the Hoodangers in St Patricks Hall. This 'punk trad' band 'goes off' as I heard some young thing say recently. Ben Gillespie on trombone, vocals and shaky rattly gourdy thing, Eugene Ball on trumpet, Phil Noy on saxophone, Mal Williams on banjo, and (I think) Mark Elton bass and Ollie Browne on drums. Normally Chris Tanner's up there playing clarinet, and Phil Noy is a special guest in this line up. Pretty special! Lots of foots tapping in St Pats! Lots of variation in the tunes from fast and furious to reflective Journey to the Sky. Puts a grin on a girl's face, it does.

Then on to the next gig, but more of that in the next post!

What's a double strong macchiato?

It wouldn't be a Jazz Blogger at Large festival if we didn't include catering and environment comments, would it? A musician ordered a coffee at the new cafe at the WPAC (Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre). No big deal, you might say. But the response to a 'double strong short macchiato' was a perceptible physical jolt experienced by order taker... What can you do in those situations, if it's your order that has engendered such a strong response? Not much left to you except: plough on regardless and hope. Turns out he had no effing idea.

The picture shows a short macchiato. A double would be... bigger. Maybe a latte glass instead of an espresso glass... just up the scale.

What the musician received looked like a glass of mud. He pulled a face and may even have said something about what he thought of this macchiato travesty. I have to admit, even I was shocked. Ever helpful, I suggest that next time he order a macchiato by saying 'espresso with a bit of froth on top, not stirred in'. "Sure," he said. "Only I won't be asking for it here..."

A note to festival baristas. Here's your situation: you've got musicians who've been up playing, drinking and reminiscing until the wee hours. You've got a programme that puts them back on stage at 10:00 am. You gotta have good coffee. Nuff said.

Avoiding the WPAC

It's taking me a while to venture into the Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre (WPAC). Queues in all sorts of unusual places. It's cool in there though, so the pull is strong! One thing everybody is saying: in the WPAC spaces (Theatre and Hall) it is harder to leave and enter between songs. Something about the setup makes it harder to quickly get in and out.

Maybe not such a bad thing. With the programme, which seemed slightly sparser this year, more punters were choosing to sit through a whole set rather than making an escape halfway through.

And as the days get hotter, I notice it's the natural place to be! Sooo coooolll.

The cafe does a good bacon and eggs but don't order the double macchiato.

National Jazz Award

For me, some years at Wangaratta are 'finals years', when I go to listen to the National Jazz Award finalists and some years aren't. The NJA is an annual competition that focuses on a different instrument each year. This year it is saxophone and I know a few of the players. The rhythm section of Sam Keevers (piano) Ben Vanderwal (drums) and Phil Stack (bass, and last year's NJA winner) are musicians I like to hear as well so I decided to go along to the heats on Saturday morning (10 o'clock).

Normally at the festival, the volunteers allow people to enter and leave between songs. During the heats, we can only arrive and leave between brackets, so I missed a bit by lingering over my coffee but managed to hear Phil Noy, James Annersley and Tim Wilson, and experience their different stage presences! Phil, smiling like he does, James relaxed in charge of the space, Tim polished. Lovely to hear tunes by Bernie McGann and Bobby Gebert being played in the finals! A conversation with a punter afterwards, who knows about such things, revealed some of the things she had noticed: the technical difficulty of the tunes and how the musician masters them, for example, with use of different techniques. On the other hand, you can listen to these brackets of three for the music in them alone, which I did...

Standouts for me were the Bobby Gebert tune 'Song for my Lady' played by Phil Noy with tenderness and beauty. And Ben Vanderwal's drumming. Such a range of textures and touches. My notes make particular fuss about Ben at the end of 'You don't know what love is', played by James Annersley.

Photo of Phil Noy by Laki Sideris, taken at Bennetts Lane in August this year. See Laki's photo blog at www.melbournejazzphotos.com/