As always, an honour to be filling in for Gerry, last one for the year. This evenings show explored the music of some artists playing in town soon after the show went to air. Swiss pianist Matthieu Mazué had toured Oz featuring a band of Australian musicians - Sam Anning - bass; Steve Saragossi - guitar and Dylan van der Sciff on drums/percussion. In addition, a strong theme amongst the music of the show is the influence of folk music, particularly in the latter two thirds.
Linkage to playlist - audio available for three months from broadcast date.
We opened the first set with a Sam Anning composition, Urkraft. My initial familiarity with this piece was through a (later) rendering on Andrea Keller's, Between Panic & Piece released early in 2022 - a highlight for 2022 jazz releases for yours truly. The addition of Sam reciting on this version only adds to the beautiful and gentle simplicity of this track, it featured on Sam's 2021 album Oaatchapai. Following we heard Prototype Monolith from Matthieu Mazué's most recent trio album, We Say Still. Then we upped the intensity and whackness with Milton Man Gogh's, The Great Reset (Parts 1 & 2). Some really great squawk, choppy guitar and rollicking drums in this number, creating a fantastic sense of (edgy) momentum. The Great Reset as a whole is some really interesting exploratory jazz. This segued quite suddenly into another Mazué track, the thumping, Supply Chains.
The next set explored two 2022 releases by Adam Simmons and some associated satellites. Opening with a Flora Carbo composition, Toasted from the brand new Origami release Old and New Folk. I dunno, writing about jazz is hard yeah, I feel I always slip into cliche, however, I hear what I hear and whenever I hear Adam play, I consistently get a sense of joy. Old and New Folk is this way, it's simply a joy to listen too. I'm kinda reminded of Don Cherry, Louis Armstrong, and for that matter James Morrison too. I hear it throughout Adam's music as well as an explorative sensibility, and then some. So too seguing to Flora Carbo's Wander from the sound art like Arthur's Walks, released in Feb.2022 - I get a sense of fun. In fact it momentarily reminded me of a Cecil Lytle work from back where. Gee huh. So, we wander into the Sheng playing of Wang Zheng-Ting, through the track, Coming Together, from the mid 2022 Origami release, Shanghai Memories. Closing the set with the smooth shuffly, kinda coolsville chill of Clarion, again, lifted from Old and New Folk.
And so, to Finland via A Letter by Ashley Ballat and Stephen Magnusson, lifted from their recent album, Web. A beautifully languid piece, A Letter is lifted from an album that is filled with engagingly languid pieces, it features a spoken word component too. I feel that a lot of lock-down albums, of which this one is, gave many musicians license to explore introspective composition - so it is here. Then to Finland with a track from Finnish ensemble, Uusui Aika. They have released their self-titled debut album through the We Jazz Records label, it explores jazz flecked with folk music references. The piece, Kaksi Puuta, on close listen, has an almost impressionistic take on Japanese tradition, in no small part due to the Shakuhachi being a featured instrument. In addition it's use of non traditional wooden percussive passages and flurries adds an otherness aswell - akin to Zen temple hyoshigi, a wooden clapper.We Jazz Records released their benefit album to help people in Ukraine, Music For Ukraine. Tonight I played two tracks from this release, Black Diamond's Sea Change, and Hot Heros with Kerran Varhainen Pyhäaamu.
The final, fourth set, featured music from four Australian ensembles who I have greatly enjoyed over 2022. It opens with the strains of Stephen Grant's accordion on, Hope Is the Thing With Feathers before the other ensemble members join in to bring it home. This track was lifted from the third release in the Andrea Keller Curates series of recordings recorded live at the Jazzlab. Then the "This World quartet" - Mike Nock, Hamish Stuart, Julian Wilson and Jonathan Zwartz, with Any Heart, taken from This World. To close, Julian Wilson's, The Long Game, from his Meditations album, another favourite from 2022.
A final word, my father-in-law Laurie passed away only a week prior to this broadcast, so I dedicated the show to his memory. What A Wonderful World was played at his funeral, and it was this that inspired my quote of Louis' about folk music; "Man, all music is folk music. You ain't never heard no horse sing a song have you?". Like Louis, Laurie had a mischievous and playful aspect within his personality - he remains fondly remembered. Vale Laurie Pickett.
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