2MBS-FM Jazz Blog

ABC Classic FM has released a commemorative CD containing eleven recordings which were broadcast during the first thirty years of the weekly Jazztrack program. Although they have been heard on radio, none of these have previously been commercially released. All were recorded between 1998 and 2005 in ABC studios or ‘live’ at the Bennett Lane Jazz Club or at a Wangaratta festival. More than half the groups are Trios, Quartets or Quintets and the mood is usually subdued, slow, wandering and gently reflective. The title of pianist Tim Stevens’s recording, ‘This Quiet Life’, is very appropriate. The Phil Collings quartet recording ‘When flowers Still’ I found particularly appealing - is not only a very attractive melody but there are excellent solos from unnamed alto sax and guitar players.
Contrast this with the Adelaide quartet Splinter Group and the Perth band Speedball which charge along in full flight with energetic solos from trumpet, alto sax, piano and guitar players. There are two vocal tracks. Michelle Moody sings pleasantly, supported only by bass player Belinda Moody while in contrast, Martin Breeze is more up-beat and is aided by the excellent guitarist James Sherlock and his trio. Pianist Colin Hopkins and drummer Danny Fischer form a free form duo, often with no discernable melody but with a repetitive theme by the pianist while drummer Danny Fischer tinkles on ‘a silver cooking bowl‘.
The Bennett Lane Big Band opens proceedings with a brassy blast followed by a limping rhythm before settling down to more straight-ahead jazz. Listening to bass trombonist Adrian Sherriff growling away in the basement of his instrument, I cannot recollect previously hearing a solo from this instrument.
The high-light of this CD for me is the Dale Barlow group Inner Qwest (yes, that is how he spells it) recorded at Wangaratta 2002 and featuring a string of solos by a guitarist and pianist, led by the lusty tenor sax of the leader. Great stuff!
This is a well produced 68 minutes of Australian bands in the 21st century playing all Australian compositions. My only serious complaint is the lack of personnel information. All band names are listed together with tune titles and composers but rarely are any personnel mentioned. This may not matter if you are a casual listener but serious jazz buffs like to know who is playing. Perhaps the ABC lost the paper work.
Derrick Davey

Comments (0)

Several years ago a survey, based on the sale of CDs, was conducted into the musical tastes of the Australian public. Although I cannot remember which popular style came out on top I do remember that jazz and classical music both gained about 6% of total sales. But jazz music was much more popular with the masses in the early years of the recording industry than it is today.
During the first half of the twentieth century, the American entertainment magazine Billboard published a weekly survey of the most popular 20 (later 30) records sold during that week. Throughout the 1920s jazz records regularly featured high in the popularity lists and a recent study of the figures indicates that in August 1918 the Original Dixieland Jazz band’s recording of Tiger Rag was Number 1 in the charts while the more obscure Wilbur C Sweetman ‘s Original Jazz Band was number 5.
During the 1930s and early ’40s the big bands were in control of the pop charts, playing popular dance music for the masses. By 1954, when Billboard ceased the survey, the public had lost its love of jazz and had switched its focus to pop music and the singers. And that remains the position today.
Will jazz recordings ever become ‘top of the Pops‘ again? Will the Big Bands come back? I say No!.

Comments (0)

In these early days of the Jazz Blog perhaps an appropriate question to ask is, what is jazz? I don’t know the meaning of the word and I don’t believe that it matters but it is interesting to see how some people describe this form of music.
My American Funk and Wagnalls dictionary says that jazz is “generally improvised, it is syncopated with accentuated rhythms, it is dissonant and it has melodic variations”. The Concise English dictionary states “syncopated or ragtime music”.
Ex 2MBS jazz presenter Bill Haesler once said that growing up as a boy in Melbourne he believed that Jelly Roll Morton, Johnny Dodds and King Oliver played jazz while the bands led by Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman did not. The Australian Macquarie dictionary defines jazz as “popular music marked by frequent improvised and syncopated rhythms”
All this is true because much jazz is syncopated, improvised, dissonant with melodic variations and accentuated rhythms. But some jazz is none of those things and it certainly is not popular.
Jazz means different things to different people. What does it mean to you?

Comments (6)

The 30th annual Manly Jazz Festival has come to an end and I wanted to start a thread for those of you who visited the festival to share your favourite performances or experiences. It was a beautiful, sunny long-weekend, with a great line-up of local, interstate and international artists providing three excellent days of jazz.

Just in terms of a relaxing long-weekend experience, a highlight for me was standing in the Sunday-afternoon sun by Manly Beach, soaking up Doug Williams & the Mix’s funky R&B tunes. I also really dug the Sydney Metro Big Band, led by drummer Jason Isaac, and featuring some complicated, but well executed big band arrangements.

It was a big weekend for the suburb of Manly for more reasons than one, with their team in the NRL grand final on Sunday night. I must admit though, after watching the start of the game in Manly and seeing the half-time score, I thought it was prudent to jump on the next city-bound ferry, and leave before the second half – turned out to be a wise move.

Comments (2)

From the opening tones of Lovano’s husky unaccompanied tenor which kicks off this album, listeners may have little idea of the complex harmonic delicacies which are to follow. Inspired by a commission from Monterey Jazz Festival to commemorate Miles Davis’ 75th-year anniversary in 2001, Lovano’s all-star nonet teams up with veteran arranger Gunther Schuller to deliver an album underpinned by tightly structured harmonic arrangements, yet overflowing with spontaneously improvised exuberance. More…

Comments (0)

Hello and welcome to the new 2MBS FM jazz blog. This blog is all about interacting with you, our listeners, and providing a space for discussion about jazz past and present, locally in Sydney and throughout Australia and the world.

In the coming months you’ll find CD and gig reviews, inside information from the local and international jazz scene, information about jazz musos - from the jazz greats of the past to the up-and-coming talent of the future - and opinion and comment about all things jazz.

It’s also a place for you to provide feedback to your favourite radio station. 2MBS FM is one of the few Sydney radio stations that has jazz every day of the week; you can keep that alive by showing your support and posting a comment right here on the blog. Constructive criticism is most welcome, as is positive feedback about your favourite shows.

So bookmark this blog or subscribe to the feed and come back often to post comments. We hope you enjoy this blog as much as you enjoy jazz on 2MBS-FM.

Comments (6)