J Shand's preview of Jazz/Now

[freddy]

www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/09/14/1157827079551.html

I've just been sent this link. It's to a piece by John Shand previewing the Jazz/Now Festival and apparently it's caused a storm up there with letters to the editor etc. Can't say I blame them for being upset.

[alimcg]

I guess the truth hurts.

[ladylex]

What? the truth being how goddam bogan we are?

The article is absolutely embarrassing.

[alimcg]

I know a lot of musos who are very proud of their drinking prowess!

I went to their Bennetts Lane gig last night. I only caught the second set. It was an interesting mix. I think it showed the stylistic strengths and weaknesses of the Australians and Japanese. In general I think the tunes by the Aussie guys came across a bit better. All of the Japanese compositions I heard were a bit too, I don't know, "American" sounding. I felt that the Australian players had stronger individual voices, though it was great to hear the shamisen.

Anyone else go? I didn't see a lot of other musos there...

[ladylex]

We should be proud.. but I guess Im thinking of how the Japanese community would view it. I guess there's no harm confirming that we really are gaijin

I actually found the Japanese tunes to be very.. romantic I guess is the best word for it (Read as: Lex thinks a guy being romantic is really just a pussy j/k) And thats what theyre like too. Jazz is still all very new to Japan - but damn.. theyre coming in strides!

Did you get to meet them and chat to them at all?

[alimcg]

All of the Japanese tunes I heard were in what I guess you'd call the hard-bop style. I didn't hear anything romantic. Maybe those tunes were in the first set.

[ladylex]

"Before she came" was one tune I was laughing my ass off too. Veree romantic. In a good way of course! *wonders exactly how one would interpret the title

I guess I also apply the term 'romantic' to their playing style (well, definitely so for the keys player). Its extremely intense and lyrical playing - even if it is hard bop. Its as though he has been playing Wagner or Liszt his entire life (which he hasnt) and applied the same processes to his tunes. *shrugs

[alimcg]

Sounded to me like he'd listened to a lot of Joey Calderazzo.

[ladylex]

Definitely

EDIT: Though the flourishes struck me as quite Rachmaninov-ish

[aj]

I heard the Sydney gig............thought that Simon & Phil & Cameron brought a LOT of interesting things to the table...........the alto player, Ken Ota, I thought played some great solos, very fiery...the shamisen was effective in terms of providing some exotic colours, but of course limited in flexibility......Makoto Kuriya (the pianist) was very accomplished but, shall we say, too 'controlled' for my liking.........the bassist & drummer worked well together......and soem of the Japanese contributions to the book were very much out of the hardbop textbook.......if not for the guitar solo, one piece could have been written for the Messengers.

Still, an interesting exercise, I'm sure the players all got a lot out of it........it will be interesting to see if it bears any fruit further down the track.

[ladylex]

I hope so

[Gb]

yep, that's embarassing alright. jesus cameron, you gotta think before you speak...

[freddy]

That's right. My information has been that Shand coped heaps of abuse in emails from musicians but it's clear that Cameron Deyell just put both his feet in his mouth and is as responsible for the "flavour" of the piece as Shand. Probably was overwhelmed at the prospect of being quoted in the media.
The presentation of the piece was designed to trivialise and put down jazz. It was headed "You Sake" geddit??? duhh, some lame brained subs idea of humour. the interesting thing is that after the protests the headline in the on-line version was taken down and replaced. One small victory.

[alimcg]

How about the John Shand Friends of Jazz Award?

[freddy]

alimcg said:

How about the John Shand Friends of Jazz Award?

There's a queue, with several others having greater claims to priority.