Sydney Jazz Blog is launched! 2009-03-02

Welcome to the first post in the official Blog of Sydney Jazz Collective. The intention of this blog is:

• To offer information and commentary on jazz bands & live jazz music/gigs in Sydney
• To stimulate conversations and discussion on live jazz music more generally in order to promote the profile of this fantastic (but often little understood) creative art form.

If you love jazz and read anything on this blog that gets you thinking, please share your thoughts and ideas by making a comment so others can interact with your ideas.

Building a jazz ‘scene’ in Sydney 2009-03-03

So why does Sydney need a jazz blog? Well there is already a solid bunch of musicians writing and performing some truly inspirational jazz of world class standards in this city, but unfortunately much of this seems to fall under the radar of mainstream media recognition.

Jazz musicians will often put this down to the genre of “jazz” being a minority music so it’s bound to attract less attention than more visible (read: more generously funded) art forms such as Opera or Ballet. But the problem goes deeper than that, as there are many cities far smaller than Sydney which manage to sustain a thriving jazz scene.

Take San Sebastian in Spain for example, with a population of approx 400 000 (one tenth of Sydney) it has a thriving jazz culture which culminates in the annual Jazzaldia festival – headlined in 2008 by the likes of Keith Jarrett Trio, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, Ahmad Jamal, Kenny Barron. Admittedly Europe is a much more convenient location for these big American artists to travel to, but there is also a genuine support from the community which sees local shops giving publicity support to festival gigs and local newspapers featuring front page reviews of concerts.

Sydney is very lucky this year to also be visited by some real legends of jazz (Mingus Big Band, Charlie Haden, Brad Mehldau, Bill Frisell just to name a few coming up soon) so that will no doubt be a great opportunity to focus some public attention on this wonderful creative music.

But to continue building a self-sustaining jazz ‘scene’ in Sydney we need more than just occasional media excitement about visiting international artists. Sydney needs more discussion and coverage generally about Australian jazz that is being born in this city, and a mainstream media (yes we’re looking at you Sydney Morning Herald and ABC) that fosters the local jazz community by acknowledging the value of this art to the cultural fabric of our city.

Bobby McFerrin entertains a massive crowd at a free concert on the beach at the 2008 Jazzaldia Festival in San Sebastian

Standardising pay for Gigs & Recording 2009-03-18

Good news this week for Sydney jazz musicians – who are often wondering how this unconventional industry in which we love to work … might also be able to guarantee some regular income to pay the rent!

The NSW Musicians Alliance circulated an email on Monday asking for all members (+ any non-members working as a performer in the NSW music industry) to complete a survey relating to expected & actual rates of pay for: public venue gigs, corporate functions, and studio recording sessions.

They are planning to use the results from this survey to produce recommended rate sheets on pay and conditions for freelancers. Whether this improves the “actual” pay for working musicians in Sydney remains to be seen, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. I am not a member but decided to complete the survey anyway which takes about 5 min. It is available at the following link for anyone interested: http://surveys.alliance.org.au/index.php?sid=66527&lang=en

The Musicians Alliance has not played a significant role for most Sydney musicians since amalgamation with the much larger Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), but word on the street is that there are some new staff in the Alliance keen to revitalise their function.

Let’s hope this is the first of many new initiatives from the Musicians Alliance to help professional musicians in NSW to be paid appropriately for all the wonderful music that is being made in our state every day of the year.

Relax and enjoy 2009-03-22

Here’s some wise words from a great musician who has also established himself as a kind of ‘psychological guru’ in positive thinking for jazz musicians (and performers more generally). Kenny Werner’s thought for the week:

Many people are trapped in the delusion,
“Music is important. I am only valid if I play it correctly.”

Because of this misconception many musicians live and die
and never know the true joy of music in their lives.

Many jazz players feel that there is an experience in
improvisation that they are not having, or not having enough of.

Classical musicians also report  ”dryness” in their renderings
of the great composers.

It’s like the priest who secretly has no love for God.

The customs are observed, but there is no true feeling.

If the lamp is not lit, music can be as dreary as anything else.

Along with the desire for a deeper experience
comes an intense drive to be a better player.

These aspects often work against each other.

There is only one true purpose to music.

It exists for our enjoyment and enrichment only.

I think a hint that reveals this is the fact that
the verb to commit the act of music is “play.”

Most of us got into music because of that incredible enjoyment & enrichment Kenny is referring to, but it’s easy to get busy and forget that feeling should be a constant experience along the course of musical development.

For more of Kenny’s ideas on how to continually feel fresh and energised by your music (mostly drawn from his very popular book ‘Effortless Mastery‘) check out kennywernerlive.com

Musical Visitors to Sydney 2009-04-03

First Post!

Hi all, I thought I’d start my first contribution here at SJB with an overview of two concerts by leading US Artists.

In the last month or so, we’ve been lucky enough to have both Chick Corea and Brad Mehldau here in Sydney. The two gigs, although both led by pianists of great ability, couldn’t be more different to each other. Nothing you wouldn’t expect, even if you knew very little about each musician, but I’m talking on another level that requires perhaps a little explanation.

Firstly, I should explain that I became interested in “jazz” through exposure to what most people on the planet would recogise and label as jazz. That is, very broadly speaking, swinging music whose harmonic and melodic language is steeped in the blues. Growing up in suburban Sydney in the 70s/80s was not the best place to hear that music, but I managed to hear enough to know that I liked it. To add to a broader definition of music, I’d like to say that, with some exceptions, music is Melody, Rhythm and Harmony. That is to say, these elements are what I value highly. When one or more of these are missing, I feel short changed so-to-speak.

Again, before I cause WWIII, let me emphasize that this is what I value in music.

So, back to the concerts I mentioned. My experience of each concert was at opposite ends of the spectrum. In short, I intensely disliked the Chick Corea concert, while loving the Brad Mehldau Trio. Without going into a blow-by-blow account of each gig, each is easily summarized using the elements above.

The music performed by Chick’s band lacked strong melodies. In fact, upon leaving the gig I couldn’t recall one, and I have a reasonable memory for music. Rhythmically the music was complex, driven by Brian Blades incredible abilities as a drummer. However, I’d like to add that 2 hours of having the beat disguised is perhaps a little much. The soloing and arrangements were very self-indulgent, witness John McLaughlin’s barrage of 32nd notes on every solo. Needless to say I found the music to be like a form a torture. It took 90 minutes for some relief, which came in a humourous solo by Christian McBride, who must be the first person to play “Yackety Sax” at the Sydney opera and get away with it! Humour in music is so important, and I think he might have been secretly having a dig at the guys with that one.

This is not to say that Chick’s band was bad – of course they’re stellar musicians with an incredible career behind every one of them. I just didn’t like the music, because to me it didn’t resemble music.

Brad’s music was very different. The emphasis was very much on melody. In fact, the weight that he gives the single note line is amazing. I had to wait some time before he played much harmony at all, but when he did, it was truly beautiful. This “wait” caused so much musical tension it had me on the edge of my seat (uh, I was standing!). The grooves played behind him were propulsive and inventive. Jeff Ballard would disguise the beat every so often, only to “get back on it” to great musical effect. I could write more, but to summarize, Brad’s band had all the essential ingredients in the right proportions for my tastes.

Why am I writing all this? I think in order for jazz to survive and hopefully grow as an art form in this country, musicians should consider their audiences to some degree. We don’t have to push the envelope all the time. Nor can we all be ground breaking musicians. Though I’m not saying we shouldn’t try either…

Darren Heinrich