8 minute read
NOTES IN YOUR EARS, INK ON THE PAGE
A PROFILE OF ROSS IRWIN
WORDS ROGER MITCHELL
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A PANDEMIC CREATES NOISE IN THE MIND – CRIES OF LAMENT OVER LOSS, YES, BUT ALSO THE BUSY CACOPHONY OF CONFLICT. ARGUMENTS RAGE. DIVISIONS FORM. FEARS FOMENT. IT CAN BE HARD TO ESCAPE THE RACKET.
Yet music can cut through the clamour, to calm or to excite. On many a Friday during 2020, Paul Grabowsky’s “happy hours” at the home piano provided much-needed sustenance and relief, albeit online.
If anything, the enforced absence and then limits on live music have highlighted the hunger for it. On a Wednesday evening in February a well-spaced audience at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl were thrilled to hear the world premiere of Love Is A Temporary Madness, a suite by composer Vanessa Perica, performed by her orchestra of jazz musicians and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
On stage, unobtrusively wielding a trumpet in Perica’s orchestra, was Ross Irwin – best known for his tours with The Cat Empire and The Bamboos. Jazz fans will recall his reinterpretation 60 years on of Miles Davis’s album Kind of Blue before a packed house at 170 Russell for the 2019 Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
Irwin should be a household name. He has worked in Australia with Paul Kelly, Passenger, Angus and Julia Stone, Josh Pyke, Thelma Plum, Seth Sentry, The
Paper Kites, Brooke Fraser, Gossling, You Am I and Megan Washington. International artists who have tapped his talents include Brian May and Roger Taylor (Queen), Suzi Quatro, Belle and Sebastian, Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Stax legend Eddie Floyd, Ben Elton and Patrick Watson.
Now at work more often off stage than on, this musician, whose “scale-busting horn lines” have brought squeals of delight and wild applause from audiences, is not one for showmanship.
“I’ve never had much of a virtuosic streak, so I definitely wouldn’t say that it’s an essential part of performance,” Irwin says, responding to questions during a Melbourne lockdown.
“I feel I’ve had a career where most of the praise I’ve received is for quite the opposite; simplicity, melodic concepts, etc … many musicians are famous for their virtuosity and are remarkable to watch and listen to, but many artists, particularly in the jazz world, have something very different to that and have stood the test of time as being some of the most influential in the genre.”
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Irwin says he still has plenty of time on stage, pandemic permitting, but enjoys working on larger composition and production projects.
“It’s a luxury to be able to sink into a grandscale project and pour all your creativity into that, as opposed to jumping around on projects and never having enough time to really immerse yourself. My offering to the music world these days is more on a composition/ arrangement level as opposed to as a player. That’s what is most satisfying to me right now.”
Early experiences of family and school helped Ross Irwin to become an accomplished performer and composer, but he has always been one to listen and learn. “There are no better teachers than those notes in your ears and the ink on the page in front of you,” he says. “I can’t really remember a time where I couldn’t hear it in my head. Most of my writing still happens there, with a small amount at the piano.
“If you’ve listened to a lot of that music and absorbed it, checked out the visual representation of that music (by studying scores, for example), and you can hear your ideas clearly in your head, then I’m not sure what the barrier would be to executing those ideas for any size ensemble, big or small, jazz or classical. I’ve never had a classical orchestration lesson ever, but I’m not sure it’s necessarily needed. Anyone can gain access to recordings and scores of works by Debussy, Mahler, Nestico, Riddle, etc.”
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Irwin’s mother was a singer and his uncle played trumpet. When his mother remarried he acquired more family members who were musical. This grounding helped build a sense of confidence early that was more important than just the musical prowess.
“I think having any sense of identity is important for young people before they hit their teenage years, whether it be music, sport, or specific academic worlds,” he says.
“It helps them feel as though they have purpose and a social family, which is something that most teenagers feel they’re expected to have. It can be worrisome to see a young person going through the hardships of teenager-hood without having the support of a confidence building hobby or skill. Music certainly was that for me. I always felt I had my ‘thing’, despite whatever else was going on around me.”
The perfect environment for building this confidence was Blackburn High School where, as Irwin later told an inquiry into music education in Victorian schools, team building and finding your voice in that team was as important as learning to read the notes and the dots.
“Being in a challenging, yet open music environment like Blackburn gave me a sense that my opinions mattered and that my knowledge (such as it was) was valued. That then encouraged me to seek out more knowledge and develop my skills as a team player, and as a leader. Many students leave high school having never had the chance to feel like they have agency to have an opinion or be a creative thinker and leader. That’s a big hole in many parts of the secondary academic system, I believe.”
Irwin also told that 2013 inquiry it was “a beautiful, nurturing experience at Blackburn High” despite the high expectations. It was OK for music students to make big mistakes because excellence and acceptance “go hand in hand.”
“There are some parents and educators in certain programs who put unnecessary or unfair pressure on their students, and this can create stress and an overbearing sense of importance on each individual performance.
“I think encouraging students and challenging them to play at their absolute best is completely healthy when combined with a grounding education that covers performance anxiety and the idea of long-term personal and musical growth. The blend of the two elements can be life changing confidence-wise for young people who otherwise might struggle in a number of ways.”
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Irwin’s belief in challenging and encouraging young musicians, coupled with his positive experience at high school, explain his readiness to spearhead an initiative designed to give impetus to jazz education in schools by becoming Creative Director of the inaugural Victorian All-State Jazz Championships in May this year.
“Myself and some band director friends were chatting after we heard that Generations In Jazz unfortunately had to cancel again this year, and we all felt that something needed to fill that void, lest all the jazz students in high school programs across Victoria lose the positive upward trajectory they’ve been on. Once we agreed to fill that space for this year, I wanted to be the creative and musical voice for that festival given my passion for creating and maintaining energy within those high school programs.”
A mix of government and non-government schools have signed up for the All-State Jazz Championships, which will have competitive and non-competitive sections. Irwin says “the idea of improving can create positive momentum. The idea of a band winning simply creates a role model for younger bands to strive to excel.
“Separately, I think it’s great for bands just to have a place to play without the perceived pressure of competition, but still within the festival environment.”
Irwin has weathered the COVID-19 restrictions well, despite gigs being cancelled and tours called off. He believes 2021 will allow many musicians to bring to fruition projects that will bring them genuine satisfaction.
“I think COVID-19 gave me a chance to make really honest decisions about which projects I wanted to explore. I rarely have time off, so it’s easy to fall into … saying to yourself ‘This is just what I do.’ The big chunks of time I had off last year let me ask, ‘What do I want to do?’
“I’ve always spent a lot of time working on my own so COVID-19 wasn’t too crushing for me on a personal, musical development level. I did miss the travel and activity associated with it – heading to the airport, checking into a hotel, driving to a small town for a show. It’s all part of the movement of life that made me feel like my world had energy.
“I had to re-evaluate what was really important to me and accept that, though it’s important to acknowledge the things that give you purpose and joy, you need to be okay with your own still self.”
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Irwin has no doubt there is a future for the many exciting young players being nurtured by jazz educators in Melbourne.
“I’ve always firmly believed there is enough work for anyone willing to be an active, positive and valuable part of the music community. I always say to students asking about making it in the music business, ‘you create your own scene.’ People creating any sort of negativity, or sitting waiting for the phone to ring, are of course going to struggle.
“The music industry is always changing, but those willing to shift and flow and create within that ever-changing landscape have a good chance of doing well. Plus, the old simple rules still apply: Work hard, develop valuable skills, be a positive force and then work even harder.”
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