ISSUE# 30.31
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January 13 – 20, 2016 Editor : Mandy Nolan Editorial/gigs : gigs@echo.net.au Advertising : adcopy@echo.net.au P : 02 6684 1777 w : echo.net.au/entertainment
ALL YOUR NORTH COAST ENTERTAINMENT
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LIVE MUSIC...P30 | CULTURE...P33 | CINEMA...P34 | GIG GUIDE...P37
DAVID ADES LIFE IN A DAY
Passionate, haunting, unforgettable, the album is testament to the spirit of a man who shared his heart through music and scored a 5 star Jazz Album of the Year rating from The Australian. Fellow musicians and friends Zac Hurren and Julien Wilson are touring the album, which has been released on Lionshare records, an indecent Australian Jazz Label. On the eve of the album launch at the Bangalow Bowlo, Julien Wilson spoke with The Echo about David Ades, his music, and his influence. Tell me how you Zac Hurren came to know Dave and his music?
J U ST S I X W E E K S B E F O R E H I S D E AT H F RO M L U N G C A N C E R , S A XO P H O N I ST DAV I D A D E S M A D E T H E LO N G A N D PA I N F U L T R I P TO N E W YO R K W H E R E H E M A N AG E D TO R E CO R D O N E O F H I S M OST E X T R AO R D I N A RY A L B U M S , A L I F E I N A DAY .
As I said at Dave’s funeral, Byron locals all know who Dave is and how great he is, but are they really aware just what an incredible musician he is on a global level? In the early 90s when I was 18 I heard Mark Simmonds (another frighteningly good Australian saxophonist) and through their association together stories of the legendary Dave Ades started to seep in to my consciousness. Friends and mentors played me videos of them both playing with Phil Treloar’s band from the Beyond El Rocco sessions. It really took my breath away. For me, this was the Aussie equivalent of John Coltrane with Pharoah Sanders or Cannonball Adderley. Really - it was THAT heavy for me!! It wasn’t until 99 that I finally met Dave at Scott Tinkler’s house in Byron in the FATS days. It was instant brotherhood. But everyone says that about Dave. After that we played nearly every time we met. Dave had such a passionate burning hunger for music. He didn’t play the music. He was the music. The saxophone was just the tool that helped him manifest and release it. What is it do you think that is unique about Dave’s work? What does he do that is signature Dave Ades? When Dave plays it’s like when he talks. There’s no tip-toeing around the issue or smalltalk. He just gets right to
IN A NIGHT AT THE BANGALOW BOWLO
the point and if that’s too much for you, then you’re welcome to leave any time. I know that almost brutal honesty that Dave was renowned for can be too intense for some people. When we played together at Wangaratta Jazz Festival in 2012 some people walked out, and others are still talking about it. Many people have told me what an emotional and personal experience listening to this final recording has been because you can hear in the music all that Dave is going through in his life to be able to make that music. When I listen to it I keep expecting to turn around and see him standing right next to me. It’s such a personal sound and creating an identifiable voice is the ultimate goal of every great musician. You can hear the connection to Dave and his experience reflected in the other players too. That’s what a truly great musicians does. They make everyone around them sound better too by association and provocation and total commitment. Musically speaking, Dave paints shapes when he plays music. I think that explains why the two great loves in his life were astounding visual artists. He draws outside the lines. He spills paint. He dances in it like Jackson Pollock. He throws it straight towards the heavens as if he is challenging the gods to respond. And his tone is composed of equal parts surgeons blade and lovers embrace. Can you recount the story of how this album was recorded? I know it was all done in a day in New York and that Dave was very sick at the time? Briefly: He definitely decided this was to be his final statement. He flew to NY to re-record with the best of musical brothers against the severest of doctors orders. (He refused to ‘become a patient’ and get chemo right from the start). He went there with no written music (an act of faith and courage). He started writing and sharing ideas with Mark and Tony. He got so sick he couldn’t play, so he flew from NY to Germany where he had been receiving aggressive cancer treatment. After a few weeks of treatment and composing he flew back to NY and recorded the album in one five-hour session. The gravity of the session was deeply felt by the other musicians.
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