Volume 25#05 Š 2010 Echo Publications Pty Ltd
P : 02 6684 1777 F : 02 6684 1719 adcopy@echo.net.au Editor : Mandy Nolan gigs@echo.net.au seven@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au
A L L
JULY 6 – 12
TWO MEN HAVING SAX: BUDDHA’S BREWING UP JAZZ
WIN
TIX TIX FOR MENTALS Ku Promotions are presenting Mental As Anything at the Bangalow Bowling Club on July 30 – if you’d like to win a double pass, email gig@ echo.net.au with subject header ‘completely mental’.
Y O U R
C O A S T A L
E N T E R T A I N M E N T
Internationally renowned saxophone player Jamie Oehlers appears with his new quartet made up of Perth’s finest young musicians at the Buddha Bar this week. He is joined by our finest sax talent, Mr David Ades. Why do you think jazz players have to work so hard! ? Jamie: We work so hard because we have to. (Being a minority art form in Australia), means that you can’t sit back and wait for the phone to ring, and you can’t rest on your laurels and not practise. To be noticed by the general public; to increase your audience by drawing in people from outside the jazz community, you have to be exceptionally talented at projecting what it is you are trying to represent. We have to make our own action, search for inspiration, develop ourselves and our music without the benefits of financial reward or recognition. The minute everyone gets it (as in the general public) it will cease to be jazz. There is a beauty to the fact that not everyone gets it. The minute they do, it becomes football. Have bands like The Cat Empire turned on new players and audience members that wouldn’t have found jazz otherwise? David: The Cat Empire have turned lots of players and audiences on to the idea of spontaneity and the possibility of stretching right out musically in front of large audiences. This dispels the myth that a band has to play everything exactly the same off an album in order to capture their audience. How has the saxophone determined your life path‌ ? David: It possesses me more than I possess it. It has led me down a life of a glorious uncertainty and has given me a direct communication through a universal language that transcends barriers.
Tell me a little about Jamie Oehlers – why you are playing with him and his quartet? David: I first played with Jamie when we were running the Blue Birdy before it became the Brewery. The first thing I noticed was how inclusive his music is, how unbelievably fluent and articulate Jamie’s playing is. For me it was like playing with some of my favourite groups in New York, the standard of playing is absolutely world class. What happens when two of the country’s best sax players get together? Jamie: The joy that I have felt when Dave and I have played together comes from the fact that we are both trying to develop the music. There is no competition – it is pure inspiration. We bounce off each other, spur each other on and appreciate each other's creativity. What happens when we get together? MUSIC! How do yours styles differ? David: Jamie plays tenor saxophone and I play the alto saxophone. The sound and their distinctive voices are very different and inspire contrasting approaches within the same musical landscape How do they complement each other? David: Music is made up of tension and release, contrasting elements and a kind of collective autonomy which as Jamie has already stated, requires the individual to become a part of something larger than him or herself. One will always complement the music when the musician is more focused on what he or she can bring to it rather than what they can get from it. As a musician do you keep learning? Jamie: As a musician, the minute you stop learning you cease being creative. For me, the thing that has changed as I get further into my life as an artist is where
my inspiration is drawn from. Earlier in my career it was nearly all from jazz music, then as I developed other musics started influencing me. These days other artforms such as the visual arts and poetry inspire me to create something different. What will you be playing at your Buddha Bar gig? David: Jamie has a new band with a new repertoire and a new hair style – I’m yet to meet these remarkable young musicians. To be a great improviser, the musician also needs to think compositionally and create a musical environment that will inspire that musician to speak freely within the music. I can't wait to hear Jamie’s new pieces. He writes music that invites the player and listener to abandon their preconceptions and dive into unchartered territory Do you think the ability to improvise, to initiate and to follow is the greatest strength a musician can have? Jamie; Being able to improvise is one of the greatest strengths any human can have. Without improvisation there is no Einstein, no Bach, no Picasso, no Rumi. How do you build on this? David: By being open to all things, by having an inquisitive mind, by not being afraid to try something new and having it fuck up and make something new and beautiful out of the fuck up. What’s the best thing that can happen on stage? Jamie: When musicians drop all ego and commit purely to the music, especially this style of music. When the music goes where you least expect it to, develops, and leads you to unchartered waters; this is the greatest thing that can happen for me on stage. David: Ditto! MONDAY AT THE BYRON BAY BREWERY BUDDHA BAR AT 7PM. TIX $15/10 AT THE DOOR.
coming soon Wed 7 Thurs 8
Jon J Bradley Wayne Evans + WORLD CUP SEMI 4AM
Fri 9 Sun 11 Mon 12
The Utopians Anna Weatherup Brian Watt + WORLD CUP FINAL 4AM
Tue 13
Harry Healy
Sat 10at,
CC The C ch Fyahwalk, A Frenit Butler Called Sm h
THIRSTY MERC YOUNGER DRYAS BRITTLE TRIP KICKS THE BOAT PEOPLE THE HARD ONS ART V SCIENCE GRINSPOON
15 JULY 16 JULY 17 JULY 24 JULY 25 JULY 29 JULY 11 AUG 22 AUG
HOTEL GREAT NORTHERN WWW THENORTHERN COM AU s HOTEL GREAT NORTHERN 6685 6454 www.thenorthern.com.au 22 July 6, 2010 The Byron Shire Echo
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