Jazz CD Reviews ELLA AND LOUIS Patti Austin, James Morrison and others Melbourne SO/Benjamin Northey ABC 481 6483
✶✶✶✶ James Morrison is, by anyone’s standards, a virtuoso in the true sense of the word. Besides the trumpet, this multi-instrumentalist also plays piano, all the brass, saxophones and the double bass. He deftly displays his prowess on the trumpet and trombone on this newly released double CD with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the American vocalist Patti Austin. The ensemble delivers a warm celebration of the iconic duet recordings of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong recorded last year at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival
IN STRIDE Aaron McCoullough Quartet www.aaronmccoullough.com
✶✶✶✶✶ NEW HORIZONS Justin Gray and Synthesis Venuti String Quartet Justingraysynthesis.com
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Toronto-based artist Justin Gray may not be widely known to Australian audiences, but some of his collaborators over the years are well known down-under. Greg Osby and Ingrid Jensen need no introduction, while tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby recorded with our own, the late David Ades in Brooklyn back in 2011. Like our cross-cultural explorers Matt Keegan and Sandy Evans, the bassist and composer Justin Gray also shares a passion for the fusion of Indian classical styles with jazz. So intense is that passion, that in 2010 he co-created an instrument with a sound which seamlessly straddles both genres without 44
April 2018
fineMusic 102.5
before a live audience. Backing Morrison and Austin and the orchestra are the outstanding performances of his band musicians, Jake Barden (saxophone), Mark Fitzgibbon (piano), William Morrison (guitar), Harry Morrison (bass) and Patrick Danao (drums). Most of the Ella and Louis favourites are included (despite some glaring omissions, e.g. They can’t take that away from me and Cheek to cheek) and are given sparkling new arrangements with slight hints to the original recordings. Ella and Louis weren’t blessed with the luxurious full sound which this orchestra provides with Benjamin Northey at the helm so maybe it is best to listen to this album for what it is: a maestro trumpet player alongside a quintessential and sassy jazz singer accompanied by a great orchestra The focus of Provenience is embedded in a reflection upon, and a rediscovery of, specific localities of the Illawarra region in New South Wales. The tunes, written by drum master/composer Aaron McCoullough, represent his personal responses to growing up there and are named after places and localities with which he has a special affinity. Throughout all tracks the exemplary guitar playing of Hugh Stuckey is a standout as each track pursues its own distinctive path. A tune named after Bombo Beach (a magical location) provides the perfect vehicle for the steadfast prowess of pianism displayed by James Bowers, whose extended solo on this track is a feature of the album. McCoullough is generous with the amount of space he provides these musicians to shine compromise. As the sole practitioner of this instrument, his multi-stringed fretless bass veena coalesces the electric bass tradition of Pastorius with the humming resonance and agility of the vichitra veena. Underpinning the sophistication of the project is the addition of the Venuti String Quartet which provides a glorious, almost orchestral unison ride for Gray to state the raga and carnatic melodies against the deep grooves of drummer Derek Gray and Ed Hanley’s tabla. All these memorable melodies are from the pen of the bassist. The purity of tone of this instrument is at its crystalline best on Break of dawn when the strings lay off and Alam Khan joins the party on sarod, but it’s Gray’s virtuosity which compels the listener to the rotational symmetry of the plucked drone strings, the strummed body strings and the
and a standout band rather than just another tribute album. With that combination, it scores extremely well. Barry O’Sullivan in allowing them to freely stretch their improvisations alongside his technically superb drumming skills which maintain perfect tempos throughout. He is a true master of form. New York bassist Marty Holoubek engages beautifully gentle bass playing, giving inconceivably cosmic atmosphere to the album. This is most notable on Mystics, named after a beach in the Illawarra which is an all-time favourite with locals. From start to finish, perfection reigns on this album with every number worthy of endorsement. Shortcomings? To state the case as clearly as possible, there are none. This album is a class act with some first rate musicianship. Barry O’Sullivan
remaining four conventional fretless bass strings. This is an outstanding debut and a must listen for indo-jazz fans. Frank Presley