Peter Wockner - winner of the 2006 competition
The winner of the National Jazz Writing Competition is Peter Wockner. The winner was announced at St Patrick’s Hall in Wangaratta on Friday 3 November at 9.30pm, prior to the concert by the Geri Allen Trio.
About Peter…
Peter Wockner’s love of jazz music was spawned unwittingly by growing up listening to his father’s mammoth record collection in Goombungee on Qld’s Darling Downs. The sounds of Ray Price, Graeme Bell, Bob Barnard, Art Pepper, Jacques Loussier amongst others were always prevalent despite the lack of live music. A frustrated musician, it wasn’t until 1991 at the age of 24 when Peter commenced an ongoing dedication to radio broadcasting from various community radio stations on the NSW north coast using the unlikely pseudonym of Frank Presley.
He currently broadcasts his long running program ‘Now’s the Time’ from Sydney’s FM 99.3 on Sunday nights, which features local and international jazz and in depth interviews. While writing, he says was never particularly a forte, over time, he was asked to write album reviews for regional publications in Kempsey and Taree and now writes exclusively for the Sydney based website www.jazzandbeyond.com.au
Gig review
Andy Fiddes – Survival of the Fiddes
Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre in Sydney, for SIMA
2 June 2006
Review by Peter Wockner
Miraculously, the urgency and energy of City Rd was transported to the Sound Lounge’s stage in the form of ex-Gunnedah trumpeter Andy Fiddes’ ‘Survival of the Fiddes’. A name presumably inspired by the Hancock composition ‘Survival of the Fittest’ via ‘Maiden Voyage’. Fiddes, initially in trio mode with Ben Waples on bass and Dave Goodman subbing on drums ensured instant opinion with the bold avant-garde ‘Apathy Buster’. Then ‘The Wisp’ returned to traditional theme and variation, with NZ tenorist Reuben Derrick and trombonist James Kennedy forming the quintet. Derrick held the tenor on his right hand side in a posture reminiscent of a young Dexter Gordon but his rasps and shrieks, especially in the high register would recall Roland Kirk or Eric Dolphy.
The Fiddes tone was luminous with paper-thin vibrato and a smooth velvety texture. His clever writing for the three-horn line-up gave each horn singular voices during harmonising on the head, allowing the arrangements to breath against the pianoless heartbeat. ‘Fear Smile’ saw the horns syncopated into a crescendo as if a New Orleans marching band was approaching the fairgrounds while on the simply entitled ‘Mandy’ dedicated to the trumpeter’s wife, Waples’ large bass hands, magically turned Indian drones into Pierre Michelot ‘Play Bach’ like figures.
‘Mustard!?!’ - It’s hot and you’re at Taronga with a hot-dog in your mouth walking past the cockatoo enclosure. In free flight? No - controlled chaos, simmered to boiling point. The implied theme imbedded in an environment of freely created sounds while ‘Hewn’ placed Goodman’s emphasis on patterns and textures rather than rhythm. Cuts and gashes and at one point like a motor mower about to stop, needing a fuel injection from his deeper than typical toms.
The second set commenced after the “ceremonial donning of the clogs”. With his feet planted firmly in his Dutch mementos, the effect was a weighty rendering of ‘Something wicked this way’s been’ followed by a feeling of emotional isolation in ‘The Fall that takes an Age’. A melancholy tone was set by Fiddes on trumpet but was this an opportunity missed not to pick up the mellower flugelhorn?
‘Buzzard Spiral’ was introduced as an ‘interpretative improvised dance’. “Animal cruelty!” was the lone shout from the crowd; such was the desperate, petrified yelps from Derrick’s tenor, while Goodman painted light and shade impressions by snatching the cymbals and smacking the rims. Waples strummed the bass strings like a bow, building tension and sustained sound, then, at a turn, played nearly on the instrument’s bridge to create electronic pulse like vibrations.
Having spent two years in London, ‘Stale Sweat & Smog’ is Fiddes’ dedication to the tube. They trawled a beefy, fatty groove with Derrick front and centre frightening with his sheer capacity. At his fiercest, bloody, showing no fear with his lashings and guttural sounds.
The Fiddes sense of humour is embroiled in many of these compositions. ‘Mink oiled boots are made for walkin’, so don’t try running in Colorado’s and jeans in the mud with a hangover! It’s a struggle, it’s laborious. Slipping and sliding. Heavier and heavier as it starts to stick. It’s farcical, it’s parody, and it’s a survival of the fittest.
When the art of composing, arranging and improvising meld together, a showcase like this can demonstrate high art. Add a great sense of humour, a relaxed atmosphere and good sound quality and you’re left with the question “since when was high art such great fun?”
CD reviews
Roger Manins Hip Flask
(Jazzgroove Records)
Review by Peter Wockner
A remarkable characteristic of this album is not just the exceptional musicianship of Roger Manins (his debut as leader and recorded in 2001), but his unusual use of both Hammond organ and piano in the line-up. Renowned Sydney organist/keyboardist Stuart Hunter joins forces with Adam Ponting on piano complementing mostly Manins’ compositions.
Manins states in the liner notes “the focus of the music is the groove and the blues”. While most of the compositions are simple and attractive both melodically and in structure, each artist is anxious to explore outside the melody and the groove albeit in the head-solo-head tradition. Particularly evident on ‘Victoria’ where the elementary blues turns avant-garde thanks to a spirited exchange from both Ponting and Manins.
The immensely talented Brendan Clarke plays an unwavering role on both acoustic and electric basses. ‘Bang’ takes time out from the prevailing bluesy flavour when Manins chooses the bass clarinet for a celestial introduction, developing into a canvas of shifting corridors and bright shafts of light, while Ponting is heard redeploying McCoy Tyner’s thunderous heavy handed bass chords. ‘Impulse’ sees the return of the blues feel but this time with a funky backbeat courtesy of Toby Hall.
Manins has a tough, beefy sound, which is boldly projected without any indefinable notes, a quality which blossomed from experiences in NYC between 1996 & 1999. A sound arguably recollecting Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis’ but with altoist Hank Crawford’s Memphis overtones.
Another surprise is ‘Jacqueline Grace’ – a slower than heartbeat bass drum pulse underpins the transcendental contributions from Manins, Hunter and Ponting. ‘Big Sis’ concludes the program in the broad brushstroke of earthy rhythm and gritty blues, which dominate.
One gets a feeling there’s a parallel between the bold Manins sound and the rationale behind this album. If you’re being heard for the first time, make an impact. An ominous signal for the jazz world.
The Necks Chemist
(Fish of Milk)
Review by Peter Wockner
The Neck’s technique of recording and performance, is virtually free of any pre-conceived ideas. What an outstanding testament to their collective musicianship that their output has remained fresh and original for nearly 20 years. Known for their 60-minute journeys, the latest offering ‘Chemist’ is a departure somewhat, in that instead of one vast canvas, we are treated to a triptych of three by twenty-minute contrasting soundscapes. In another departure from their proven formula of piano, bass and drums, Europe based Tony Buck reveals a hidden talent and plays guitar on all tracks.
The first track ‘Fatal’ is reminiscent of some of their work of 10 years past. Rather than build intensity from a quiet essence into a powerful force, it’s actually turbulent from the outset and strengthens as Buck redoubles his rhythms and Abrahams layers his courses.
The second track ‘Buoyant’ retreats into a spacey atmospheric area spawned by a sequence of random early-bird Yamaha DX7 tweets. Swanton attributes much of the inspiration for The Necks music to the Miles Davis album ‘In a Silent Way’ and this piece is an ideal example. Think of a slowly revealing pre-dawn glow as the sun gently augments it’s early morning radiation to reveal its first ray of warmth.
The final on this album ‘Abillera’ is the least jazz inspired of the three although a brilliantly recorded chiming bass solo introduces it. The bass sound is so pure, you can hear the harmonics of each note. The guitar-based creation however, is probably the most ‘produced’ of the three and is indeed a danceable piece of pop art and is typical of their cult brand of sound.
While The Necks aren’t exactly re-inventing themselves, they continue to surprise, inspire and influence and this is a worthy 13th edition to their already impressive catalogue.
