– Which song reminds you of your favourite journey?
– ‘Detour Ahead’ – the Vince Jones version.That song is incredible and I think Vince sings one of the best renditions of it. It reminds me of my favourite journey, because my favourite kind of journey is the one where you end up in a place you weren’t intending.
“Sometimes I will sit down at the piano and just begin to sing, and the melody and lyrics will magically appear and the flow will keep going until the song is finished all in the one evening. Other times, I will hear a little riff that gets stuck in my head, and I will write something off the base of that, but won’t finish the song for months – or years ! “
“I did not expect the music that came out of me to be political, to be conscious jazz. I thought I would write a beautiful lovely AABA jazz standard that could swing.I didn’t realise that I was so angry or desperate.I didn’t realise I was so opinionated.”
Gregg Arthur looks like he’s auditioning for a James Bond film – both for the leading role and the theme song.
We play big, honking sets and we wanted to recreate that as much as possible in the studio.
“Choro is a conversation. Think of chamber music in a jazz style. It is often fast, heavily rhythmic and spontaneous. Melodies will weave in and out.”
“It’s my aim to transport each audience to a bar in Montmatre, or a scene in a Truffaut movie for a short while!”
While Frank Gambale regularly unleashed a dazzling torrent of notes, the quality that lingered in my mind after the show was the melodic instinct that underpinned so much of his work.
“What I noticed most about the London jazz scene is just how large it is. But it is a city home to just over eight million people, so that is to be expected. This obviously leads to more competition, and unfortunately, musicians undercutting fees. It made me realise that we have a very unique and wonderful jazz scene in Perth – and Australia in general. Everyone is very supportive of each other in Perth, and musicians here know the base rate expected for performances/functions.”
– Which song reminds you of your favourite journey?
– My favourite journey is life – bit heavy, I know – and I reckon ‘The Best Things In Life Are Free’ is a massive favourite….
