This year’s Melbourne International Jazz festival again left the jazz audience spoilt for choice, leaving them with some hard choices to make between so many international and local acts.
What made the choice particularly difficult was that the venues were spread out, stretching from Prahran to Brunswick, as well as the city and the Western suburbs.
I felt particularly pleased to have made it to the Jazzlab for the first time ever for a second show (Frisell) ever after seeing a headline concert first in the city (Gregory Porter). In previous years, I would race to Brunswick after an earlier show in the city, either to find the Jazzlab late show had just finished or had ten minutes to go. What made it doable this year was that Porter’s concert had no support act, so it finished early. Hopefully logistics between venues will be taken into account more in future festivals.
The Bill Frisell Trio played three nights of sell-out double shows at the Jazzlab, but they also performed at the ‘Jazz at the Bowl’ concert, as one of the headline acts of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
Listening to Bill Frisell at the Jazzlab was like having someone hold up a kaleidoscope of popular jazz standards.
Playing in a trio setting with just a bass player, Thomas Morgan, and drummer Rudy Royston, both long-time collaborators, he opened with Thelonious Monk’s ‘Misterioso’ and went on to cover a wide range of material,including Barbara Streisand’s ‘People’, Tony Bennett’s ‘Who Can I Turn to?’, Johnny Mercer’s ‘I’m An Old Cowhand (from the Rio Grande)’, and another Monk’s tune, ‘Round Midnight’.
Frisell is such a consummate musician it is always a delight to hear him. He played all those pieces seamlessly without pausing, moving between them as if they were part of the one long piece.
Frisell seemed to riff off Morgan’s playing as if the two of them were jamming. He would get in a groove and weave in and out of melody, sometimes going off in an intricate direction. Sometimes he added sustained or ringing notes. On some numbers he explored the lower range of his guitar and then moved up higher and there were aways subtle shadings.
On ‘Round Midnight’ Frisell was a font of ideas with fast runs and teased out notes; at one stage, he gave the music a boppy Latin feel. Morgan was an inventive conversationalist, feeding back ideas to Frisell. Royston added subtle interplay tapping the sticks for more moody passages and hitting the cymbals when momentum built.
Other headliners included Panamanian pianist and composer Danilo Perez, whose rare solo concert at the Recital Centre was a treat. He drew on jazz and traditional Panamanian music in his compositions that he expanded on with a flurry of fertile ideas.
Legendary jazz saxophonist Gary Bartz‘s playing at 170 Russell in the city was masterly. Playing with a line-up of local musicians, he gave new life to some of his earlier African-influenced early material, while also showcasing his newer material. It was an impressive band that included the inspired playing of pianist Barney McAll and the powerful vocals of Rita Satch.
An undoubted crowd pleaser was Ibrahim Maalouf’s The Trumpets of Michel-Ange, whose show at 170 Russell was another sell-out. The eleven-piece band from France featured six trumpets. The music was infused with jazz and Arabic music influences and was played at an exhilarating pace. Soaring trumpet solos were played over the unison playing of the trumpet ensemble that also broke out into some individual uninhibited refrains.
Ibrahim Maalouf was one of the headline acts who hadn’t played at the festival before, as was US singer Samara Joy performing at the Arts Centre’s Hamer Hall.
A rising star in the States, she certainly showed she has an approach all her own. She paid tribute to some of the great jazz divas who have gone before her, including Betty Carter.
Samara Joy’s voice can sink to a rich velvety deepness and she added interval leaps and scatting to her tribute. On other numbers her near operatic reach was evident. On one number her wide-ranging voice navigated her soprano range.
On ‘Take Care’ she also used humming. Her repertoire included ‘A Fool in Love is Called A Clown’ which she has recorded, and numbers from Billie Holiday and Monk.
Accompanied by her own seven-piece band, whose big-band style of playing was polished and well arranged, Joy was given a standing ovation.
There were some gems to be discovered among some of the local offerings. Despite a warning from a festival MC that the audience for Solune’s Mad Vantage was less jazz and more prog rock, her music was actually engaging. Solune (Selene Messinis) was the festival’s 2025 Take Note artist. It included a composing commission and the outcome is what the audience heard during the festival at Fitzroy’s Night Cat.
The music reflected her interest in Greek and Middle Eastern modes that she studied overseas. It also combined elements of grunge rock, fusion, electronic and even on one number, the influence of Chinese traditional music.
The music was launched with some zany electronic melodies from Solune’s keyboard, searing guitar lines, repeated violin riffs, a throbbing bass, and a tapping rhythmic pattern on the cymbals that built in dynamics. There was variously swirling repetitive melodies from Solune and Xani Kolac’s violin, stabbing rhythms and unusual sound effects on guitar. A highlight was the last number called ‘My Angry War Cry ‘that began with a dark mood and built to a sense of chaos with uninhibited lyric guitar lines.
Another exciting act was The Tamil Rogeon Orchestra, also at the Nightcat. Featuring 16 players, it had a big orchestral sound with colourful melodies played in unison, wailing guitar lines, compelling trumpet solos — particularly from Toby Mac — punchy rhythms and hard driving drumming. Numbers written by Rogeon, included ‘Horn No Eyes and House No Wheels’ on which the saxophonist stretch out on a well shaped solo. On other numbers there was some bitter-sweet sounds from the violin, an explosive tenor sax solo and some catchy vocals.
Other festival highlights included the boundary-pushing guitar playing of Hilary Geddes, the colourful compositions of James Bowers, enhanced by the trumpet playing of Ben Harrison, bass of Marty Holoubek and drumming of Shun Ishiwaka, and the mesmerising playing of Jeremy Rose on saxes and pianist Zela Margossian, with the driving tabla playing on Bobby Singh in Visions of Nar at Chapel off Chapel in Prahran. On ‘Daughter of the Seas’ the inviting rhythms were dance-like, with Singh responding to Rose’s beguiling clarinet. In a departure for the festival, these three acts were featured as a focus on the prolific Sydney-based Earshift label that the artists all have recordings with.
It is obviously not possible to take in all the acts on offer during the festival, but one disappointment is that the opening afternoon festival showcase at Federation Square no longer includes a taste of a range of festival acts. It was an effective way in past ears for punters to decide what acts they might like to hear more of. This festival only featured one interview with a headline artist, Gary Bartz, but more artist interviews would be of interest as would be a return to overseas artists conducting workshops, not just working with university students.
