“Our approach to music making is very open. Whatever the members bring to the group is welcome. We each lead diverse music lives outside of the band and when we come together the things we’ve been doing individually find voice in the overall sound. This is intuitive and encouraged and it means that the sound of the group is changing in ways that keep things interesting. We always sound like the Necks, but we also sound different from tour to tour – in ways that we can’t predict.”
I started getting concerned that popping up unexpectedly but repeatedly at Necks performances in European jazz clubs might have given me the appearance of a stalker.
Inevitably, the different currents converge and the trio voice flows freely. Unrelenting cymbal and bass bomb patterns, sawing arco and swirling piano create a heady maelstrom, with Abrahams alternating sharply between staccato patterns fashioned by two and then ten fingers.
‘…catchy themes, tight arrangements and some excellent solos.’
One of McGann’s great virtues is his ability to project feeling and indeed raw powerful emotion – and to stimulate the visual imagination – whether he is playing simple or complex lines.
Roger Mitchell reviews The Necks at The Corner Hotel on their current tour… Read the full story on ausjazz.net >
On the eve of an Australian tour and a UK tour, pianist-composer Alister Spence spoke to Phil Sandford about his influences and approach to music.
‘… an intriguing mixture of sound and rhythm…’
…if you haven’t heard them before, come along and find out why The New York Times described them as ‘one of the greatest bands in the world’…
‘Michael is a kind of visual jazz artist. He doesn’t like to be scripted; in fact he’s a bit of a daredevil. As much as you’d like to plan, Michael would rather walk a tightrope. We offer the scaffolding in that there’s a set list and there are opportunities for improvisation, where we veer away from song form and build a different type of picture.’
