NEWS

in production

latest CD reviews

in production

Out in August 2010 -  Manins 'Latitude' RF096, a 2 CD Live Set - see Home Page for more details

In production:

SNAP 'Boggy Creek Bop' RF076

Julian Curwin 'The Mango Balloon Volume 1' R070

Nat Bartsch Trio 'Spring, for all the Winters' RF110

And the Tim Stevens Trio have just come out of the studio and are working on a new release.
More details over the next few weeks.

reviews

Alister Spence fit

fit Voted in Top 15 Jazz/Impro releases worldwide for 2009.
Wire Magazine (UK) Jan 2010 rewind edition.

ALDER Brendance

Alder’s compositions, spanning 20 years, are first class, and they’re skilfully delivered by this outstanding quintet.

John McBeath Weekend Australian 4 stars

The band he leads is a classic hard-bop quintet in instrumentation and approach. Joining him are Dave Jackson (alto sax), John Harkins (piano), Brendan Clarke (bass) and Andrew Dickeson (drums). Jackson is a younger player, previously admired for his work with the adventurous Trio Apoplectic, so that it is an interesting change to see him playing so capably in this more straight-ahead format. Harkins, Clarke and Dickeson are all dyed-in-the-wool swingers, first-choice players on the Sydney scene for this sort of jazz…

There is plenty to enjoy here –interesting material, eloquent and incisive solos from the leader, strong supporting solos from Jackson and Harkins, and a nice, snappy ensemble sound throughout.

Adrian Jackson Rhythms

Browne Haywood Stevens

Throughout the CD, Stevens displays outstanding soloing ability. His improvisations are governed by a sense of taste that enables him to fashion utterances that are ideal for each individual composition. He is ably complemented by the work of Nick Haywood on bass. The drummer receives no solo space, but his ensemble work is impeccable.

Tim Stevens is heard too infrequently. He must rate highly among Australia’s contemporary jazz pianists…

Gavin Franklin Music Forum

The Keijzer McGuiness Quintet Seed Habit

The Keijzer McGuiness Quintet takes its name from a combination of Dutchman Remco Keijzer (tenor saxophone) and Australian Lucian McGuiness (trombone). In addition to Keijzer and McGuiness, the quintet consists of Matt McMahon (rhodes/piano), Mike Majkowski (bass) and James Hauptmann (drums). The Seed Habit is the quintet’s first release. The tracks, all originals, were composed by Keijzer and McGuiness, who collaborated over three years and two countries to write the songs.
There is something very special about transatlantic collaboration - it brings with it all the trials of composing and working in isolation and all the joys that come when all parties meet to bring life to those compositions. Knowing that the connection is fleeting brings a certain poignancy to the way in which the songs are interpreted; the compositions have at their core, a certain wistfulness or nostalgia.
The title of the album takes its name from a biological process concerning the life-cycle of seeds and plant reproduction. It is within that context that the album came to be. Remco Keijzer and Lucian McGuiness planted the seed of an idea in a little café, the Vlinder, in the middle of Amsterdam. That seed unfolded and grew to become The Seed Habit.
As co-leaders of the quintet, McGuiness and Keijzer work incredibly well together, playing the compelling, often insistent heads of each song in tight unison. McGuiness’ trombone provides a breathless texture to the supporting saxophone which weaves about over and under the melody….
McMahon’s understated rhodes is a delight - his solo break on ‘Apple S’ for example. At times the rhodes takes on the role of guitar, a slightly distorted sound behind the moving themes of McGuiness and Keijzer. He uses space to explore the melodic possibilities before ceding way to Keijzer’s saxophone. ‘Apple S’ is a good example of the balance the quintet has - musically there are no definite leaders, each musician working together, enjoying the fleeting moment…
Featuring beautiful cover art by Robèrt Guérain and memorable compositions, The Seed Habit is an outstanding debut from a band destined for great things, providing they can manage the tyranny of distance. The compositions have a maturity to them that belie the musician’s years and the tonal qualities and the band’s sound is contemporary and refreshing.

Charles Lidgard extempore  website

McGANN Solar

Sydney alto saxophonist Bernie McGann these days enjoys status, recognized here and abroad as one of the great originals of Australian jazz. His latest album is a two-disc live set, featuring his Quartet with a special guest, young tenor saxophonist Roger Manins, a Kiwi who is a frequent visitor to Sydney, and an avowed McGann fan. McGann, Manins and trumpeter Warwick Alder are all in splendid form, inspiring each other to dig deep while enjoying the elastic propulsion provided by bassist Lloyd Swanton and drummer John Pochée…It is especially pleasing to hear McGann, as unpredictable and passionate as ever, playing alongside Manins, a robust yet thoughtful tenor stylist, whose lines also take some surprising twists…’Salaam’ is an exultant finale, as if McGann and friends are confirming how much they enjoyed the night.

Adrian Jackson Limelight

A recording of a jazz club performance is thought to hold certain benefits in terms of honesty and a quality referred to as “immediacy” or something similar. It can also make a permanent record of other moments that are not so comfortable for the performers when they hear them in the future. Releasing a recording of a live gig always involves compromise, as there is no opportunity to even have alternative “takes” from which to select. If, due to fatigue, a player improvises something they wish they had not, it becomes preserved as part of their output. Live improvisation is a risky game, a bit akin to boxing. One slip and a lot can unravel. All things considered, the performers on this two-CD set survive the acid test with enhanced reputations.

Gavin Franklin Music Forum

Rufus Records have done a sterling job of documenting McGann’s music over the last decade or so, with several outstanding recordings of the altoist in his most comfortable setting, ie onstage. It would be doing these other albums a disservice to say that Double Dutch? is clearly the best of them, but it is certainly as good as any of them. Anyone who has enjoyed the thrilling unpredictable improvising of Bernie McGann, and admired the sterling work of his colleagues who are featured here, ought to get hold of this album.

Adrian Jackson Rhythms

There's also a 4 star rating by John Shand Sydney Morning Herald

ROIL

(the disc) makes demands of the listener in ways analogous to pianists Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra and other outer-limit exponents of free jazz.

Like some of Necks’ pianist Chris Abrahams’ numerous other side projects, the music is frenetically free-form, turbulently restless, but never aggressive, and aimed at the adventurous jazz listener at the other extreme to the often mesmerizing melodies of The Necks.

Former members of Mike Nock’s piano trio, bassist Mike Majkowski and drummer James Waples are able foils for Abrahams still minimalist but much more sparsely anti-melodic approach, avoiding the sustain pedal and deciding what not to play rather than what to play…Mike Majkowski is probably the most exciting double bass player in current Australian jazz, his hands fluttering and flying all over his instrument, using the wood and found metal objects in his still totally acoustic mix in often exhilarating ways…

Waples also goes the gamut of percussive possibilities, extending his range far beyond the conventional drum kit, with rim shots, side shots and various other tinkles, rolls and skitters. There is still plenty of space in the group’s sound palette for numerous quietly intense moments in the manner of the Splinter Orchestra, and an overall sense of control and intensity which banishes any sense of randomness from the predominantly group dynamic, in which nobody solos and everybody solos, as Miles davis once put it.

Tony Mitchell Music Forum

Tim Rollinson You Tunes

this is an engaging and satisfying set, from three tasteful, skilful  and like-minded musicians.

Adrian Jackson Rhythms

Alister Spence fit

fit Voted in Top 15 Jazz/Impro releases worldwide for 2009.
Wire Magazine (UK) Jan 2010 rewind edition.

‘Strong melody and interplay dominate…contemporary jazz is crossed with ambient, electronica and other genres… totally compelling’
Jazz Journal (UK)

‘A massive leap forward…enthralling music.’ 
John Shand Sydney Morning Herald

‘A major album which arguably breaks new ground, and repays attentive listening (and viewing) in spades.’
Tony Mitchell Music Forum

‘Sonic delights invite full attention in a quiet space.’
Roger Mitchell Sunday Herald Sun

‘takes the listener on an unusual but richly rewarding spatial journey.
Charles Lidgard extempore

‘This recording will attract new listeners looking for musical abstraction.’
John McBeath The Weekend Australian

*’five hundred suns’  from fit is featured on the bonus CD in Issue 4 of extempore

other news

FREE RUFUS RECORDS SAMPLER

Issue 4 of extempore, the journal of ‘writing – music – art – improvisation’ is out now and comes with a sampler of recent Rufus releases:

1 Tim Stevens Trio Rufus
2 Tim Rollinson Trio Coral Sea Gospel
3 Alister Spence Trio 500 Suns
4 Keijzer McGuiness Quintet Small Pictures 
5 Trio Apoplectic Transition  
6 Wanderlust Dakar 
7 Roil Gasdia  
8 McGann D. Day

extempore www.extempore.com.au