Recording: Michael Lynn

Artist: Michael Lynn

Song: Canberra

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ornate Presents: Dark Matter Tapes double release celebration), July 22, 2022.

Michael Lynn - Canberra

A night of solo performances to celebrate a pair of solo releases on the Dark Matter label. Community organizer and genial collaborator Mike Lynn closed out the night, celebrating the release of a tape of solo explorations on double bass. The pieces (on tape and live) employ a whole range of extended techniques — including the human voice.

Recording: Kayla Milmine

Artist: Kayla Milmine

Songs: Lonely Woman [composer: Ornette Coleman] + unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ornate Presents: Dark Matter Tapes double release celebration), July 22, 2022.

Kayla Milmine - Lonely Woman

Kayla Milmine - [last section]

A night of solo performances to celebrate a pair of solo releases on the Dark Matter label. There's no tape for Kayla Milnine's Moods of Yellow, but there were postcards and paintings on sale to celebrate the release, which documents Milmine's continuing explorations on soprano saxophone. In performance, there were new depths being explored, including a multiphonic low roar that's definitely not what's commonly associated with the instrument.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one (or any of its parts)? Please leave a comment!

Recording: O'Reilly/Downing/Fraser

Artist: Patrick O'Reilly/Andrew Downing/Nick Fraser

Songs: Paths #1 + Shattered [composer: Patrick O'Reilly]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ornate Presents), June 21, 2022.

Patrick O'Reilly/Andrew Downing/Nick Fraser - Paths #1

Patrick O'Reilly/Andrew Downing/Nick Fraser - Shattered

A special night at The Tranzac, celebrating the release of The Remembrancer, which bears the descriptive subtitle of Justin Haynes Plays the Compositions of Patrick O'Reilly. One of the last projects Justin Haynes was working on before his untimely passing in 2019, moving this to release has been a labour of love for O'Reilly and his W/DRWN label.

To celebrate the release, the concept was turned on its head with O'Reilly being joined by Andrew Downing and Nick Fraser to tackle some of the same pieces played on the album, as well as a few of Haynes' own compositions. The sounds ranged from contemplative to "fast and dumb", and I was amused at how in the latter piece here, the pretty, careful progression was jarred loose by Fraser's sudden percussive clatter — provocative disruption being one tool in Haynes' musical arsenal.

You can also watch the musicians in action, and hear them playing a couple of Justin's pieces over on youtube:

Monday Roundup #4

In the absence of concert listings, my regular Monday dispatches have fallen off. After bringing some life to the blog with the "bumping into" series, I figure I should get back in the groove. I'm guessing that this will be a bit like what used to get shoved into the end of the post when I was doing listings — some bandcamp suggestions, nods to a few livestreams, and sundry community notes (email me if you have anything that needs broadcast in the latter category!). Plus maybe a look back through the MFS archives.

A quieter week this time 'round. I grabbed plenty stuff from Bandcamp on Friday, but I'm just starting to absorb it now, so expect some recommendations next next week!

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It happened this week...

• ... on February 13, 2018 at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (for Ornate Ornette).

Andrew Furlong/Alexei Orechin/Germaine Liu/Nelson Moneo - Latin Genetics

• ... on February 9, 2019 at Workman Arts' Main Hall (for Long Winter 7.4).

Donna Linklater - I Hear Voices

• ... on February 14, 2019 at The Tranzac's Main Hall (for Sound For Silence II). [P.S.: kind of an inside-out cover-band version of The Weather Station here, with Tamara Lindeman joined by Ben Whiteley, Sam Gleason, Geordie Gordon and Evan Cartwright.]

Unclassic Classics - In the Shape of a Heart

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Bearrah Fawcett

Artist: Bearrah Fawcett

Songs: Improvisation [excerpt] + Intro to The Dog Walk + The Dog Walk

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ornate Presents), June 11, 2019.

Bearrah Fawcett - Improvisation [excerpt]

Bearrah Fawcett - Intro to The Dog Walk

Bearrah Fawcett - The Dog Walk

One cool thing about living in this town is that there are more cool gigs to go to than you could ever have time for. The corresponding downside is that you're going to miss some stuff — and due to those Tuesday night conflicts, it had been a while since I had checked in with the Ornate Presents series at The Tranzac. This night featured a couple sets from the wryly-named Bearrah Fawcett, a casual sort of jazzish group consisting of (at least for this show) Alex Fournier (double bass), Stefan Hegerat (percussion), Rob Grieve (guit) plus Madeline Ertel and Kaelin Murphy up front on trumpets. There was a game plan here, with the group tackling a half-dozen compositions, but there was also room left for some off-script moments as well.

[The next edition of Ornate Presents (on Tuesday, August 13th) features Mike DeiCont offering some solo bass sounds.]

Recording: The Manabu Kitada Quintet

Artist: The Manabu Kitada Quintet

Songs: Prelude to a Kiss My Ass + [improvisation] + のカタチ​/​A Shape of​.​.​.

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ornate Presents), July 10, 2018.

The Manabu Kitada Quintet - Prelude to a Kiss My Ass

The Manabu Kitada Quintet - [improvisation]

The Manabu Kitada Quintet - のカタチ​/​A Shape of​.​.​.​

Another chance to see visiting clarinetist Manabu Kitada in action, this time spotlighting some of his compositions with a crack lineup of locals, including Alex Fournier on double bass, Bea Labikova on also, Lina Allemano on trumpet and Nick Fraser on drums. There were some tasty rambunctious stretches here, but the ballads were the standout, with the crew aligning nicely to bring a light touch to Kitada's pieces.

[Ornate Presents returns next week (Tuesday, September 11th) with Tom Fleming's Group.]

Recording: Furlong/Orechin/Liu/Moneo

Artist: Andrew Furlong/Alexei Orechin/Germaine Liu/Nelson Moneo

Songs: Latin Genetics + Una Muy Bonita [composer: Ornette Coleman]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Ornate Ornette), February 13, 2018.

Andrew Furlong/Alexei Orechin/Germaine Liu/Nelson Moneo - Latin Genetics

Andrew Furlong/Alexei Orechin/Germaine Liu/Nelson Moneo - Una Muy Bonita

This edition of the "Ornate Ornette" monthly was quarterbacked by double bassist Andrew Furlong, leading a quartet that also included Alexei Orechin on guitar, Nelson Moneo on violin and Germaine Liu on percussion. The music flowed with a free-ranging, funky amble — sort of a Shaggs-meets-Prime Time kinda sound, though the selections essayed reached back to the quartet days as well.

[This was the last show in this series' original incarnation. Now re-branded as Ornate Presents, the focus is shifting from one composer to being "dedicated to creative music steeped in the jazz tradition", curated by Alex Fournier and Phill Albert and holding steady in the second-Tuesday-of-the-month early slot at The Tranzac.]