JAZZWA WAMi Festival Showcase@ The Bakery, Perth (25/05/11)

Sun 29th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The 19th annual WAMi festival has seen bands, both local and international; showcase their talents at some of the top music venues throughout Perth. Last Wednesday saw The Bakery showcase some of Perth’s most talented jazz musicians on behalf of JAZZWA. Patrons were treated to the delicate crooning of jazz songstress Libby Hammer, the cerebral musicality of Backlash, the complex and multi-faceted fusion of rock and jazz by ThumpR and the rich instrumental polyphony of the Alice Humphries brainchild Ecila.

The night held a dual purpose, both for showcasing some of Perth’s most prestigious jazz talent and to launch the JAZZAZIZ 6th volume compilation album. The newest album boasts a diverse menagerie of musical genres, from bebop to ambient to Iranian classical improvisation; it became clear that this musical diversity was to epitomise the night.

The seductive siren Libby Hammer represented contemporary jazz in its puritan sense. The Perth jazz veteran enthralled the audience with her delectably smooth vocals and eased punters in to what was to be a tantalising cross-section of Perth’s musical talent.

The energetic and unrestricted performance of Backlash added a dash of spice to the jazz night, showing that jazz is more about what you can do with it than what it is. The hard bop band was full of funky and layered rhythms that were well received by the now-increasing audience of jazz aficionados and WAMi folk. A slower song ended the band’s set and paved the way for ThumpR.

ThumpR provided a very different interpretation of the jazz genre. Simon Jeans fronts the trio of acclaimed jazz virtuosos who can often be seen playing with Perth band Sly. The band’s approach to progressive jazz/rock fusion left the audience without a moment’s reprieve from start to finish. Playing a set of high-tempo, syncopated songs augmented by the sharp bite of electric guitar ThumpR demonstrated the diversity of the night’s lineup. Beginning with Showtime ThumpR’s four-song set was consistently fast-paced. Notably, Fields provided a titillating taste of an album promised to be in production and the jovially named Whiskey Tango Foxtrot provided a light-hearted end to the instrumental set.

The night was drawing to the end when a 10-piece ensemble began to cram themselves on to the stage, audience members knew this could only be Ecila. Once the band had settled, the soft-spoken composer Alice Humphries greeted the crowd. Introducing her first piece Yotei, named after a Japanese mountain she had visited, the band begun a stately and majestic musical number, anchored by a double bass, played by organiser Peter Evans hidden away behind the rest of the ensemble. Following this was Filtered Light, a soothing and uplifting song that was at once both slow and playful. The final song Rain Drop was a musical number written to follow the journey of a storm; the introduction, soft and restrained, represented the first drops of rain on a window, strengthening in to a light melody reminiscent of a summer rain until raising to the cacophonic crescendo of a thunderous storm and again dying down to a serene melody that represented a rainbow. The metaphor was a remarkably true representation of the melody’s progression and provided an excellent ending to the set.

The night finished early enough to afford opportunities for a quick drink afterwards for those that were keen, the only real problem the night represented was the lack of numbers. While a decent enough group attended, once you had subtracted the 20+ musicians, WAMi staff and media members you were left with a rather small demographic of actual punters. It was a shame that more people had not come out to see some of Perth’s most salubrious jazz musicians.