Aussie Funk - reviews, pics, soundclips
Kinetic
3,739 Posts
Check the Sound clips down the bottom![/b]Here is a bunch of reviews for my next Aussie funk blog update. I haven't gotten around to doing soundclips yet, so you'll have to make do with pics and reviews for now. 10 of the best on the 44 label, one of Australia's best jazz labels.
Peter Boothman ??? For the Record (44 1975)[/b]An early and overlooked release on the 44 label. With help from Col Nolan and Warren Daly on some rather ambitious numbers, you???d be forgiven for wondering why this doesn???t get more attention ??? and it should. The album opens with a nice reading of John Coltrane???s ???Afro Blue??? with some great bass violin and guitar work. There???s also covers of Fats Waller and Dizzy Gillespie numbers, but they???re a little snoozy. Boothman???s original stuff is much better though, with a long fusion jammer called ???In a Transylvanian Manor??? and ???Gymnorhina Trombonus??? that has some hard drum work and a nice drum solo as well. Nice stuff. 
David Fennell & Powerpoint ??? Alternate Route (44 1976)[/b]David Fennell???s best album, and a very CTI-esque release on the 44 label. Lots of funky cuts throughout this album, but the best is ???Look Before You Leap??? with some sweet electric piano soloing from Fennell and the saxophone work of Lee Hutchings underneath Paul Jensen???s funky drums. The whole of side 2 is a suite with 7 different movements, a few of which are pretty tasty.
Joyce Hurley ??? Joyce (44 1979)[/b]This Detroit singer came over to Australia to study at the NSW Conservatorium, and what better way to remember the experience than by recording an album here? Despite being a highly trained classical pianist, this was actually Joyce???s first jazz outing. Given this, it???s rather surprising that the result is a jazz dance masterpiece that continues to be hunted down by Japanese and English collectors for its amazing quality and rarity. But while Joyce???s voice is fantastic, the David Martin Group, who accompany her are just as responsible for how good this record is. The group shine to absolute perfection on instrumental cuts like the much-lauded ???Sambole???, the Martin-penned ???Threedom Street??? and the fantastic ???Here and Now???, a meandering jazz dancer with great bass and piano interplay, and cracking drum-work too. But the cut everyone is checking of is ???Sunbath???, with soaring jazz vocals and brilliant musicianship. This album is really a tough one to find these days too. 
Brian Brown Quartet ??? Upwards (44 1977)[/b]Really nice jazz rock album from Brian Brown, a stalwart of the Sydney scene. The quartet includes Ted Vining on percussion and Barry Buckley on bass violin. ???Fire Dance??? features the piano work of Rosaland McMillan, and is a suite with lots of interesting changes and some great funky passages. My favourite is the original composition ???Upward???, with its ethereal sample-friendly intro and out-jazz sound. ???Song for Billy Hyde??? is pretty good too. This is a hard to find album that I prefer to ???Carlton Streets??? (44, 1976) that receives a bit more attention in collector circles. you'll have to go here for apicHarry Sheppard ??? Blowing in from New York (44 1976)[/b]The 44 jazz label is associated with Galapagos Duck and the Basement jazz club in Sydney, and it released a slew of great funky jazz very similar to the vibe of this record. John Sangster is probably lucky that Sheppard did literally blow in, and then blow out again, since the stuff on this album is pretty good. I say that because Harry also plays the vibes! Two numbers stand out from this session. The mellow ???Your highness??? and the long and appropriately titled ???Sunk funk.??? One of the harder to find 44 releases, and well worth checking out if you come across it.
Harbour City Jazz Band ??? Foo???s Blues (44 1975)[/b]Sydney Harbour, that is! The Harbour City Jazz band started in 1967 but didn???t release anything until 1975. The sound of the album is mostly swing and modern jazz, but they take a break from these styles to get funky for us on their version Herbie Hancock???s ???Watermelon Man.??? It starts with a nice little break, but the EQ on this album is a little weird. A friend of mine noted that if you turn the treble on your mixer all the way up, it makes the music sound normal. Pretty strange. Not too hard to track down either. 
Galapagos Duck ??? Magnum (44 1977)C???mon! A great jazzy take on the Sesame Street theme? What???s not to like? There???s a few crappy trad jazz numbers that take up space, but on the flip you get a really sweet cover of ???Mercy, Mercy, Mercy??? with some nice electric piano work. There???s also the quirky ???Chop Sticks??? that isn???t half bad either. A nice record to find on the cheap. 
Out to Lunch ??? The Wasteland (44, 1976)[/b]If Joyce Hurley???s album is the rarest, then this is probably the most unknown release on the 44 label. The quartet is fronted by Craig Benjamin who plays saxophone, and the sound is very progressive: sometimes modern, sometimes jazz-rock and for the most part, very, very out. Improvisation is the running theme throughout all the compositions, with some parts that lose me a bit, but at some point, the rhythm ends up holding sway. It???s hard to pick one standout cut, but if I had to, it would probably be???.
Galapagos Duck ??? St. James (44 1976)[/b]To my ears, I prefer this album to their more rated ???The Removalists.??? It???s more consistently listenable in my opinion. The title number ???St. James??? Infirmary??? is a great long jazz number with a number of compelling changes. It begins with the tune of ???house of the rising sun??? played by sax in a traditional jazz mode before dropping into a 2 minute bass solo. When the bass finally cools down the drums kick in and the jazz-funk fest begins. I used this bit in my ???Aussie Funk??? mix. There are a few hokey jazz numbers, a few fusion cuts and another great sinister funky cut that rounds the album out: ???Squealers and Grunters???, with a dark piano-led intro that???s pretty ripe for sampling, and a nice quirky flute solo halfway through.
David Liebman Quartet feat/ Mike Nock ??? The Opal Heat (44 1979)[/b]I had only recently been hipped to the freshness held within the ???44??? label catalogue before I chanced upon this record. I knew nothing of David Liebman but recalled that Mike Nock was a respected New Zealand pianist. Listening to the first side of this record revealed nothing but straight jazz, and it was one of those moments that all diggers know where they hesitate to even bother checking the other side. Luckily for me my endurance won out, and on the very last track, ???The Opal-hearted Aborigine??? delivers great funky piano-led fusion with tight drumming and a hip-hop loop intro to die for. I really like this record and think that its very affordable price often disguises its great content.Here are some clips of some aussie 45s I haveobject classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownlo
ad.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" width="335" height="28" id="divaudio2">
Peter Boothman ??? For the Record (44 1975)[/b]An early and overlooked release on the 44 label. With help from Col Nolan and Warren Daly on some rather ambitious numbers, you???d be forgiven for wondering why this doesn???t get more attention ??? and it should. The album opens with a nice reading of John Coltrane???s ???Afro Blue??? with some great bass violin and guitar work. There???s also covers of Fats Waller and Dizzy Gillespie numbers, but they???re a little snoozy. Boothman???s original stuff is much better though, with a long fusion jammer called ???In a Transylvanian Manor??? and ???Gymnorhina Trombonus??? that has some hard drum work and a nice drum solo as well. Nice stuff. David Fennell & Powerpoint ??? Alternate Route (44 1976)[/b]David Fennell???s best album, and a very CTI-esque release on the 44 label. Lots of funky cuts throughout this album, but the best is ???Look Before You Leap??? with some sweet electric piano soloing from Fennell and the saxophone work of Lee Hutchings underneath Paul Jensen???s funky drums. The whole of side 2 is a suite with 7 different movements, a few of which are pretty tasty.Joyce Hurley ??? Joyce (44 1979)[/b]This Detroit singer came over to Australia to study at the NSW Conservatorium, and what better way to remember the experience than by recording an album here? Despite being a highly trained classical pianist, this was actually Joyce???s first jazz outing. Given this, it???s rather surprising that the result is a jazz dance masterpiece that continues to be hunted down by Japanese and English collectors for its amazing quality and rarity. But while Joyce???s voice is fantastic, the David Martin Group, who accompany her are just as responsible for how good this record is. The group shine to absolute perfection on instrumental cuts like the much-lauded ???Sambole???, the Martin-penned ???Threedom Street??? and the fantastic ???Here and Now???, a meandering jazz dancer with great bass and piano interplay, and cracking drum-work too. But the cut everyone is checking of is ???Sunbath???, with soaring jazz vocals and brilliant musicianship. This album is really a tough one to find these days too. Brian Brown Quartet ??? Upwards (44 1977)[/b]Really nice jazz rock album from Brian Brown, a stalwart of the Sydney scene. The quartet includes Ted Vining on percussion and Barry Buckley on bass violin. ???Fire Dance??? features the piano work of Rosaland McMillan, and is a suite with lots of interesting changes and some great funky passages. My favourite is the original composition ???Upward???, with its ethereal sample-friendly intro and out-jazz sound. ???Song for Billy Hyde??? is pretty good too. This is a hard to find album that I prefer to ???Carlton Streets??? (44, 1976) that receives a bit more attention in collector circles. you'll have to go here for apicHarry Sheppard ??? Blowing in from New York (44 1976)[/b]The 44 jazz label is associated with Galapagos Duck and the Basement jazz club in Sydney, and it released a slew of great funky jazz very similar to the vibe of this record. John Sangster is probably lucky that Sheppard did literally blow in, and then blow out again, since the stuff on this album is pretty good. I say that because Harry also plays the vibes! Two numbers stand out from this session. The mellow ???Your highness??? and the long and appropriately titled ???Sunk funk.??? One of the harder to find 44 releases, and well worth checking out if you come across it.Harbour City Jazz Band ??? Foo???s Blues (44 1975)[/b]Sydney Harbour, that is! The Harbour City Jazz band started in 1967 but didn???t release anything until 1975. The sound of the album is mostly swing and modern jazz, but they take a break from these styles to get funky for us on their version Herbie Hancock???s ???Watermelon Man.??? It starts with a nice little break, but the EQ on this album is a little weird. A friend of mine noted that if you turn the treble on your mixer all the way up, it makes the music sound normal. Pretty strange. Not too hard to track down either. Galapagos Duck ??? Magnum (44 1977)C???mon! A great jazzy take on the Sesame Street theme? What???s not to like? There???s a few crappy trad jazz numbers that take up space, but on the flip you get a really sweet cover of ???Mercy, Mercy, Mercy??? with some nice electric piano work. There???s also the quirky ???Chop Sticks??? that isn???t half bad either. A nice record to find on the cheap. Out to Lunch ??? The Wasteland (44, 1976)[/b]If Joyce Hurley???s album is the rarest, then this is probably the most unknown release on the 44 label. The quartet is fronted by Craig Benjamin who plays saxophone, and the sound is very progressive: sometimes modern, sometimes jazz-rock and for the most part, very, very out. Improvisation is the running theme throughout all the compositions, with some parts that lose me a bit, but at some point, the rhythm ends up holding sway. It???s hard to pick one standout cut, but if I had to, it would probably be???.Galapagos Duck ??? St. James (44 1976)[/b]To my ears, I prefer this album to their more rated ???The Removalists.??? It???s more consistently listenable in my opinion. The title number ???St. James??? Infirmary??? is a great long jazz number with a number of compelling changes. It begins with the tune of ???house of the rising sun??? played by sax in a traditional jazz mode before dropping into a 2 minute bass solo. When the bass finally cools down the drums kick in and the jazz-funk fest begins. I used this bit in my ???Aussie Funk??? mix. There are a few hokey jazz numbers, a few fusion cuts and another great sinister funky cut that rounds the album out: ???Squealers and Grunters???, with a dark piano-led intro that???s pretty ripe for sampling, and a nice quirky flute solo halfway through.David Liebman Quartet feat/ Mike Nock ??? The Opal Heat (44 1979)[/b]I had only recently been hipped to the freshness held within the ???44??? label catalogue before I chanced upon this record. I knew nothing of David Liebman but recalled that Mike Nock was a respected New Zealand pianist. Listening to the first side of this record revealed nothing but straight jazz, and it was one of those moments that all diggers know where they hesitate to even bother checking the other side. Luckily for me my endurance won out, and on the very last track, ???The Opal-hearted Aborigine??? delivers great funky piano-led fusion with tight drumming and a hip-hop loop intro to die for. I really like this record and think that its very affordable price often disguises its great content.Here are some clips of some aussie 45s I haveobject classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" width="335" height="28" id="divaudio2">
Comments
It didn't show up on the Festival catalog... is it a promo?
b
Yeah I dunno... when I sold my spare copy recently I played the whole thign through and there was one other track that I thought "damn I could use that on my next aussie mix." I forget what it was off-hand, but it might have been a Beatles cover. Still though, if its breaks, then the 45 will certainly do. You should hear that shit on 33!