Above : Emma Pask… Photo credit Kurt Sneddon
This sold-out concert at The Lounge on September 17, 2026, with the somewhat ambiguous title of High Standards was appropriately named, in my view. It featured the outstanding vocalist Emma Pask in an impressive follow-up to her debut concert at this venue 12 months ago in September, 2025. Once again her performance was a musical experience which stimulated serious admiration that such a level of excellence was possible. At the same time this was also a splendid demonstration of what I believe is still the essential language of jazz: an exploration of the standards that are part of the Great American Songbook.
As usual, Pask performed with her trio, Kevin Hunt (piano), Phil Stack (double bass), and Tim Firth (drums). I’m not aware of how many years these three musicians have been together with Pask, but I know it’s many years. And it shows in their music. I reiterate what I said in last year’s review, that the playing of these three outstanding musicians is so well-integrated into Pask’s style, and so empathetic in the way their music supports her, that it’s difficult to suggest another comparable trio better suited to the strengths and artistry of such a singer.
Pask has said that her favourite composer is Harold Arlen. Accordingly her repertoire on the night was peppered with a number of Arlen tunes. She opened with the great Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler composition of 1932 I’ve Got the World on a String, a reminder that her mentor James Morrison opened with the same tune recently at Cremorne Orpheum Theatre, when he presented the extraordinary African American alto saxophonist Patrick Bartley.
It was a tonic to hear other great Arlen tunes in Pask’s program. In the first set we heard I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues (lyrics by Ted Koehler, 1932). She opened her second set with Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home (1946, lyrics by Johnny Mercer), and also sang Arlen’s If I Only Had a Brain (from The Wizard of Oz, 1939, lyrics by Yip Harburg).
After I’ve Got The World On a String, it was then on to the tune Tea For Two, which dates back to 1924. It’s perhaps best-known for the Doris Day version in the 1950 film of the same name. While Day’s lovely version was relatively slow, Pask showed how the Songbook affords jazz artists the ability to stamp their own individuality on a particular standard. She sang the verse ad lib, then took the chorus at a very bright clip. As Pask often does, she initially stated the theme more or less as written, then took the second chorus as a mixture of innovative phrasing and judicious scat lines. If you blinked you might have missed a lightning passage when Pask and Hunt on piano brilliantly executed a scat line in unison with each other.
There were many memorable highlights during the program but I wish to draw attention to the slow ballads which were sung so beautifully by Pask. In the first set it was Johnny Mandel’s celebrated composition The Shadow of Your Smile, written for the 1965 film The Sandpiper. In that year it won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and also the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Pask did this tune full justice, by taking it at a very slow tempo, with an exquisite ending.
Similarly, a highlight of the second set was her ballad version of If I Should Lose You, which she dedicated to her husband who was present. This composition, written for a 1936 film, is normally heard as a full-blooded swinging tune, as per the Frank Sinatra/Quincy Jones version. However, when this tune is taken as a slow ballad, the listener is able to hone in on the lyrics and savour how exquisite they are at that slow tempo. Pask admitted that those lyrics have been invested with additional meaning for her since she began singing this tune as a ballad. I found this a very moving part of her program, as did the whole Lounge audience.
A memorable highlight of an Emma Pask performance is always the two-out duet she does with the extraordinary bassist Phil Stack. Last year they did Rumour Has It, written by the UK singer/songwriter Adele. On this occasion during the second set they did the 1959 Mongo Santamaria classic Afro Blue. Stack is the sort of bassist who’s a formidable crowd-pleaser. In his solos he plays phrases which can be clearly heard, courtesy of his big sound. He has a straightforward, melodic style which is immensely appealing to the listener, and as usual he and Pask brought the house down with an energising duo performance.
As I like to document the compositions played at these jazz performances, I should itemise those I’ve neglected to mention so far. In the first set, they were It Might As Well Be Spring (Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II, 1945); Stardust (Hoagy Carmichael, 1927); and to close the first set, the 1925 evergreen Sweet Georgia Brown, which Pask took at various tempos, including a highly technical scat chorus at breakneck speed, which was comprehensively matched by Hunt’s brilliant piano solo at the same brisk tempo. The tune ended with the tempo being halved into a slow four, enabling the musicians to end the first set on an extremely exciting note.
Needless to say, Kevin Hunt’s mastery at the piano was noteworthy throughout the performance. He’s the sort of pianist who keeps everyone on their toes, including the musicians on stage, and listeners in the audience. I can only reiterate what I’ve said before: that he has invented a rich, percussive, way of improvising that I feel is completely unique. No other pianist I’m aware of plays like this. His way of navigating through a chord structure is highly individual as he plays with absolute freedom at the keyboard, with his solos invariably generating serious applause, as listeners find their imaginations engaged.
In the second set, the repertoire included one of Jimmy van Heuson’s great standards Polka Dots & Moonbeams (1940); and the Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields classic The Way You Look Tonight, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. The only other song not mentioned so far is Pask’s final number for the night, Cole Porter’s Get Out of Town, written in 1938. This brought the concert to an energising close, and prompted the expected standing ovation.
While there was nothing amiss in the first set, I felt that Pask was, in a sense, marking time, even maybe unconsciously preparing herself for what she’d be able to deliver in the second set. Initially I had the distinct feeling that she was willing to trade being sometimes a little rough around the edges if it meant that the extremely valuable element of spontaneity could be retained.
During their second set I had another distinct impression: that Pask took the music to a completely new level. While it’s not unusual for a leading jazz group, having warmed up during its first set, to go up a few gears in its second set, and sweep everything before them, I began to feel, early on in the second set, that we were experiencing something quite amazing, a truly majestic performance.
I conclude from this that Emma Pask is a real phenomenon, confident in her own skin, with spontaneity being above all the most valuable element in her artistry. The second set completely transcended whatever uncertainties which may or may not have existed during the first set. What I take from this is that Pask has evolved into a jazz artist who, through long experience, and being surrounded by musicians who are with her 100% of the way, is able to exploit the potential of her artistry to maximum effect. Like others such as The Necks and James Morrison in Australian jazz, she is a phenomenon.
In my regular reviews of these jazz concerts at The Lounge, I regret that invariably I haven’t been able to give credit to the technicians whose expertise helps to explain the success of those concerts. On this occasion they were Nick Tamayo on sound, and Cameron Laybutt on lighting. I congratulate them on their invaluable work.
The Jazz At The Lounge series at The Concourse in Chatswood is curated by Cinque Artist Management, and presented by Willoughby City Council as part of Culture Bites, its program of arts and culture. This concert took place at The Lounge on September 17, 2026, and featured Emma Pask (vocals), Kevin Hunt (piano), Phil Stack (double bass) and Tim Firth (drums).
