GREGG ARTHUR UP CLOSE AT THE LOUNGE CHATSWOOD

In October, 2017,  I first heard singer Gregg Arthur on his CD Last Call which I reviewed for The Australian. Subsequently I heard him at the Camelot Lounge, where I was mightily impressed by his live singing on stage. In 2021, I reviewed his album Jazz & Cocktails, praising it highly. Meanwhile, one night at Johnston Street Jazz, I encountered Arthur sitting in with the John Harkins Trio, and introduced myself after the performance. I was then determined to hear him to best advantage, and attended his gig on May 7, 2021 at Foundry 616 which by the way was sold out.

I was to discover at subsequent performances in Foundry that all Arthur’s gigs at this leading jazz club were sold out –  a significant phenomenon, considering that from time to time I would be in the Foundry and find myself part of a small audience of maybe 20 people. Arthur was one of the few jazz artists in Sydney who apparently had consistent drawing power. This led to my first in-depth review, “Gregg Arthur: A Quintessential Jazz Club Experience”, published on my website in May, 2021.

Since then I’ve reviewed many of Arthur’s performances, and have always been impressed by his evolving artistry. I consider myself a fan as well as a reviewer, and I’ve come to think of him as equally important to Australian jazz as the redoubtable Vince Jones. I can’t think of any other male singer who comes close to those two in terms of the quality of their artistry, although it’s important to note that they are extremely dissimilar. That’s the wonder of jazz: its ability as a genre to encapsulate with complete equality the individual styles of artists whose approaches to the music are quite different. What Jones and Arthur have in common however, is that both are highly talented storytellers through their music. In my view that’s the secret of their appeal.

Also, it’s important to note that Arthur’s core trio of Peter Locke (piano), Craig Scott (double bass) and Andrew Dickeson (drums) is one of the best rhythm sections in the country for this sort of music. Other musicians added to the band from time to time are, without exception, splendid players: Charlie Meadows (guitar), Warwick Alder (trumpet), and Craig Walters (tenor saxophone).

It’s not surprising that a quality artist such as Arthur already has an international presence. On the way over to a holiday in the UK recently with his partner, he did three sold-out gigs on July 17, 18 & 19, 2025, at a venue called Cool Cats at the JW Marriott in South Beach Singapore, directly opposite the famous Raffles Hotel. He was accompanied by a local rhythm section described by Arthur as “superb”: Nick Lim (piano), Tony Makarome (double bass), and Darryl Irvine (drums). 

On the way back to Australia, Arthur did another three nights at the same venue with the same trio on September 18, 19 & 20, once again sold-out. “These gigs were a triumph,” says Arthur. “The audience is young, wealthy and enthusiastic so it is a great experience performing there”.  On the 20^th Arthur became aware of the biographical film Blue Moon, about the lyricist Lorenz Hart, of the legendary Rodgers & Hart songwriting team. As Hart is Arthur’s favourite lyricist he decided on his closing night at Cool Cats to perform some of Hart’s tunes. “The audience were in raptures”, reports Arthur.

The audience at The Lounge on October 2 could be similarly described: in raptures throughout two brilliant sets. After hearing Arthur’s two opening numbers – his own composition All I Can Do and the Ellington standard Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me – my first thought was that Arthur was sounding better than ever. I guess that the details of excellent previous performances fade into the mists of time, and it’s uplifting to be reminded once again of what one might have forgotten.

Having said that, there was clear evidence at this gig of Arthur’s evolution as an artist in one important respect: his growing confidence in presenting his own compositions. I’ve already mentioned the opening number All I Can Do. I admit I was somewhat taken aback at this, and was further surprised by his third number, another of his compositions Love You Stay With Me. I think I can confidently say that very few jazz singers would have been this brave – to give their own compositions such pride of place.  Many jazz artists are reluctant to present their originals in such a way; the normal approach is to perhaps slip in an original somewhere in the program, hoping no-one will notice. Arthur’s disregarding convention in this way was notable and, in my view, immensely encouraging.

Arthur also presented during the first set the great Jimmy Van Heuson standard But Beautiful, and followed it by his own contrafact, entitled So Beautiful. I’d never heard the term “contrafact” until I heard James Morrison refer to it during his performance at The Lounge in August, 2025. A contrafact is a musical work based on an existing composition, where a new melody has been written over the original’s chord progression. It’s good to live and learn.

As if this wasn’t enough, it’s remarkable that Arthur went on to close his first set with yet another of his compositions I Haven’t Changed. Ordinarily one might have expected a closing number in such a set to be a bright version of a tune such as say Caravan, with a drum solo to lift the audience’s spirits and take the set out on a high.

Arthur’s decision to end the set with another of his own works can be regarded on one level as indicating an accumulating confidence in the validity of his own writing. On another level however, as I was to realise later, Arthur’s confidence in presenting such unfamiliar tunes was always justified by the quality of the works. In fact Arthur is a very talented songwriter: his lyrics are poetic; his melodies always work well; and his style as a presenter is pretty much faultless. His priceless ability to bring the listener into the deeper meanings of lyrics applies just as much to his own compositions as it does to better-known standards.

I have waxed lyrical about the playing of Locke, Scott and Dickeson so much in previous reviews that I feel reluctant to repeat those sentiments here. Their playing throughout the two sets was of course magnificent as usual. The addition however of guitarist Charlie Meadows deserves special mention. In previous Arthur gigs Meadows would come onto the stage at a certain point as a guest, where his role was to add additional colours to the band’s music. On this occasion Meadows was on stage right from the start of the concert as a fully-fledged member of the band, and my impression was that Arthur intended to give him a more central role than in the past.

This was apparent from the first tune, which began with a solo introduction from Meadows, who then played the only instrumental solo in the piece, in many ways laying down the gauntlet for the rest of the performance. Immediately Meadows showed how beautifully he can make the guitar sing, especially high up on the neck of the guitar, showing that he is just as much an asset to Arthur’s music as the other splendid instrumentalists onstage.

After opening the second set with the lovely composition Answer Me My Love, which I’ve regarded as one of the great standards ever since I heard Joni Mitchell’s superb version some years ago, Arthur then went into B B King territory with How Blue Can You Get. (Oddly this great tune was apparently written by the jazz critic Leonard Feather and his wife, Jane Feather). I believe this is the first time I’ve heard Arthur present such a classic R & B song, and it was of course ready made for the blues-inflected guitar artistry of Meadows. (Also, by the way, Locke took a great piano solo as usual in this piece, which I noted as prompting perhaps the biggest applause of the night so far).

Otherwise, highlights in the second set were the ballads Moonlight In Vermont and Here’s That Rainy Day; the Dinah Washington evergreen What a Difference a Day Made; and of course the now famous vocal/double bass duet which Arthur and Scott do so well on the classic Nature Boy.

In my view, however, most notable once again was the unselfconscious inclusion of Arthur compositions in the second set:  That’s When I Know (lyrics by Arthur, music by Arthur & Craig Scott) and, closing the performance, Faded Pictures (music and lyrics by Arthur). Given this sort of confident presentation of his own works, I believe Gregg Arthur has palpably taken his music to a new level.

The monthly series of jazz performances at The Lounge in Chatswood is supported by Willoughby City Council. The Council’s support is to be warmly applauded. This particular performance took place on Thursday October 2, 2025, featuring vocalist Gregg Arthur, pianist Peter Locke, double bassist Craig Scott, drummer Andrew Dickeson, and guitarist Charlie Meadows.