Above and featured image : Bassist, composer and band leader Claire Cross.
The stream of sensitivity which is Claire Cross’ chamber/jazz music
suite Into Light focusses on an ambient vibe. At the intimate venue of Mary’s Underground for the SIMA Summer Festival, Cross led a group of jazz and chamber musicians for a live performance of this recording project. This was a steady generation of mood with ambiguously simple but smooth gesturing.
This sextet of Cross on electric bass, with standout solos led by the inspired conversational acxcent of Flora Carbo above the tapestry on saxophone had an interesting mellowness in its blend.
The sextet was fleshed out with contributions from the trombone line, (Jordan Murray)which included a fine solo breaking out above the steady pulse in alate piece in the set. His divisions and pushing through the gentle musical envelope here with fluid, capable improvisations introduced more varied options for the listener.
A nice layer was provided by Harry Cook on piano, with suitable enquiring solos in the introspection, inspired by Cross’ personal struggles and movement toward emotional light. The viola (Biddy Connor)and cello (Stephanie Arnold) added capable and consistent layers of warmth in all pieces and the swathes of sympathetic accompaniment from this pair was matched by smooth wind playing of the slow-moving chordal mass.
Above : Saxophonist Flora Carbo added an effective, individual solo voice to Claire Cross’ ‘Into Light’
From the hypnotic opening to the set, a dense atmospheric stream
unfolded within each piece and across the suite. The solid nature of
the slow moving close lines continued evenly throughout the set.
A tight blend of ensemble sound with close harmonies was gilded with especially decent regular sax solos developing the mood. Carbo’s individual approaches to shape and complexity during these moments were nice to witness.
In pieces using clapping from the instrumentalists or a demandingly
smooth and bare chordal movement, the soaring sax lines and
trombone conversation pushed pleasingly through the basic rhythmic envelope.
Claire Cross’ electric bass solo in counterpoint with string/sax layers was carefully contoured when it appeared over the top of and amongst the group voice.
This suite featured experimental effects and borrowings from an eclectic range of jazz and classical ensemble mannerisms. These ebbed and flowed gently between group densities in the soundscapes presented.
Above: The second half of the SIMA double bill featured the band COAST.
As a svelte recording project with an uber-chilled vibe this will
succeed. There is a quantity of through-composed, carefully constructed scored ingredients at play here, broken by solo moments breaking through and linking sections on sax, piano, bass or trombone.
At the live venue’s performance the overall inflection was gentle and careful. There was not drastic contrast in the textural plan or attention to a wide range of nuance above the one general level in the live atmosphere.
An extended palette within the chosen level however never failed to be pleasing on this set’s shiny smooth safe surface and the sounscape adequately filled in the underground
venue environment.
The creation of the smooth tapestry of fairly similar and very even
rhythmic architecture was maintained over which selected solos and some changes of articulation or utterance completed the solid tunnel of gentle groove and comfortable slow pulsing direction.
Above: Drummer and one of the songwriters within Coast- Paul Derricott.
The second half of this double bill was the band Coast.
This four-piece group with tight, interesting original compositions comprises Shannon Stitt-keys, Peter J Koopman–
lead, Michael Avgenicos-tenor sax as well as avid songwriter Paul
Derricott on drum).
Coast hurled the decent sized crowd assembled into a world of streamlined cool, punchy summer- vibe ntrumental happiness.
This was a welcome expansion of sound in the space and was a substantial contrast to Claire Cross’ intense, focussed streams of the evening’s first-set intimate voice.
Coast had us suitably, joyously engaged in this venue close to
Sydney harbour and made us keen for the weekend. Their uplifting
intricate interlocking demanded our attention and envigorated the end of our night