#14 - Go To A Jazz Concert

I confess I am a serial sign-er up-er.  If there's a mailing list, I'm on it.  Rather than a panolopy of excuses why I can't talk to the Red Cross volunteer who has me cornered on the walk from office to train station in peak hour, I'll simply sign up for their e-news.  And yet I seem to spend half the time in my inbox unsubscribing to mailing lists which no longer interest me.  The beauty of being list-happy is that the recipient is forever being presented (inundated) with ideas on what to do, who to see, where to visit, thus ensuring the fool and their money soon go their separate ways.  Funny that.  Marketing, it seems, actually works a treat.

The Brisbane Jazz Club is one mailing list whose newsletters I actually read.  Jazz gigs for the week are emailed and week after week some of the same names appear on said list.  The Jason Recliners are one band who could draw a crowd based on name alone!  (I haven't seen them yet).  A couple of weeks ago one band caught my attention, Pascal Schumacher Quartet, who are apparently big in Belgium, so, former housemate and all round good guy John B and I arrive Thursday night at Jazzworx, with absolutely no notion or inkling of what was inside the front doot.

Jazzworx is a dark but cozy venue positioned in an industrial area of Bowen Hills, Brisbane.  There would be no soft edges to the venue however, cleverly, someone had the gumption to install sound absorbing panels on the ceiling and walls to deal with the harsh acoustics. 

The first band takes the stage and I am impressed with what the trumpet player can do with the embouchure of his chosen instrument, less so with what he has done with his hair i.e not washed it.  The xylophonist and in fact the entire band's ability as musicians is impeccable, truly impressive but it's Pascal Schumacher Quartet that the intimate crowd has come to see.  Translation: no one would have remembered the name of The First Band.

Impressive as they were Schumacher and his quartet deliver a standard The First Band can not match.  Schumacher's ability on the vibraphone, quote "inject(s) panache and flamboyance into every performance".  (Ruth Fisher, www.pascalschumacher.com) and tonight is the rule.  No exceptions.  He makes it look like an afternoon in a park, lying in the sun on a picnic blanket as he frantically yet perfectly picks out and strikes the notes on the vibraphone with unimpeachable timing, speed and force.

Promoting their latest album 'Bang My Can', it's difficult to define the genre, particularly when your knowledge of jazz is - ahem - limited but it's definitely experimental.  Waning in and out of more recognisable jazz, crossing boundaries, seemingly "keen to explore the links that exist between many musical genres, it is difficult to pigeon–hole his talent, his taste or his musical influences." 

Schumacher and his quartet are indubitably talented however it's the drummer, German Jens Duppe, who is most mesmerising.  Transfixed, as I often am to the drummer, who is the true leader of any band, his skill matches Schumacher's and their natural synchronisity eludes to a lengthy affiliation.  The quartet formed in 2002 and I am hoping the partnership between myself and the drummer could form in 2011, he's the one on the far right in the picture.  Bang My Can?  Thanks, but how about the drummer instead?

You can read all about Pascal Schumacher, see some photos and even listen to some tracks, by visiting www.pascalschumacher.com  My favourite is 30 Little Jelly Beans and the title track, Bang My Can.


I wonder if the clairvoyant I consulted with a little while ago foresaw me at a number of jazz clubs and gigs?  With certitidue do I declare that more jazz gigs are on my unofficial list of things to do!