Review “Sly” - Jeremy Poole-Johnson
“Sly” is a jazz fusion band comprised of : Dane Alderson on bass, Andrew Fisenden on drums, Graham Wood on keys, Carl Mackey on tenor and alto sax, and Simon Jeans on guitar. They have a residency at the Llama bar in Subiaco on thursday nights. It was, however, Thursday two weeks ago, on the 29th of May that I chose to review them.
As always, the precision of the playing was faultless. There was never a moment, nor have I ever noticed one in the past, where any member of the band was even in the slightest amount out of time.
About midway through the first set they performed “Butterfly”, from Herbie Hancock’s 1974 fusion classic, “Thrust”. This is a very dreamy tune, with long, soaring melodic lines on the sax over a heavily sustained bed of electric piano. At least, that’s how it starts. The tune pics up the pace about three minutes in when it changes to a medium funk groove. Graham really excelled in this tune. In the first section his choice of timbre for the keyboard perfectly captured the mood of the piece as did his very slight but highly effective reharmonization of some of the chords. Soon after the funk groove enters Graham then launched into a solo - his best for the night. He seemed to have an endless supply of crossover rhythms that just poured out of him, floating over the 4/4 groove with various combinations of 3, 5, and 7-note licks but never for a moment in a way that seemed arbitrary or forced.
In “Oops” a tune from the band “Steps ahead” we here are far lighter side of Sly. This tune is much more major sounding in the harmony then “Butterfly” and even when the band started building the intensity up in the solo’s it was done in a much sparser fashion. Carl did a very poignant solo in this tune and the slight cuban reharmonization by Graham midway through, provided him with an interesting harmonic framework with which he could further develop his ideas.
The last tune that stood out particularly for me during the night, was another one by Herbie Hancock, coincidentally called, “Sly” ( you can see Sly perform this tune at the llama bar on the following link on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mt3Xzpmyww ) . This tune, like “Butterfly”, is also a mix of dreamy melodic segments and funky all out solo sections. Simon had some very nice comping in this tune really nailing that percussive guitar sound that is so synonymous with the genre. It was Dane’s bass solo however that really got everyone’s attention. The level of virtuosity that this man commands on his instrument has to be seen to be believed. The precision of his fingers, the speed of his lines and the maturity of his note selection are all of the order you would expect from a world famous player, and this solo was no different. Beginning very sparse, he gradually built his solo more and more until he unleashed on the audience a barrage of speeding chromatic lines that left us feeling both exuberated and quite overwhelmed. This definitely stood out as the highlight of the night.
So if its modern jazz you’re after on a Thursday night, look no further then “Sly” at the Llama bar. Top-notch playing, a huge variety of material, and all this for no entry fee - you’d be crazy not to go!
