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4.0 out of 5 stars
Tales from the underground,
By
This review is from: Bodgie Dada & the Cult of Cool (Hardcover)
Great title for a book on jazz in Australia. The first period of jazz here was 1946-55, which pretty well coincides with the emergence of abstract art too. So during that post-war decade there was a huge revolution in public tastes, even though the first players were few and far between and not terribly with-it. In the 60s a number of the best jazz players were drawn to rock and pop - The Loved Ones and Peter Head (Headband) are good examples.Interestingly, there is no mention of Syrius's presence here ca.1970, even though Jackie Orszaczky is, in passing, as a funk player(see my review on two Syrius CDs here). In the early to mid 70s there was a huge interest in this music and it was being absorbed by players awake to its bounties. Bands like Mackenzie Theory (a heady and individual fusion of instrumental rock and jazz), the more commercial but talented Ayers Rock (Chicago meets Zappa and Weather Report on their 1st lp) and Crossfire (who later recorded with Michael Franks) showed the overseas influences surfacing here. Some of the best Oz players like Mike Nock, Roy Laird and Graham Morgan worked overseas. I recall seeing bands like Mahavishnu Orchestra, Eberhard Weber & Colours,Chico Freeman, Oregon, Dave Liebman Quintet (with Terumaso Hino), Weather Report, Miroslav Vitous with Stanley Clarke, and Herbie Mann in relatively quick succession. Later we saw Miles Davis, John McLaughlin (with Paco De Lucia and later his ca.1990 trio) but the big tours dried up from the late 80s. To me, Oz jazz started to get interesting from then, as local musos came to the fore. There was the odd great player, like Bernie McGann and Allan Browne who had stayed on, but now it began to take its place on the world stage. There are some of the most lively and interesting jazz musos in the world here: bands like Women and Children First, The Catholics, Clarion Fracture Zone, The Necks and Wanderlust have made or are making great music and plenty of recordings. I've even seen a guy I knew in Adelaide, Carl Orr, playing guitar with Billy Cobham. But Bodgie Dada tells a much wider story than the one seen through my eyes, even if it is a little skewed towards the big cities of Sydney and Melbourne. It's a lively tale from the Australian underground as one senses that jazz never really became mainstream here until the arrival of showmen like Vince Jones, Paul Grabowsky and James Morrison, and popular vocalists like Kate Ceberano. Loads of colour and black and white photos underscore my point about its serious rise to prominence and respect.
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