Whilst I hope you enjoy the photo, it is really here to alert you to a beautiful, quietly surprising “live” performance of Andrea Keller’s Broken Reflection.
The photo was taken in a forest glade in the USA’s Pacific Northwest; the music is Australian.
More than a few years ago, as producer-presenter of a long-lived but now several years-deceased ABC RN music program, I opined that Andrea Keller had one of Australia’s most consistently interesting musical minds.
We all express some opinions which we later regret or revise.
However, that one was, I think, a correct assessment “way back then”, and is even more so, right now.
As is true of most of the more interesting “jazz” musicians, “jazz” – however you understand that term – is crucial to Andrea Keller’s music, but very evidently not its only key element.
I continue to hope that more than a tiny minority of the “most prominent”, “influential”, self-styled “major”/ “leading international” jazz critics and publications will eventually “discover” that not every one of jazz’s select few, truly singular/major jazz artists resides in New York. (or in Europe)
In a sense, no matter; many “knowledgeable” North American critics paid little or no attention to Australia’s late-great Bernie McGann.
Still, the “fact” stands: alto saxophonist Bernie (1937 – 2013) was an enormously more creative, distinctive jazzperson than were not a few of the almost-always-Americans to whom Downbeat et al did pay homage, repeatedly.
(a 1990 version of McGann’s “Mex”, from the eponymous album by The Last Straw – a quartet, with drummer John Pochee, bassist Lloyd Swanton and pianist Tony Esterman)
Likewise, within America, the late-great Von Freeman was for many years one of the greatest living tenor saxophonists.
However, for too many years – his preference for Chicago over New York rendered “Vonski” weirdly “nigh-invisible” to the NYC-centric Downbeat.
Von (1923 – 2012) was, I think, the oldest bona fide jazz titan ever to “make” Downbeat’s cover for the first time.
(Von Freeman was in his 79th year, onstage in his home city when he delivered this, absolutely-solo, in January 2002. The song itself was twelve or thirteen years younger than Von)
Perhaps, many years hence, as an octogenarian, Andrea will outdo Von, Downbeat-wise!
Andrea Keller’s music is remarkably diverse.
Not least among many virtues is her ability to create music which is oft-adventurous yet eminently accessible, deeply lyrical but highly improvisatory, meticulously structured but wide open.
Andrea leads many ensembles, each with its own character, and she also works with other leaders.
A key asset is her gift for maintaining long-standing friendships with an ever-growing raft of other eloquent musicians; invariably, they are highly interactive – “conversationalists” who listen as keenly as they play.
Sometimes one of Andrea’s bands “doubles up” on one or more “usual” jazz instrument – it may have two bassists and/or drummers, for instance.
Some of her groups adopt the reverse approach.
“Patsy” is a quartet with neither drummer nor bassist; Andrea is pianist & primary composer, Flora Carbo plays alto sax, trombonist Callum Mintzis provides the other horn, whilst the second keyboard is Stephen Grant’s accordion.
This “quartet” is perhaps better considered as an “a/b/c/d” which offers fourteen different “marriages” or “separations” of “a”, “b”, “c” and “d”…or fifteen, if you include the moments when all four players are simultaneously silent.
Everyone gives everyone else a lot of space.
Their debut album, is one of Andrea’s several new/ish releases, all of which can be purchased here.
An earlier, very different version is on Andrea’s 2020 solo set, Journey Home.
Footnote
The featured image, copyright Doug Spencer, was taken on 22 May 2015, as my beloved and I ambled down Mt Constitution in Moran State Park on Orcas Island.
Orcas is the largest of the San Juan Islands in Washington State, USA.
At 734 metres, Mt Constitution is the San Juans’ highest point; on a clear/ish day its summit offers splendid views, over the Strait, to a much higher, mainland peak.
Mt Baker is one of the world’s “snowiest” mountains.
