BY MICHAEL HAMMELMANN
Jazz Party
Kew Court House, 28 August
Known for its periodic takeovers of residencies all across Melbourne, Jazz Party occupied the intimate Kew Court House in a display of high-level musicianship. The ensemble’s performance featured a range of songs from hot jazz through to later developments.
From the beginning of its set, Jazz Party was musically stunning. Saxophonist Darcy McNulty produced a sublime tone that was rich and smooth in texture, whilst also engineering some great solos in many of the songs, most notably ‘Mardi Gras Mambo’ and ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’. Aside from this, McNulty’s voice exhibited bright, clean and mellow qualities, whilst his stage presence was also a strong characteristic. He was able to evoke a relaxed vibe throughout the group’s performance.
Vocalist and pianist Hue Blanes was another stand-out performer for Jazz Party. His piano work was an absolute marvel to listen to – as well as virtuosic, particularly in his intense and fanatical solos. He was right in the moment from the beginning – one was visually able to see his passion for everything the group played and this clearly resonated with the audience.
Blanes’ voice was charming and warm in colour, his use of scat singing was absolutely masterful in delivery and his overall tonal quality complemented everybody else in the group who shared the vocal duties for the evening. The success of the evening also came about due to the ever reliable rhythm section that was accurate and provided a solid backdrop during the various solos that took place. Not to mention the section’s great accompaniment to the lead vocalists.
Tracey Miller joined the group for a couple of songs in both the first and second half of the set, adding another layer of musicality to what was already an extremely impressive group of musicians. Her voice displayed versatility in that it had both a strong raspy quality as well as a clean powerful tone. Her cameo appearance included songs such as ‘Early in the Morning’, which had an extreme amount of energy as Miller was able to encompass the entire room with her blissful voice and quite deservedly received an encore, much to the delight of the audience.
Highlights of the evening include Jazz Party’s interpretation of ‘Squeeze Me but Please Don’t Tease Me’ and ‘Mardi Gras Mambo’, in which every member of the group showed absolute skill and class in their respective instruments with their energetic performance style clearly impacting the audience in a way in which one could not help but feel the need to move and dance. Capping off what was a great performance was the group’s rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’- an absolute classic and the perfect way to end the evening.
Jazz Party provided a passionate display of jazz songs spanning from the early days of hot jazz to the modern era in a relaxed yet energy-infused environment with a demonstration of top quality musicianship.
Image supplied.
