| "The
way art is meant to be....The whole album is a joy." Shane Nichols, (allabout jazz.com, Oct 2002) |
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:: interview with craig pierce :: picture gallery :: reviews :: technical requirments :: select quotes :: gigs Sandy Evans Trio concert : Governor Hindmarsh HotelSeeing and hearing seem disconnected as the small woman on stage, slightly taller than the tenor saxophone she holds, begins to play. It doesn’t appear possible this swinging full-bodied sound could be produced by the diminutive figure whose tiny hands flit over keys that look too large. But, in a few seconds Sandy Evans has established she’s fully in command, with a galaxy of musical ideas, both for her numerous compositions and to drive her inspired solos, either on tenor or soprano saxophone. She couldn’t ask for better backing than the bass and drums supplied by Brett Hirst and Toby Hall. These two work a magical dialogue of bass skins and cymbals as they punctuate, embellish and reinforce Evans’ inventive lines. Almost all of the dozen or so pieces are originals by Evans: two are world premieres in this Australian tour and two others are based on a Korean chant and music from South India respectively. What all of this music has in common is an understanding portrayal of the different mood and structure of each piece by each player. The tempos might change abruptly, solos and ensemble playing mesh seamlessly and often quickly, but always the expressive feel and underlying flavours are strongly from the jazz tradiditon. Evans’ improvisations use the entire range of her instrument, brilliantly employing stop phrases, varied tonal shadings, fast runs and powerful swinging rhythms. This is world-class contemporary music performed by some of this country’s best. John McBeath, Adelaide Advertiser 1st September, 2003. Never Mind the Chords, Feel the TextureSandy Evans Trio concert: Hyde Park Hotel Saxophone, bass and drums is not the most common of line-ups in jazz. The last time the Perth Jazz Society presented a concert with this format was probably 1984 with the famed Bernie McGann Trio. Both Sandy Evans and McGann are Sydneysider saxophonists and Evans can be found as a fourth member on Bernie McGann’s 1997 recording, Playground. Without a chord-playing instrument to provide the harmonies – either piano or guitar – such a line-up as the Sandy Evans trio is forced to concentrate on melodic and rhythmic invention. Evans is a highly gifted composer, especially in the contemporary jazz idiom, and this concert comprised mostly her compositions. She has the ability to create lyrical and rhythmical compositions that are immediately interesting in themselves, so the lack of a harmony instrument is not evident. In fact the arrangements are so cleverly integrated that a chordal instrument would quite likely spoil the textural quality inherent in each piece. Evans is always alive to ways to create rich sound textures with her instrument. So often good saxophone players overplay and present a distorted, muddled sound that is notable for its energy rather than its subtlety. But Evans employs understatement and contrasting dynamics to create the distinctively subtle sound of her trio, assisted by two of the more sensitive rhythm section musicians in jazz. Drummer Toby Hall provided a palette of percussive sounds on a standard drum kit and his use of mallets on several compositions created an ethereal backing that enhanced the overall mood. Hall was content to leave space where required in the service of the composition rather than overplay -–an approach that was fundamental to the balance of the trio. New Zealand-born bassist Brett Hirst has an exquisite tone on double bass and an inventiveness that was showcased at various times throughout the concert. His ability to hold down an ostinato while his colleagues played cross rhythms is exemplary. Evans also moves effortlessly between the tenor and soprano saxophones, each with a superb tone. The soprano saxophone can become jarring if played too aggressively for long periods in the higher register but this was not the case with Evans’ approach. Her aim at all times was not to flaunt her technique but to create the kind of beautiful music that comes from years of performing at the highest levels. The Sandy Evans Trio confirmed why it is an important voice in Australian contemporary music and deserves the opportunity for more exposure on the international stage. Many of the originals performed in the concert can be found on the trio’s recent release, Not in the Mood. (Newmarket).
Sandy Evans Trio : Not in the Mood Saxophonist-composer Sandy Evans has forged her reputation at one of Australia’s leading saxophonists through her work with such bands as Women and Children First, Ten Part Invention, Clarion Fracture Zone, the catholics or the Australian Art Orchestra. (She wrote the AAO’S ‘Testimony’, which was such a hit at last year’s Sydney and Melbourne Festivals.) Evans has also made some memorable recordings as a ‘sideperson’ with Bernie McGann and with Gai Bryant (Playground and High Jinx respectively, both on Rufus.) Perhaps it’s a matter of modesty that she has avoided leading a band under her own name. In any case a chance to tour Europe last year (including a spot in the Berlin Jazz Festival) may have given her the incentive to finally make an album under her own name. She doesn’t shy away from the spotlight here, stepping out as a soloist with only bass and drums in support. Evans proves equally eloquent on tenor and soprano sax, and teams admirably with Brendan Clarke’s full-bodied bass and Toby Hall’s exuberant drums. The program reflects Evans’ eclectic tastes, from the exuberant highland fling of ‘Och aye the Groove’ to the eerie probing of ‘Snake Gully" or the majesty of ‘Korean Chant’. Her robust tenor sound, and willingness to explore the horn’s entire range, are perhaps best showcased in the unaccompanied intro to Coltrane’s ‘Peace on Earth’. Reviewed by Adrian Jackson, Rhythms July 2003 AUSTRALIENS JAZZFRAU This is not at all about " taking it easy". Funny, that it has to be this woman who frees jazz-Australia from this prejudice. Sandy Evans is a real knock out. Virulently she circles the themes, captures them and hits right in the middle of the target. For example the title song. Six minutes of thumping rhythm, full of ecstasy. In the song "Snake Gully" where she plays the soprano sax, her interest in Asian music becomes apparent. Delicately floating over the sounds of cymbals and bells. The Coltrane-song 'Peace on earth' is a sensitive reference to the master, with a strong expression and a big sound. Grand indeed! Matthias Creutziger, July MEIER. Sandy Evans Trio : Not in the Mood RIGHT FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF HER FIRST BAND, Women and Children First, it was clear that Sandy Evans was special as both a saxophonist and composer. That was over 20 years ago, and she has since risen to the top echelon of Australian improvised music, co-leading Clarion Fracture Zone and the Bronson/Evans/Robson Quintet, as well as performing with Ten Part Invention, Mara! AustraLYSIS, the Australian Art Orchestra the catholics, the Kristen Cornwell Quintet, Waratah (with Satsuki Odamura) and the Gai Bryant Quartet. She is also a collaborator with Bernie McGann, Judy Bailey and Han Bennink, among others. In forming this saxophone/bass/drums trio in the middle of 2001, Evans created a more naked environment for her playing and her compositions. The format gave her greater harmonic freedom (in having no chord instrument) and a test for her composing. Writing for trio is, in its way, more rigorous than writing for the 20 piece AAO. Variety is the spice of this album’s life. From the chunky title track it draws back into the delicate world of overtones (on soprano) for "Snake Gully", then beckons the full magisterial fervour of Evan’s mighty tenor on Coltrane’s ever-more-distant dream of "Peace on Earth". "Free Play" has wonderfully imaginative contributions from bassist Brendan Clarke and drummer Toby Hall, as the soprano scuttles across their bristling and constantly changing surface, detonating one burst of melodic invention after another. Evans’s gift for beautiful themes emerges vision – like on the haunting "Secret Garden". Then returns on the ravishing "Forgotten Dream". On "The Bridge of Eternal Youth", the Far East flavour is garnished with some exotic noodling from Hall. We stay in that part of the world for the hypnotic "Korean Chant", while "Och Aye the Groove" veers between pipe-band drumming and a skipping feel for the soprano to race over. Exhilarating.
Review by John Shand, 24 Hours April 2003 Back to top ^ A fine mood she’s inSandy Evans Trio concert : Side On Café, October 15 2002 It might be best described as a liquid intelligence (but has nothing to do with drinking). The improvising imagination and intellect of Sandy Evans readily adapt to, and fill, whatever musical vessel they find themselves in. Over the years these vessels have been the bands she has co-led, such as Women and Children First, Clarion Fracture Zone and the Bronson/Evans/Robson Quintet, and those she has been a crucial participant in, such as Ten Part Invention, the Australian Art Orchestra and the Gai Bryant Quartet. What sets the Sandy Evans Trio apart is that for once it is very much her band: she can design the vessel as well as fill it. This performance, celebrating the launch of the trio’s first recording, Not In The Mood (Newmarket), drew mostly on that album’s immensely varied compositions. Piece by piece these changed radically in mood and texture, despite being realised just by saxophone (Evans), double bass (Brendan Clarke) and drums (Toby Hall). Independently of the creative powers of the three musicians, this was a tribute to Evans the composer – one of the country’s finest – and the repertoire she has moulded specifically for this stripped-down band. Great melodies, often carrying whiffs of Eastern mystery, abounded: Mac Surfer, Not In The Mood, The Bridge of Eternal Youth and Kaleyard Blues among them. Evans is even better known as a saxophonist than as a composer, and this band is a purpose-built showcase for her playing. On Kaleyard Blues, she revelled in the enormity of the lower register of her tenor, before taking us on an explosive tour de force of the instrument. On The Bridge of Eternal Youth, it was her soprano which melted across the staccato accompaniment, the whole gradually gathering momentum and intensity, while the pulse quickened like a piece of Jewish Klezmer music. The rhythm section feels like it is still gelling and adapting to the requirements of the music. The gentler moods and textures – such as Hall’s imaginative use of shakers on MacSurfer, and Clarke’s exquisite harmonics on Kaleyard Blues – were realised superbly, while the fiercer ones could be a little too one- dimensional. The trio’s forthcoming German tour may help resolve this. Reviewed by John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald October 2002 Not In The Mood Sandy Evans Trio (Newmarket) 9 stars : "The Sydney-based saxophonist and composer is really the queen of Australian jazz (as much as she would chuckle at the description, no doubt). Over several decades now she has deepened her reputation both as a gifted and masterful sax player, witnessed on endless recordings and with premier outfits such as Clarion Fracture Zone, Ten Part Invention, The Australian Art Orchestra and more, and as a composer of such lauded work as the Charlie Parker concerts at the Sydney Opera House last year. This is the debut album by the trio--which has drummer Toby Hall and bassist Brendan Clarke in the ranks--and it is a real treat to hear Evans expounding at length and as the leader. Twelve tracks of absorbing variety and rarefied skill. Though she is a soprano player along with tenor, it is not automatic to include a Coltrane work like Peace On Earth, but since she has, it says something about her roots and influences. On this threnody she puts her tenor through a crucible, powerfully and urgently rising up out of a thrillingly bold beginning, and you can hear her gulping in air between the twisting and discursive torrents of phrases. Yet the tracks on either side of this piece are good examples of the trio nature of the recording. On Snake Gully it indeed sounds like a gathering of shy creatures in a dry water bed, the drummer supplying muffled bells and an arid clattering and chattering of percussion, while the bass strings are tapped by the bow and the soprano sax explores some hoarse twilight zone of register as Evans manipulates its harmonic overtones. Similarly, on Free Play she has Clarke repeat a little series of falling, harmonised notes which are as liquid and evocative as water running down a window. It's a subtle but brilliant effect and a great example of the eclat in her writing and in the way the band plays. After this exciting track we are disarmed thoroughly by the sheer beauty of the sublime, sinuous entry of her breathy tenor as it proudly and elegantly swirls up from nowhere in the opening statement. There is plenty more like this, the constants being her ability to be both relaxed and totally in control of proceedings, the way art is meant to be. The whole album is a joy." www.newmarketmusic.com.au Long wait, but well worth itSandy Evans Trio concert : Side on Café, July 7 2003 That it has taken so long for Sandy Evans’ to try her hand at leading a trio is surprising. Evans has been in the forefront of Australian improvised music for 20 years; leading or co-leading such pillars of excellence and innovation as Women and Children First, Clarion Fracture Zone and the Bronson/Evans/Robson Quintet, and whose saxophone has been a prominent force in Ten Part Invention, Mara!, the Australian Art Orchestra and the catholics. Coming after one performance in Canberra earlier this year, this was the Sydney debut of the band, completed by bassist Brendan Clarke and drummer Toby Hall, a long-term Evans collaborator. Clarke was a less obvious choice, but an inspired one. Bass players are exposed in the horn/bass/drums format and he did an exceptional job of filling out the sound harmonically and texturally and contributing expertly crafted solos on Skedaddleology and Forgotten Dream, among others. There was a periodic tension between Clarke’s more relaxed approach to the time and Hall’s inclination to push it. On The Speed of Light, there had been a vigorous momentum established, with Evans’s tenor boiling across the bass’s rapid walk, and Hall chopping across them with dramatic figures on the drums. Yet when the ride cymbal was added, that momentum was dissipated. The trio has sparked a new raft of material from Evans, who beyond her prowess on tenor and soprano saxophones, has long been a pre-eminent composer. These pieces exemplified a strength of hers which is all the more valuable in the trio context: the sheer breadth of her compositional ideas. The Secret Garden was fertile and exotic, her tenor pulsing and aching against a simple bass pattern. On The Bridge of Eternal Youth her soprano was like a constant wake-up call, engaging in a biting conversation the drums. Reviewed by John Shand Sydney Morning Herald July 9, 2001 |
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