Mark Lockett & Paul van Ross - Live at Spleen (2004)

This live recording is a wonderful example of the creative musical energy of Australian musicians and especially the younger generation who, while respecting the tradition of the older jazz players, are pushing into the future.
This is a jazz recording in the true sense of the word, with a set of works warmly entrenched in the idiom. The music of Coltrane, Tyner, Mingus, Henderson, Rivers and of course Cole Porter, is well known, as are the many performances of these standards. In the hands of players who have not honed their skills, listened intensively and then thought, seriously about what to play, a CD such as this would in my view, not be successful.
This recording however, has all the ingredients of high quality jazz: an excellent selection of pieces, a first rate collection of players, and performances which will leave the listener with the impression that both the hearts and minds of the players are at work in the creative process.
One of the most satisfying features is a sense that although there is great facility amongst the musicians, there are no excesses here, just pure music making. This is not as common as we might think in the jazz idiom where it is sometimes irresistible for those with great technique to let the ego get in the way of the music. Not so here.
Listen to Paul Van Ross' rich tone and uncommonly lyrical approach to lines, and Mark Lockett's cymbal and brush sound, which gives the music a lovely buoyancy and spirit. They are highly complimentary to one another.
Especially noticeable too, is the playing of Tom Lee. Here is a double bassist with a full, legato sound, a result of knowing how not to force the tone out of the instrument. (We have all heard the other kind, who try to pull the strings off the bass in order to get the big effect and produce merely a series of thuds!) Tom provides a beautiful, 'orchestral' base to this group and is partly the cause, I suspect, of the lyricism that goes on above him.
The two keyboard players, Howard and Gassin, are exceptional in their ability to accompany without getting in the way, and of course produce some excellent solos as well as contributing to a cohesive rhythm section. This is real art.
To return to the pieces, it is refreshing to see Australian works alongside the big American names. But by now, thankfully, the broader jazz world knows the name McGann and if this recording is heard overseas, the names Van Ross, Lockett, and the others, will be there as well, as they should be.
Within the genre, the fine playing on this recording suggests a timelessness which comes only with quality and substance.
Listening to these players confirms once again that music making in Australia is not only of high quality but has a character which while saluting the past and the creativity of elsewhere, has its own unique, wonderful sound. Certainly in the country we take from everywhere, but in the end what comes out is an openness of spirit heard nowhere else in the world.