The Greasy Chicken Orchestra with Phillip Johnston (centre). Photo: Rachel Knepfer
John Shand
Blokes in boaters with banjos and clarinets were so ubiquitous in Australian pubs decades after the so-called trad-jazz revival of the 1960s that, for many people, the term jazz still primarily conjures up that music.
These days classic jazz is the preferred name for the idiom which, from its inception in New Orleans, swept the world in the 1920s, and it is this that Phillip Johnston's Greasy Chicken Orchestra sets about hatching anew.
Johnston has always understood that jazz's century-long history is a rich resource rather than a cramping liability, and with this band he immerses himself almost completely in this era of energised, good-humoured (and humorous) dance music.
But instinctively he indulges in a little free-range reinvention amid the revivalism, most particularly in shunning the conventional trumpet/clarinet/trombone frontline in favour of soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, plus the usual piano, guitar/banjo, bass/tuba and drums. This made for a less brash, more nuanced and blended sonority, combined with an emphasis on pinpoint arrangements and concise solos.
The works of Jelly Roll Morton and a young Duke Ellington provided the repertoire's heart; music that was played with great affection and considerable panache, despite the arrangements (and rarity of gigs) necessitating all eyes being glued to charts virtually throughout.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/greasy-chicken-orchestra-review-freerange-reinvention-amid-jazz-revivalism-20160426-goevrn.html#ixzz46vyCoUkU
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