MORE JAHZZ FROM THE KIWI UNDERGROUND (2024): Jahzz it is and jazz it be

The on-going releases of left-field local jazz, improvised music and outlier sounds continues apace.

The bandcamp site for Kiwijahzz lists 11 volumes of Jazz From the Underground Nightclubs of Aotearoa as well as albums like Neil Duncan's Phantom Tones and others.

Mostly live albums around saxophonist Jeff Henderson and fellow travelers like bassist Eamon Edmundsen-Wells and drummer Chris O'Connor (aka Trioglodyte), the albums feature a revolving door of guests: saxophonist Sean Martin-Buss, drummer Julien Dyne (who does the impressive artwork), bassist Tom Callwood and others.

Their latest release is It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (they are fun about their seriousness) and Trioglodyte invited a bunch of guests which included keyboard player Rosie Langabeer, singer Allana Goldsmith, percussion player Riki Gooch, taonga puoro player Abigail Aroha Jenson and trombonist Gerard Crewson. And others.

Hence . . . Dodecoglodytes. 

As you might guess from a splendid time was had by all on this night in May as they improv their way through enjoyably relentless grooves (the 15 minute plus Polyphonic 1), feel their way into the engrossing Red White 'n' Blue Blues (where Langabeer delivers a singular part amidst the enjoyable horns and Goldsmith gives Yoko a more melodic twist) and California rides a walking funk bass with Iggy Palmero Epstein of feisty alto.

Hoedown isn't quite what you'd expect from the title, but then nothing here is as expected.

Certainly there's a measure of “guess you had to be there”, but actually less than you might think.

Start with Polyphonic 2 and you'll wish you had been there for the mayhem and sax-flatulence in the monkey enclosure.

Our attention goes back to Volume 8: Two Pieces by Ornette Coleman. One being his best known piece Lonely Woman (Free Jazz is actually better known but no one can hum it) and Good Old Days from his 1966 Blue Note album Empty Foxhole where he played with his 10-year old son Denardo and once again got onto violin and trumpet.

(Miles Davis took his trumpet playing as a personal insult.)

The group for these two pieces isTrioglodyte with drummers Karen Hu and Larsen Winiata Taylor.

Coleman and his harmolodic theory (“remove the caste system from sound”) has long been an important touchstone for Henderson/Trioglodytes so his alto states these tunes then embarks on a furious exploration in fast and at times full-throated free blowing off the course. Having the drummers on hand adds an extra fury and roiling undercurrent.

Interestingly it is the percussion which leads into Lonely Woman before the abrasive alto enters..

Again, these pieces – recorded live in 2021 – aren't for the faint hearted, but once you start to embrace this Kiwi Jahzz from the underground it does get under the skin and deep down in the vital organs.

Visceral brain food.

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You can hear and buy these albums and many others at the Kiwi Jahzz page at bandcamp here.

Elsewhere has covered a number of Kiwijahzz albums (and others along a similar axis) starting here