The band played an amazing gig at Australia’s most iconic jazz club, Sydney’s – The Basement. The band is now in Brisbane and is playing The Brisbane Jazz Club tonight.
The band is getting tighter and tighter with each passing gig and tonight’s gig at The Brisbane Jazz Club will be tour de force of jazz groove in honour of the late great Freddie Hubbard.
It’s day 7 of our national tour and in the 5 gigs we have played to date in 3 states the band has been exceptionally well received. So far the band has been blessed to have had the opportunity to play for 2 jazz reviewers, 3 live recordings, 3 full houses and 2 photographers. Even though each gig has been a success with greater audience numbers and more enthusiastic appreciation the band members continue to practice hard on the road and the tunes are constantly having additions made to them.
The band is in Canberra at the moment and heads to Woollongong in a day or so for 2 gigs.
Here are the ‘Wah Sa’ National Tour – Venues & Dates
Get on down as this will be something special..
28th June @ 8pm Gertrude’s Brown Couch Fitzroy, VIC
29th June @ 9pm Paris Cat Jazz Club Melbourne, VIC
01st July @ 2pm Friar’s Café Shepparton,VIC
02nd July @ 8pm The Wheatsheaf Hotel Adelaide,SA
03rd July @ 8pm The God’s Café Canberra, ACT
06th July @ 8pm Yours And Owls Wollongong, NSW
08th July @ 2:30pm Basement Jazz @ The Builders Club Wollongong, NSW
10th July @ 8pm The Grand Hotel Newcastle, NSW
11th July @ 9:30pm The Basement Sydney, NSW
12th July @ 8pm Glass Fortitude Vly,QLD
14th July @ 7:30pm Brisbane Jazz Club Brisbane, QLD
15th July @ 8:30pm Bennetts Lane Jazz Club Melbourne, VIC
For details on ticket price or opening times please consult the venue’s website.
There is a description below of what to expect form the new album and the national tour gigs…
Wah Sa is nothing less than jazz-groove lightning in a bottle. It’s the fourth album from the Daimon Brunton Quintet and first to be recorded live. Wah Sa is both a popping, rhythm and beats propelled salute to the 70s recordings of Freddie Hubbard, and an attempt to capture the Melbourne-based group’s electrifying live gigs.
“Our last album, My Favourite Things, was all about melody and creating the most beautiful sound possible,” says Daimon. “This time it was all about energy and that’s why we had to record it live.”
Over the course of two years recording, the group’s line-up changed multiple times, several jazz venues were used and the list of charts rotated constantly. Daimon finally found the sound he wanted at the relaxed Open Studio with a line-up comprising himself on trumpet, Olaf Scott and Greg Levell on keyboard, Stella Skinner on guitar, Pat Farrell on bass and Adam Donaldson on drums.
From hours of recordings, just five tracks were selected to create a powerful album full of infectious grooves and brilliant playing. There are two covers: Herbie Hancock’s Chameleon and Freddie Hubbard’s Red Clay, which Daimon notes “are played straight but with plenty of firepower”. Added to that are three originals: the title track Wah Sa, They Know Not What and A Happy Coincidence. “With those three I just wanted to write the hippest, funkiest charts I could,” adds the trumpeter-composer.
In fact it’s the towering figure of Freddie Hubbard that first inspired Daimon with this project. “After Sky Dive (1972) he seemed to move away to more pop-oriented music, but I was interested in exploring what might have been if Freddie had continued down the jazz path.” he explains. “That’s why when it came to putting this album together, regardless of cleanliness or mistakes, we prioritised those recordings which are the most addictive and which have the most intense energy.”
Wah Sa is a Chinese chant that means, “already done”. For Daimon Brunton and his group, the work for this live album was already done over some 15 years of playing live around Melbourne. Now with the support of Arts Victoria, they are hitting the road for the first time on a national tour in support of Wah Sa, playing in Melbourne, Shepparton, Adelaide, Canberra, Wollongong, Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane.
Yesterday marked exactly one month until our national tour commences. Almost all promotional materials have gone out and we have in our possession physical copies of the brand new album to be released Thursday 28th June at Gertrude’s Brown Couch. Get excited people .. this is going to be epic!
We had our first tour band rehearsal yesterday .. my word this is going to be mad!! One rehearsal in and the band already sounds fantastic!! And from here on it’s only going to get better.
Album graphics for brand new live album are almost done! Etienne is killing it! Looks super sharp. The new album’s looks and packaging will be a breakaway from the past 3 albums. All new look. All new sound.