Extra Tasty: SARS CD Launch
The concert space was buzzing, packed to the rafters and spilling over into the smaller rooms where someone had thoughtfully set up a big-screen TV to monitor the gig via video. It was an eclectic crowd: suburban matrons from the string teaching world rubbed shoulders with inner-city bohemians, BEMAC supporters, and local musicians of every flavour. And flavour was the operative word. If, as we are flattered to hear, Australia leads the world in ‘new cuisine’, which blends the traditional tastes of every corner of the globe and serves it up with postmodern panache, then there is every sign that Brisbane, with the help of new world music funksters like Sars, is fast becoming the sonic equivalent.
Sars’ music recalls the smoke-filled café scene of 1920s Paris cafés but is filtered through an edgy, contemporary sensibility. We were treated to a live version of the entire CD, comprised of Sars’ own arrangements and drawing on Argentine tango, South American folk styles, rhumba, and flamenco, all held together with a European gypsy jazz aesthetic. There are inventive arrangements of the works of tango pioneer Astor Piazzolla, jazz legend Chick Corea and other well-known Spanish or South American composers as well as new works devised by Sars, taking flamenco idioms as their base. A good example of Sars’ truly original flair for the reinvention of tradition is their version of My Favourite Things from Oscar and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. The tune is set to a flamenco rhythm, with wild improvised violin and bass solos over a jazz mode. Obviously, such an arrangement is not altogether a serious undertaking, and it could easily have come across as a bit silly or even (god forbid) a cynical dig at the (alleged) hokeyness of Julie Andrews’s greatest work, but instead, it was simply delightful. Are we seeing the end of irony? One can only hope so.
Overall, the gig gave Shenton Gregory (who, when in hanging-upside-down-in-the-Queen-Street-mall mode, also goes by the name of Shenzo Gregorio, Stunt Violinist) plenty of opportunities to shine as a soloist. Fans of local free jazz combo The Trevor Hart Quartet will be familiar with Andrew Shaw’s intensely physical and musically inspired improvisatory style, and he gave us plenty of such moments at this gig. While guitarist Andrew Veivers did a commendable job holding everything together and had some intricate (but too quiet) melodic passages, I was longing to hear him break loose with some free soloing of his own. Perhaps most importantly, however, all three players managed to negotiate the highly complex rhythms characteristic of flamenco while still managing to look and sound cool, and that’s no mean feat. Amplification-wise, I had a few gripes with the mix which was too heavy on the high frequencies, making the violin sound a bit scratchy and robbing the guitar of body at its bottom end. But when Simone Pope floated out onto the floor to dance, it was hard to look (or listen) anywhere else. I’m not usually one for dance (I have even been known to watch the orchestra pit to avoid dying of boredom at the ballet), but the muscular grace and exuberant energy of Pope’s flamenco dance style was the perfect complement to the otherwise purely instrumental side of Sars. They are fast becoming a fixture of the local festival and events circuit, so keep an eye out for them, and give your ears a treat.
Details
Sars, Some Kind of Rhythm
Guitar: Andrew Veivers
Violin: Shenton Gregory
Bass: Andrew Shaw
Dancer/Percussion: Simone Pope
Contact Sars
Bookmark this article:
