Held at the legendary late night venue, Revolver Upstairs, the club series is a new addition to the Stonnington Jazz programme, and it’s already drawing attention from a wide-range of music-lovers. Worldwide Jazz Party also featurestheSenegambian Jazz Band, and it’s set to take ticketholders on an international journey.
“The Worldwide Jazz Party has a wider appeal to people who perhaps might not see something at a jazz festival,” Van Ross says. “It’s a club spot so people will be able to drink and dance if they want to. It won’t necessarily be just sit down and listen, which I think is great – get some bodies moving. I often play at jazz clubs and when I speak to the audience members that are first-timers afterwards, they tell me they were surprised, it was not what they were expecting. People have a preconceived idea of what a jazz club is like and what sort of music they would hear. I really like to break down those barriers – there is a huge range of music that fits into the term jazz.”
Clave Mania – pronounced Cla-vé – is a group Van Ross has been working with for a few years now. A rhythm often found in Cuban music, the collective’s alias is indicative of the sound audiences can expect to hear.
“We will be playing all original material, essentially music that I recently recorded in Cuba,” Van Ross says. “I’ll be playing some flute, tenor sax and maybe even some soprano sax. We’ve also got congas, a drum set, double bass and piano. If you go by the music that’s going to be played, African and Cuban based stuff, I think you should expect not to sit still. There’ll be infectious grooves and infectious vibes – that’s my plan anyway [laughs].
“We will be playing a set of music based around [the 2014 LP] Mi Alma Cubana. In English it means ‘My Cuban Soul’. There’s salsa, cha-cha-cha and, of course, some soul music.”
The Senegambian Jazz Band, meanwhile, will be focusing on the fusion of world jazz, afro and funk. “They have a kora, an African instrument that’s basically a big bowl with a long neck and a couple of strings on it – I think that’s awesome,” says Van Ross. “I’ve played in some African bands before and I’m picking that, at some point in the night, there will be jumping.”
As well as appearing at this event, Van Ross is looking forward to watching some of his friends and fellow-musicians that are also taking part in Stonnington Jazz.
“Anton Delecca and Remco Keijzer are doing a tenor saxophone set and Fem Belling, who’ve I’ve worked with a quite a bit, is doing her own thing too,” he says. “Melbourne is a very lucky city because of the standard of musicians and the broad range of musicians. Some of the most interesting musicians are some of the younger ones, people not long out of university that are doing some fantastic stuff. I hope that other young folks get to hear those musicians and spread the love.
“There’s a couple of people I’ve seen play where I look at them and they physically look like they’re at total one being with their instrument. The guitar or the bass is not a separate thing. It almost looks like they were born with it, as if it’s just part of their body because they are so comfortable with it. It’s truly amazing.”
BY PHOEBE ROBERTSON
