Van Gelder Jazz Concert… Live on a Sunday morning?

Well, what is there to do in Melbourne on a wintery Sunday morning in May?

School open days, sporting events, cosy cafe’s or just a lazy morning indoors to revive for the week ahead.

Yes to all of these!

To break free of the ‘normal’, a diverse group of music lovers gathered at Nirvana Sound to escape to another world at 11am on May 16th 2021.

We were privileged to host a group of fellow music lovers who dropped in to enjoy some coffee, tea and light refreshments in anticipation of a live music stream event from New Jersey studios of Rudy Van Gelder (the famed location for much of America’s finest Jazz recordings from the last 60 plus years).

In November 2020 during a brief window of freedom from the COVID lockdowns in Victoria we were able to stream the first in what promises to become a regular series of live music from Van Gelder Studios.

This was the next in the series with Joey DeFrancesco, legendary jazz organist who was discovered by Miles Davis as a teenager. DeFrancesco has been an important force in the industry for over 30 years, particularly known for his role in the revival of the Hammond B-3 organ. He has been featured on recordings alongside Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Henry Mancini, David Sanborn and John McLaughlin. He toured with Davis when he was only 17 years old and has released over 30 albums, 9 of which were recorded at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio.

Performing alongside DeFrancesco were Billy Hart on drums and Peter Bernstein on guitar. Hart, who has graced the stage for over 60 years, has performed with Miles Davis, Otis Reding, Sam and Dave, Shirley Horn, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Stan Getz. Bernstein has deep experience in organ-settings with Dr. Lonnie Smith, Melvin Rhyne and Larry Goldings. Special guest, tenor saxophonist Houston Person, recorded almost 50 albums at the studio dating back to 1966. Many of those with organists including Don Patterson, Richard “Groove” Holmes and Johnny “Hammond” Smith.

After some refreshments and conversation, we settled into our seats as the concert started at 11am Melbourne time. How accurate and live was the sonic presentation? Well, when the announcer was struggling with an intermittent connection on his FM microphone, we could hear during the session minor adjustments to microphone levels and mix (as would happen during any live recording). The raw visceral nature of the session came through unfiltered. The band settled into their rhythm, inter-playing and settling into a groove which at times bordered on hypnotic. Several times our audience broke into applause during the performance just like one would at a Jazz club.

One of the listeners is a well-known flautist in the international Jazz scene and shared some insights on Billy Hart and Joey DeFrancesco from personal experience at Ronny Scott’s in London. For that 60 minutes of live music, we could have been anywhere in the globe enjoying some great free flowing Jazz. Instead of single malts, we had single origin and fresh pastries from a local French patisserie, so we could manage the rest of the day. After the event a bunch of us kicked on well into the afternoon listening to some music in Room 3 on the Wilson Benesch Discovery II driven by the Air Tight ATC-5 and ATM-1S amplifiers. An absolutely wonderful way to end the session.

Events at Nirvana Sound are great places to meet fellow music lovers and enjoy exceptional sound reproduction in a forum that is unique in this region. Jim, Anthony, Sophie and Mark from Nirvana Sound thank all those who attended and enjoyed the hospitality and look forward to seeing you at the next one!

Check out the report from Travis Kelly, Soundstage Australia

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