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About The Necks
Instrument: Band / ensemble / orchestra
Ice, Ice, Baby
by Patrick Burnette
Mike's apparently random picks for this episode, whose release dates range from the mid-fifties to this very year, turn out to have at least one aspect in common: the artists involved illustrate different aspects of “cool." After detours exploring Michel Petrucciani's personal life and Mike's beef with British jazz critics, we wind things up by discussing a classic release from folkster Gillian Welch in our pop matters segment. Playlist Discussion of The Necks's album ...
Continue ReadingThe Necks: Body
by Mark Sullivan
Their official biography calls The Necks “one of the great cult bands of Australia," which says more about their fan base than the music they play. But it's still not a bad place to start; certainly, the mesmerizing improvised, slow-moving sound they create together is not likely to attract a mass audience. Like most of their recordings and live concerts, Body is a single, nearly hour-long improvisation--but one with four distinct sections. The performance begins with Chris Abrahams' ...
Continue ReadingThe Necks: Body
by Mike Jurkovic
Australia's greatest cult band, The Necks, has twenty albums to its creative and collective credit, amongst them Aether (Fish of Milk, 2001), Open (Fish of Milk, 2013) and Hanging Garden (Fish of Milk, 1999). Pianist/keyboardist Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton and drummer, percussionist and guitarist Tony Buck create an ever-expanding rhythmic organism that constantly feeds off of itself with Body. The episodic, hypnotic, trance-like, 56 minute-plus title track never lags, its vortex of many-layered dynamisms bursting or blooming ...
Continue ReadingBray Jazz Festival 2017
by Ian Patterson
Bray Jazz Festival Various venues Bray, Ireland May 28-30, 2017 There are just so many cultural events going on in Ireland over the May Bank Holiday weekend that it can be a bit of a head-spin deciding what to opt for. Roots music gatherings, literature festivals, classical recitals, a chamber music festival, traditional Irish folk festivals, lighthouse visits, theatre festivals and gigs galore, all vie for the punters' hard-earned coin. Happily, The Irish Times ...
Continue ReadingThe Necks: Vertigo
by Dave Wayne
Permit me a moment on a soapbox. Improvisation is merely a process, just as composition is a process. It is simply a way to organize sound. There are no imperatives, no agendas. Just spontaneity and interaction. Contrary to what's been drilled into your head over the years, improvisation doesn't necessitate “harsh" or “abrasive" sounds. In the early days of freely improvised jazz, harsh and abrasive sounds were common currency as the development of the style was steeped in the energy ...
Continue ReadingThe Necks: Vertigo
by Mark Sullivan
The Necks don't swing. Since they are sometimes described as an “experimental jazz trio," it seems best to just put that on the table at the outset. I hesitate to call their music “free improvisation," as well, because of the abrasive, dissonant qualities so often found in that music--which doesn't describe The Necks at all. What this Australian group does is collectively create soundscapes that change and grow, but very slowly and gently. It's no accident that ambient pioneer Brian ...
Continue ReadingThe Necks at Cafe Oto
by Alex Franquelli
The Necks Cafe Oto London October 8, 2014 It is always a good sign when the imposing windows of Cafe Oto are misted up. If one could see through the condensation, if one could, with just one finger, remove the minuscule droplets amassed on the vertical plains, one would almost invariably spot fine music in the making. A woman, glass of red wine in hand, explains to her neighbour that, yes, this ...
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