Blanc de Blanc Encore at Spiegel Haus Melbourne; Joost Lijbaart and Wolfert Brederode at Brunswick’s JazzLab
True, 1920s retro style may make some of the “naughty” sound super mainstream a century later, but it remains gripping entertainment from an internationally renowned company and a fun way to open a new performance venue in the heart of a city known for hiding its liveliest treasures in alleyways and hidden corners.
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead
Jazz musicians Joost Lijbaart and Wolfert Brederode.
JAZZ
Joost Lijbaart and Wolfert Brederode ★★★★
JazzLab, 5 November
Patience. This was the word and quality that came to my mind as I listened to the performances of Joost Lijbaart and Wolfert Brederode and wondered what it was that made their music so seductive.
The drummer and pianist (both Dutch) have been playing together in a variety of settings for over 20 years, and their musical bond is so subtle that they can communicate even with the simplest of movements. They last toured Australia in 2018 with the fab quartet led by saxophonist Yuri Honing, but their creative antennae are perhaps most vividly on display in duo mode.
Joost Lijbaart and Wolfert Brederode are both Dutch.
Each of the two sets at JazzLab on Wednesday emerged as a sustained, quietly engaging exchange of ideas and energy. Brederode and Lijbaart are musical storytellers, but their stories are mostly improvised; The narrative flow takes shape moment by moment and the outcome is not known until it occurs.
So be patient. Rather than making up drama or exciting scenes to keep the audience engaged, these musicians simply created space and waited for new themes, leads, and detours to reveal themselves.
At the piano, Brederode shaped wisps of shadowy abstraction into the lines of the melody before letting it dissolve, or transformed harmonic motifs into a lush, flowing river before it too dissolved. Beauty was everywhere, tinged with melancholy and longing, as if Brederode was holding on to a memory, an experience, an emotion just out of reach.
In this environment, Lijbaart’s drums and percussion were rarely used for timekeeping. Instead, they produced colors and textures that enhanced or subtly contrasted with Brederode’s atmospheric explorations.
Yes, Lijbaart could invoke a propulsive sway or polyrhythmic shuffling to push the music towards a rhythm. But more often it evoked a sense of mystery or ritual with the echoing sound of a temple bell, the rustle of a beaded shaker, or the bird-like chirping of a wooden flute.
The duo’s close listening and attention to detail invited us to listen closely as well, creating a spell from which we were reluctant to break.
Reviewed by Jessica Nicholas
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