Jazz

There are many words that could be used to describe Melbourne band The Hornstars. Funky. Danceable. Loud. Quirky (have you seen that video?). But above all else, the Hornstars are all about fun, and their primary mission is to show their audience a funky good time.

The Hornstars sound is big, brassy and hard to pigeonhole. The lineup featuring Clancy Cullen (vocals), Daniel Bardan (trumpet), Bruce Cousins (trombone), Russell B Myers (tenor sax), Joey Mount (drums), Mike Holloway (bass), Peter Bonett (keys), Gareth Durant (guitar) and Eric Morand (alto sax and percussion) bring a wide range of influences to the mix. Jazz, soul reggae - it may not all be funk as we know it, but it is definitely funky.

The Hornstars formed in 2016, legend has it, after founding members were kicked out of their ska band for allegedly being “too funky”. What came next was inevitable. The band quickly recruited their 9-piece lineup and confected a set of catchy and danceable songs, which they took to the pubs and bars of Melbourne and beyond, and eventually released as their debut album in March 2020.

During the COVID-enforced hiatus, band members continued to write, getting together when restrictions allowed. The band’s song writing continued to evolve, sometimes reflecting what was going on in the world outside (witness the hard funk grooves of "No Gigs" and "Half Way There"), and at others expressing aspirations for brighter post-pandemic future ("Touch", "Say Goodbye"). Occasionally emerging between lockdowns in 2021, the Hornstars were greeted with an enthusiastic reception and sold out shows.

With their second album Half Way There released in August this year, the Hornstars are looking forward to playing more live shows in 2022 and beyond. And while we are still living in uncertain times, here is one thing to be sure of - The Hornstars are still having fun in 2022, and so should you.

Musically Exquisite, Lyrically Explicit - Artistically Evocative, Socially Provocative - the Beatnik Preachers meld a blistering style of jazz with original beat-poetry to form a unique ensemble that provides a palette for both the ears and the mind.

Anthony Norris (trumpet and spoken word) joined by Rob Burke (sax) gather the funky drumming of Miles Henry and the groove of bassist Nick Haywood to drive a quintet allowing the sublime piano of Joel Lewis to evoke and provoke both melody and harmony. Norris and Burke are melodically divine yet technically elaborate, thereby adding a unique interplay of risk and trust within the ensemble that is joyous and raucous. Firmly in the spirit of jazz whilst celebrating the human condition and investigating issues that currently face each and every one of us.

Powerful, dynamic and highly energetic; Mount Kujo is a Melbourne based, internationally formed act blending Funk and Jazz influenced by Latin and Afro-beat. A collective of jazz musicians from all around the world deeply rooted in Melbourne’s music scene, playing original arrangements rich of colourful harmonic changes, syncopated rhythms with explosive horn sections and extensive solo parts.

Mount Kujo have an extensive touring record in Australia, having played festivals (Dragon Dreaming, Castlemaine Jazz, Renaissance Festival) as well as some of Melbourne’s finest night clubs (Night Cat, 24 Moons, Toff in Town, The Gaso), they are probably best known for their intimate residency shows in some of those beautiful hidden bars in the side streets of Melbourne’s underground music scene.

Mount Kujo I available on vinyl and all streaming platfroms including bandcamp.
Jazz survives gracefully into our modern age because of its flexibility as an art form. It flows through cultures and adapts with each new reinvention, thriving within or without structure. That’s a perfect metaphor to introduce the sound of Mount Kujo’s first self-titled studio album, the follow up to Live at Bar Oussou.

If the nucleus of the band was documented on that live recording from 2020, Mount Kujo’s 2022 effort bears the fruit of hard work, introspection and musical growth. Their compositions have matured far beyond the monothematic “afrobeat orchestra” ideas that bandleader Max Myland brought to Melbourne’s warmer cityscape from Berlin and now include elements of latin-rock, spiritual jazz and even drum ‘n bass. The group has embraced the true spirit of being a musical collective: a living, breathing unit that adapts to its surroundings quickly, and boasts a confident studio prowess that has benefitted from their unconfined stage style.

Awkward attempts to secure band members by inviting them to a tombstone factory / rehearsal room in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, plus the insecurities of the last years meant Mount Kujo got used to operating as a loose collective. The idea of being comfortable to play and rehearse as a larger or smaller band came out of their compulsion to continue to be creative no matter what circumstances they found themselves in. Max recruited and bunkered down with the core composers of the band – keyboardist Phil Setton (“We talked about Steely Dan all night”), trombonist Tom Panckridge (“This band doesn’t actually work on paper”), saxophonist Will Larsen (“Listening to Tom’s solos is giving me permanent stank face”) and drummer James Carman (“When we play together, it feels like this is what I’m on Earth to do”) to compose the foundation of tunes that would become this exciting album, while leaving space for rotating members of the greater collective to add their own flavor in the mix.

The first single, Orientation is a classic Kujo standard, finally fleshed out as a studio version, hails alongside Golden Holden and Move to showcase Mount Kujo’s fondness for groovy arrangements in the vein of 70s cinematic funk, bolstered by Latin and West African rhythm accompaniments. Cliffhanger proves they are masters of tension, bombastic vamps and then enthralling an audience with a four-to-the-floor backbeat.

The warm, vintage-analog feel to the album is a great credit to sound engineer Deep Sheth, who took pains to recreate many creative studio ideas from the 70s, including looping the drums in a garden hose with a mic on the end, a trick picked up from Sylvia Massy.

While the group jokes that “stage beers” are tantamount to the “Kujo Vibe”, peering into that answer exposes a greater truth about the Mount Kujo ethos: these musicians are as pure as it gets, in an industry moment where – for many – getting on Spotify playlists and selling t-shirts has become more important than the music, Mount Kujo are dedicated to honing their compositions and setting them free on stage. They savor the post-soundcheck hangs, dealing with stage and production issues and simply existing in their creative element. “No one is irreplaceable in the band, including me” explains Max, of the way they are allowed to forge forward without member’s egos getting in the way. A close listen to the immaculate Gobo River hints at this rooted, elemental part of the collective, even without lyrics or a physical manifesto and shows they are masters of quiet moments.

Another standout moment on the album is the second single Earth Hum, with an articulated and breathy pause and pedal tone mediating through the composition. It pedestals the arranging skills and depth of Mount Kujo, flexing some progressive influences and provides an exciting song to break up the set.

Max maintains his Berlin connections with renowned musicians from Germany’s jazz scenes. Contributing to the album is Benny Brown (Benny Brown Band) on trumpet, Daniel Avi Schneider (Bukahara) on violin and Niko Zeidler (Make a Move) on tenor saxophone. This inclusion gives the album a truly international feel, out of time and place upon a first listening. However, as you get a feel for the moods on this self-titled album, you will truly start to understand what is “the Kujo Vibe” – in essence, a collective dedicated to seeing their funky visions become reality, through the positive interactions of a musical family.

The Seven Ups are the soundtrack to the dancefloor at the end of the world.

Based in Melbourne, Australia and lead by guitarist Trent Sterling, The Seven Ups sound draws together a vast array of influences, taking hints from Funk, Spiritual Jazz, Afrobeat, Psychedelia and Krautrock

In 2023 the band released their fifth studio album, A Free Blowing Wind, via Northside Records. The new album is a deep dive in to the lesser-known-places of instrumental music, journeying from deep groove, to ambient and mellow Soul and onwards to long-playing psychedelic jams.

The Seven Ups music has been featured in Wax Poetics (USA), album of the week (thrice!) on PBS fm, Eastside fm and Beat magazine, top 10 on RRR, top 10 on KEXP (USA) and continues to receive airplay on BBC Radio, KEXP, Triple J, and community radio around the country.

The band has appeared at festivals including Meredith Music Festival (VIC), Womadelaide (SA), Blues on Broadbeach (QLD), Strawberry Fields (NSW), Luminate Festival (NZ) Rainbow Serpent (VIC), Falls Festival (VIC), Bleach Festival (QLD), Global Beats (WA), White Night (VIC), Moomba (VIC), Subsonic (NSW), Bello Winter Festival (NSW), St Kilda Festival (VIC) and more. Other career highlights for the band so far have included opening for Charles Bradley (USA), The Budos Band (USA), Remi (AUS), Babylon Circus (FRA) and The Bamboos (AUS), as well as a string of raucous residencies at Melbourne venues, frequent Australian east coast tours.

"I've been playing this little monster to death on my (BBC) 6 music show. It's raw, it's gritty, it's tough as nails." - Craig Charles, BBC Radio 2 & 6

“Makes us remember how much we can love instrumental music.” - Wax Poetics USA

"As tight as they need to be, and as loose as you want them to be." - DJ Miss Goldie, PBS fm

"Hugggeeee big band sound!!" - Rosie Beaton, Triple J

“The septet lay down super tight but silky instrumental funk that's rich in narrative and momentum.” - Juno Records, UK

“The Seven Ups are damn near one of the most mesmerising acts playing around Melbourne at the moment.” - Alex Callan Forte Magazine

“The diversity in their sound was downright impressive, moving from the horn driven funk of last year’s Drinking Water LP to the newer, overdriven psych rock guitar sounds. Though they set the stage up for the more famous psychedelic rock of Pond that followed, in my opinion The Seven Ups stole the show from the Perth four piece.” - Beat Magazine (on Meredith Music Festival 2018)