JAZZWORX

BRISBANE’S CHRIS POULSEN TRIO HAVE DRAGGED THEIR ECLECTIC JAZZ CACOPHONY FROM FORTITUDE VALLEY TO KATHMANDU OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS. MATT O’NEILL SPOKE TO PIANIST CHRIS POULSEN ABOUT THE BAND’S UP SETS.

It’s difficult to conceive of a genre more frequently misunderstood or misrepresented than jazz. A vibrant and multi-faceted art form, jazz has nevertheless been constantly misrepresented throughout history as indulgent experimentalism, rustic folk music, pleasant ambient sound or elitist art. Australians, in particular, seem to have difficulty grasping the true breadth and variety of jazz music. Our country plays host to two distinct jazz legends in The Necks and Des White but, by and large, jazz bands tinkle softly in anonymity throughout our cities – soundtracking idle conversations and pleasant evenings spent with friends.
“I think we’re very fortunate in that all three members of the band are very committed to it,” Chris Poulsen explains of the Chris Poulsen Trio’s experience beneath the Australian music radar. “We feel like we’re creating art together and I think people can see that and that word-of-mouth really helps us. We back a Latin band (Top Mambo) and very regularly we back a male singer and call ourselves Scat as well as backing female singers for things like corporate functions. We’re all best mates so we have that real rapport. I’ve been involved with some other bands who didn’t have that connection and naturally didn’t put as much effort into the music as I know we do.”
Brisbane’s Chris Poulsen Trio are one of those bands huddled in the corners of Fortitude Valley’s more beloved evening spots (including both The Bowery and The Press Club). The band have been lurking throughout Brisbane’s underground for the better part of five years as well as performing across Australia and the world alongside such respected names as The Whitlams, Tim Freedman and the Yellowjackets (with Mike Stern). The trio, however, remain largely unknown outside of a hardened core of followers and jazz fans – despite their accessible and engaging take on some of jazz’s most captivating forms.
“I think, sometimes, the Australian style will follow along more with the European style of things – which tends to be a little bit more abstract and even kind of motif-based,” Poulsen considers. “I feel more strongly about real solid grooves and strong melody. Jeremy [O’Connor], our bass-player, comes more from the funk/gospel groove kind of background, Trent [Bryson-Dean, drums] comes more from the rock/fusion type of background and I’m more from a hard-bop/post-bop kind of background and the melding of all those influences leads to a real interesting sound. I guess the underlying factor is that we all appreciate groove and holding down that rhythm.”
The band have already managed to display their varied cavalcade of influences across two studio albums (2005’s Tang! and 2007’s Common Senses) and countless live shows since their 2004 formation but it is only with the trio’s forthcoming Up Sets release that Chris Poulsen feels they have truly captured their mercurial sound on a record. A sprawling and inventive double-album, Up Sets documents two of the outfit’s acclaimed and eclectic live sets – diving through their brief discography and ably showcasing the Chris Poulsen Trio’s varied influences, muscular grooves and infectious melodic intelligence to dazzling effect.
“I think, particularly for jazz, a live album captures a lot more,” Poulsen explains. “Jazz is all about the interaction between the musicians and the interaction within the audience and so it’s very much a tradition within jazz of having a lot of live recordings. We’ve already done two studio recordings and we’re a bit sick of the studio – it just sounds a bit clinical and doesn’t really show how we really are at a gig and I know our live show is something a lot of people appreciate. We needed to capture that. I just want to get lots of music out there.”
WHO: Chris Poulsen Trio
WHAT: Up Sets (Independent)
WHERE & WHEN: The Press Club Wednesday Apr 29