Listen & tracks

2 of 15 tracks have a preview · 9 works · 58:33

1 Bouncin' with Bud Bud Powell 6:27
2 In Walked Bud Thelonious Monk 7:18
3 Nica's Dream Horace Silver 7:48
4 Hackensack Thelonious Monk 6:10
5 The Nearness of You Ned Washington 6:47
6 Blues for Ronnie Mark Lockett 6:27
7 Monk's Dream Thelonious Monk 6:23
8 Groovin' High Dizzy Gillespie 6:30
9 Evidence Thelonious Monk 4:43

Sidney Bechet, that imperial figure of early jazz, said it best: "Tell a story in your solo," he'd implore his students. Aimless meandering, simply running the chord changes, these weren't for him. Passion, combined with logic and order, equals art, he'd argue. The musicians that drummer Mark Lockett has assembled for this impressive debut CD About Time are all, whether they know it or not, following Bechet's advice to the letter.

Like the band whose music this group so effortlessly evokes, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, every member is a master story-teller, steeped in the century-old traditions of jazz but always eager to say something new.

And what members we have here: the multi-award-winning Jamie Oehlers (tenor saxophone) together with Jordan Murray (trombone), Paul Van Ross (soprano and tenor saxophones), Alison Wedding (vocals), Mark Fitzgibbon (piano) and Nick Haywood (bass). Last but not least is drummer and leader, the New Zealander Mark Lockett. Definitely someone to watch!

Reviews

... something that sounds as fresh as if it were written yesterday. Carefully layered and crafted to an almost orchestral perfection ...

— Leon Gettler, The Age - Green Guide

In releasing an album of modern jazz standards, Mark Lockett and his colleagues have taken on perhaps a more demanding task - tell fresh, new stories within some old and familiar frameworks. As you'll hear, they've succeeded ... admirably.

— Steve Robertson, 3PBS FM - Jazz on Saturday

impressive debut release ... fine recording ... full of great standards

— Frank Presley, 2NSB FM - Now's The Time

Artists

Mark Lockett

drums

Drummer Mark Lockett is a tasteful time-keeper who eschews long solos and holds the old, valid notion that a drummer’s function is to make everyone sound great, not to call attention to his own virtuosity.

Hoagy Carmichael

composer

Hoagy Carmichael wrote the melodies behind Stardust, Georgia on My Mind, The Nearness of You and Heart and Soul, songs that moved from hot jazz of the 1920s into the permanent repertoire of popular and jazz singers.

Dizzy Gillespie

composer

Dizzy Gillespie's compositions helped define bebop's harmonic and rhythmic language. Pieces such as Groovin' High and Con Alma remain core modern jazz repertoire, built for improvisers who want both swing and surprise.

Thelonious Monk

composer

Thelonious Monk's compositions sit at the centre of the modern jazz repertoire: angular melodies, dissonant clusters and a percussive piano attack that leaves space for silence and surprise. Standards such as 'Round Midnight, Blue Monk and Epistrophy still sound newly invented.

Jordan Murray

composer

Jordan Murray is one of Melbourne's first-call trombonists, working across jingles, film scores, early music ensembles, Latin and funk bands, jazz groups and pit orchestras.

Bud Powell

composer

Bud Powell is the composer of Bouncin' with Bud.

Horace Silver

composer

Horace Silver (1928–2014) was an American jazz pianist and composer who helped define hard bop, writing catchy, groove-led themes drawn from gospel, blues, Latin music and R&B.

Eugene Ball

composer

Eugene Ball (born 1972) is an Australian jazz trumpeter, composer and arranger. His work ranges from original large-ensemble writing to small-group playing across standards and contemporary song.