Frank Presley's interview with bassist Abel Cross 30 April 2009

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

Frank Presley:

You were a ‘late bloomer’ when it comes to music. What caused the initial spark for you and why jazz?

Abel Cross:

Music has always been a powerful force in my life, but it is true that I am a late bloomer in terms of my passion for Jazz. When I was very young I tried my hand at the piano, violin, and trumpet, which I enjoyed, but never developed a strong penchant for. It wasn’t until the age of 13 that I bought a bass guitar and music really took over my life. But Jazz was still a ways off.

I suppose my interest in Jazz really grew out of an interest in the double bass, which I began playing at the ripe old age of 21. An older friend of mine had bought one and I immediately fell in love with the sound and feel. I began taking lessons with my first bass teacher Dave Ellis around this time. He never really pushed me towards Jazz more than classical or other musics, but I can certainly say that his passion for the instrument was infectious. As with most musicians I began to seek out recorded music that featured my instrument and this opened up a new world for me.

Recordings of the great Jazz bassists like Charles Mingus, Richard Davis, Charlie Haden, Scott LaFaro, etc really inspired me to seek out the Jazz that was being created and performed close to home. And to join in!

FP:

Who in the history of Australian music do you admire the most and why?

AC:

It is impossible for me to answer this question with a single name. What I can say is that it is the trailblazers of Australian music who I admire the most for their bravery and inspiration. It is much easier to walk down a path that has been laid by others but much more difficult to create and define one of your own. People like Rod Cooper, and Lucas Abela spring immediately to mind for this very reason, they are people who have created their own instruments, language, and practise. Truly self-made musicians.

FP:

The group Trio Apoplectic has been together now for some six years having been formed while you were still at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. At the time you must have been aware of the ‘mortgage’ that Bernie McGann had on the Australian pianoless trio sound but you pressed ahead regardless and now have forged quite a distinctive sound. How was the trio’s ensemble sound conceptualised?

AC:

Trio Apoplectic began as most young bands begin; attempting to emulate the musicians/bands that we loved. During the early rehearsals we played a lot of music that we had transcribed or sourced from these people – Bernie McGann, Alister Spence, Lloyd Swanton, Andrew Robson, Chicago Underground Trio, but we were always bringing in original material to workshop as well. I think from early on we really did feel there was a responsibility to contribute to this tradition of Australian Jazz with our own music regardless of how fun it was to plunder the vaults of these great musicians repertoires.

I really feel that our sound was developed through shared experience. We did a lot of playing while at the Con, and while touring during the Con holidays. The experience of playing and performing as well as the day-to-day of being on the road, in each other’s pockets, and on a shoestring, really solidified the connection, which is expressed in how we play together.

FP:

You’ve made a committed effort to tour the group often over the past three years. Is there something special about exposing your music to rural and regional areas? Potentially, some in the audience would not previously have heard music like yours. What special experiences has TA had?

AC:

All three of us grew up in rural and regional Australia, Dave from Cowra, Alex from Bowral, and myself from Wollongong. I think this shared experience of moving from the regions to the city really strengthened our resolve to take our music back to the regions. You can take the boy out the country

Contemporary Jazz gigs in regional Australia can be as differing as the places themselves. Or more! It is true that many of the places we have toured do not have regular Jazz performances, and some that haven’t had a Jazz group through in living memory, and this opens up all kinds of possibilities.

My personal favourite Trio Apoplectic gig was our first performance in Stuart Town (between Molong and Wellington, NSW). We had done a gig in Orange on our previous tour and met an artist, Tim Winters, who said that we would go over great at the Ironbark Creative Arts Centre in Stuart Town. We’d never even heard of the place but decided to take a punt on it. Now Stuart Town is basically just a Pub, Hall, and a couple of houses on the main street with the Arts Centre set up in the old Post Office. We really didn’t know what to expect. That night we played to a packed house! The local community really got behind the gig and came out in droves. We played purely acoustic, in a small wooden room, the sound was fantastic and the audience were wonderful. A real exchange between the band and the punters. Beautiful. There’s a song of Dave’s on the new album named after Stuart Town, ‘Iron Dusk’. There’s also one called ‘Holly and Bobby’ named after two horses we met in Armidale. But that’s another story.

FP:

Has the group focussed on any specific points of difference with the new album or is simply a document of how the group has developed?

AC:

‘Sofia’ really is a document of how the group has developed. We went in to the studio with the specific intention of playing as close to how we do live. This included a lot of segues between tunes and really opening up the solo space. We recorded the album in ‘sets’ of around 8 pieces at a time. The takes that made the album are mostly taken from our sixth set of the day. Strangely, this is the one we recorded straight after a cheeky afternoon trip to the pub. Hmm.

FP:

Barack Obama says he has Coltrane in his iPOD, what’s currently in your CD player or iPOD at the moment?

AC:

Right now I’m listening to the album ‘Adobe’ by the NYC saxophonist Tony Malaby, featuring Drew Gress on the bass and the great Paul Motian on the drums. Another damned horn trio! This cd was given to me as a gift from my good friend Dave Goodman. I love the playing on this record. Each of the three has such great sounds and fluidity on their instruments. Highly recommended.

FP:

What would you like to change about the jazz scene in Australia or especially in Sydney?

AC:

I’d like there to be more of everything. More festivals, more gigs, more record labels, more musicians, more creativity, more action.