11/09/2025
Kiwijahzz is thrilled to present two volumes of exquisite improvisation by New Zealand jazz trio The Melancholy Babes.
Recorded on their 2023 North Island Tour, 'Knockout Time! Volumes 1 & 2 present radically different pictures of the group and how their music is sculpted from the particulars of each performance - the acoustics of the room, the attention of an audience, the energy of the night....
Volume 1. https://kiwijahzz.bandcamp.com/album/knockout-time-vol-1
Volume 2. https://kiwijahzz.bandcamp.com/album/knockout-time-vol-2
Volume 1 was recorded at the Whanganui Musicians Club in the historic Savage Club Hall - a large room with fabulous acoustics which has resonated with music and artistic activity since 1893. This set sees the trio begin at their most swinging & melodic, at times reminiscent of the flowing, perpetual phrasing of the Tristano school as much as the obvious influence of Ornette Coleman and his Golden Circle trio. From there the music departs into dynamic, textural improvisations with a smoldering core which, by the end of the set, bubbles to the surface without ever completely erupting into a destructive peak.
Volume 2 is a different beast altogether. Recorded at Moon In Newtown two days before Volume 1 for the Wellington Jazz Cooperative, the trio performed fully amplified on a classic, beer soaked, dive bar stage. Here the music is tougher & more intense, with driving 'Touchin' on Trane' swing giving way to unpredictable splatter and heavy contrasts between the three players. Whilst Volume 1. firmly illustrates the flowing interaction the three musicians have developed after more than 25 years playing together, Volume 2. highlights the bold independance they are individually capable of, with stubborn contrasts and a questioning argumentativeness throughout the music.
Listened to as a pair, the two volumes of Knockout Time! evidence the extraordinary diversity of The Melancholy Babes music - joyous playfulness, heated Harmolodics, pointillistic sound painting, textural minutia, searing energy, irreverent humour and much more, cementing the group as a unique and pivotal entity in creative music of Aotearoa.
The Melancholy Babes
Jeff Henderson - alto, baritone, c soprano saxophones
Tom Callwood - double bass
Anthony Donaldson - drums
5 track album
