Survival of the Fiddes - Andy Fiddes at the Sound Lounge, June 2006

Miraculously, the urgency and energy of City Rd was transported to the Sound Lounge’s stage in the form of ex-Gunnedah trumpeter Andy Fiddes’ ‘Survival of the Fiddes’. A name presumably inspired by the Hancock composition ‘Survival of the Fittest’ via ‘Maiden Voyage’. Fiddes, initially in trio mode with Ben Waples on bass and Dave Goodman subbing on drums ensured instant opinion with the bold avant-garde ‘Apathy Buster’. Then ‘The Wisp’ returned to traditional theme and variation, with NZ tenorist Reuben Derrick and trombonist James Kennedy forming the quintet. Derrick held the tenor on his right hand side in a posture reminiscent of a young Dexter Gordon but his rasps and shrieks, especially in the high register would recall Roland Kirk or Eric Dolphy.

The Fiddes tone was luminous with paper-thin vibrato and a smooth velvety texture. His clever writing for the three-horn line-up gave each horn singular voices during harmonising on the head, allowing the arrangements to breath against the pianoless heartbeat. ‘Fear Smile’ saw the horns syncopated into a crescendo as if a New Orleans marching band was approaching the fairgrounds while on the simply entitled ‘Mandy’ dedicated to the trumpeter’s wife, Waples’ large bass hands, magically turned Indian drones into Pierre Michelot ‘Play Bach’ like figures.

‘Mustard!?!’ – It’s hot and you’re at Taronga with a hot-dog in your mouth walking past the cockatoo enclosure. In free flight? No – controlled chaos, simmered to boiling point. The implied theme imbedded in an environment of freely created sounds while ‘Hewn’ placed Goodman’s emphasis on patterns and textures rather than rhythm. Cuts and gashes and at one point like a motor mower about to stop, needing a fuel injection from his deeper than typical toms.

The second set commenced after the “ceremonial donning of the clogs”...

Read the full review at www.jazzandbeyond.com.au