Phillip Johnston & the Coolerators: Diggin’ Bones
Released October 26, 2018, on Asynchronous Records
Diggin’ Bones, the first CD by Phillip Johnston & the Coolerators features a unique sound which combines funky organ combo jazz with modernist jazz composition. Produced by The Necks’ Lloyd Swanton and featuring some of Australia finest jazz/multi-genre improvisers, this recording shows a new side of Johnston’s music, and recording history which began in 1983 with Take The Z Train by The Microscopic Septet.
Musicians
Phillip Johnston: soprano/alto saxophone
Alister Spence: organ
Lloyd Swanton: bass
Nick Cecire: drums
Media
Promotion by The Music Outpost
W. Royal Stokes (Jazziz/Washington Post) Notable Releases of 2018
AustralianJazz.net. Best recordings of 2018:“Music with a sardonic sense of humour. Total coolness.”
“…a hard-grooving quartet session that feels like an even looser, funk-and swing-heavy, horn-driven extension of Medeski, Martin & Wood’s decades-long innovations, with strong emphasis on group chemistry, on Spence’s swirling organ work and Johnston’s swinging and identifiably smooth tone on both alto and soprano. . . this is music where individual solos do emerge, but the fundamental modus operandus is more about a collectively interpretive approach that, even in its adherence to Johnston’s at-times knotty scores, is performed with such reckless abandon as to suggest that no two performances of any of Diggin’ Bones’ ten tracks will ever be remotely the same. And that, in a nutshell, is Diggin’ Bones’ most compelling magic.
–John Kelman, Allaboutjazz.com
“The presence of organ rather than piano immediately gives Johnston’s tunes a different sound…blends wistful alto with punchy organ, the latter with gritty, bluesy air… incorporating rock, jazz and blues into an infectious, cooking recipe.”
–Ken Dryden, New York City Jazz Record
“Despite the avant-ish tilt of their résumés, Spence and Swanton cook on Diggin’ Bones. They have a lot to work with; Johnston writes as pointedly as he does for The Micros and other venues, his wit slippery with a few drops of vinegar… Despite Spence, Swanton and Cecire’s simmer, Johnston plays it rather cool throughout the proceedings. Johnston’s soprano sound resembles Steve Lacy’s in the ‘90s, when the astringencies of the ‘70s had been squeezed out and replaced with a fuller, warmer envelopment, while his alto approaches Paul Desmond’s idealized martini dryness… What brings them into the ballpark of 21st Century organ jazz is the band’s conviviality, which is contagious.”
–Bill Shoemaker, Point of Departure.
“A Characteristically Dark, Cinematic New Album from Phillip Johnston: this is arguably the best band Johnston has worked with outside of the Micros, and this album is one of the best and most tuneful of 2018.”
–New York Music Daily/Lucid Culture USA
“New York saxophonist and composer Philip Johnston spends as much time in Australia as in the USA. He expresses himself there with consummate musicians ready to follow him in his musical explorations. Known among others for his participation in Fast ‘n’ Bulbous, Philip Johnston continues to express a vision of jazz that belongs only to him. Moreover, he and his Australian musicians present in this disc a relaxed style, even downright cool, but never boring. It is even eloquent at many moments as the phrasings are pleased to burst into improvisations, often complex, initiating a jazz where the swing is not absent. With an ounce of funk, to further groove, the four acolytes serve a music full of wits played with a communicative pleasure. They drink, as they see fit, to all styles of music and it gives a nice bazaar, with a hint of Orientalism, where the pieces are shifted well enough to form melodies with varied colors that sing to the music. ‘hear. The apparent lightness of the whole can be seen, in this context, as a form of politeness partially masking the substantive work conducted with a real musical authority. Cool and cheerful.”
–Yves Dorison, Culture Jazz (FRANCE)
“Johnston’s compositions have more than enough changing aspects—from beautiful soprano sax solos to funky organ breakdowns—and tunes which range from eccentricity to dramatic moments that there is plenty to hear which is enticing, exciting and sometimes enthralling. . . worth discovering for fans of organ/sax jazz who want to experience something atypical and slightly idiosyncratic.
–Doug Simpson, Audiophile Audition
“…an inseparable mix of sources and interests, in which the random episode, the anecdote of life lived acts as a detonator for an explosion of musical creativity that follows paths never trivial or predictable, and often ventures, without losing irony and lightness, in inaccessible territories. In the variety of climates and genres that this new adventure also shows, live together songs developed around simple funky riffs that become ideal terrain for improvised explorations that are never conventional and rich in inventiveness by the four musicians…”
–Tracce di Jazz (ITALY)
“Here we have a band showing that when it comes to playing jazz and blues there is often an overlap, here brought together with a huge amount of swing and funk. Swanton and Cecire do their best to provide a structure for the other two to work on, and then stay out the way while also displaying their own wonderful musical ability. Cecire is the more flamboyant of the two, with an impressive work rate on different areas of the kit, but Swanton keeps it all tied down and doesn’t let the band get too out of control.”
–Jazz Music Archives (NEW ZEALAND)
“…seriously beautiful music …extremely fine musicians all of whom are completely attuned to Mr Johnston’s vision. …classic Johnston music, which is deceptively simple, but which also emerges as being highly idiomatic and complex in not only in sub-text but also in the rhythmic gestures and devices that he employs – featuring often abrupt changes in metre – as well as often using repeated phrases, subtly played, layer upon layer… The breadth of modes employed…is not just simply staggering but also highly inventive.”
–Raul da Gama, “Phillip Johnston x 2”, Jazz da Gama (ITALY)
“Johnston has released a new album from his band the Coolerators, Diggin’ Bones, on which he is joined by Spence, Cecire and Necks bassist Lloyd Swanton. This presents another facet of his music: a love of aerated, groovy, organ-based jazz. …worth the cost of admission…7.5/10”
–John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
“There is no lack of jazz talent down under to play Johnston’s creative music. The Coolerators includes the leader…Alister Spence…Lloyd Swanton…Nic Cecire. …. The presence of organ rather than piano immediately gives Johnston’s tunes a different sound. …“Regrets #17” was previously…by Johnston’s Transparent Quartet; this new arrangement feels much looser, with greater interaction…Spence’s rollercoaster accompaniment stimulating Johnston’s adventurous spirit. “
– Ken Dryden, New York City Jazz Record, Jan. 2019
“If edgier than standard organ jazz, the whole is still mighty inviting (and klezmer-tinged), so if you enjoy Microscopic and/ or Medeski, Martin & Wood, I’ll bet you’ll like this, too. A-“
– Joseph Neff, The Vinyl District
“…Johnston is in good company when he’s not in New York. …Diggin’ Bones…is a collection of animated jazz instrumentals that combine playful melodies with folk and klezmer influences… This is fun and irresistible melodic groove music that invites the listener in… …there are many…standouts (ten cuts total) that will still be playing in your head the morning after.”
– Peter Thelen, Expose
CD Notes
“Frankly” – is a tune that embodies the sound of what I’m trying to do with the Coolerators: to combine the sound of funky organ combo jazz with more modernist compositional ideas. One of the main things I love about playing with the Coolerators is these musicians’ comfort level with a wide variety of styles, which is both suitable and absolutely necessary for this music. Their combination of superb musicianship and ever-surprising unique personal styles makes thrilling collaborators. Alister Spence’s organ solo is a standout here.
“What Is Real?” – This is a tune that I originally used to play with my band Phillip Johnston’s Idea when we played around the wonderfully diverse rock scene in New York in the 1980s. This was an amazing time to be in New York: where an incredible richness of variety flowered in the New York club scene. PJ’s Idea was a very improvisational counterpoint to The Public Servants, the more compositionally-oriented No-Wave band I co-led with vocalist Shelley Hirsch from 1980-1982. Most of the Idea tunes were simple funky riffs that we used as vehicles for improvisation – and we did this in rock clubs! It was a great time.
“Diggin’ Bones” – Two tunes on this recording were originally recorded on the duo CD I made with Guy Klucevsek, Tales From The Cryptic (Winter & Winter). I have subsequently played this one in a number of different settings, varying the soloing from a modal groove to completely free. The Coolerators reinvent it every time we play. It’s been called a klezmer tune, but I don’t really hear it that way. I don’t know what it is, maybe a bitonal multi-world music dance number.
“Temporary Blindness” – is a new tune that I wrote specifically for this recording; it and “Ducket” (see trk 10) represent most accurately where a certain facet of my writing is at today. For better or worse, like “Pipeline” on the Transparent Quartet CD, I feel that these are tunes that only I could have and would have written.
“Later” – I originally invented the main melody here as something to play when I used to play on the street solo on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco in the mid-70s while I waited for my girlfriend to get off work at a jewellery store for tourists. Later I struggled off and on for decades trying to figure out how to make it into a complete tune. This current version, like others from this CD, is one that I’ve found a way to play in different settings.
“The Revenant” (Hurley) – “The Revenant” is a tune by Michael Hurley, a folk musician and visual artist whose music I have loved since I discovered his LPs Arm Chair Boogie and Hi Fi Snock Uptown in a used record store in the early 70s. This spooky ballad hails from the record Wolfways and has chilling and melancholy lyrics. I try to do it justice to it by translating into a modified ska tune. Lloyd’s beautiful bass solo evokes the spirit of the tale beautifully I think. The version is dedicated to Anna Volska who always loved our version of this song.
“Legs Yet” – Is another tune that originated in Phillip Johnston’s Idea. There’s almost nothing to it, yet is has a specific sound, rooted in its combination of blues and whole tone scales. That small seed gives rise to a very particular kind of improvisation, which nevertheless is always different in the hands of these creative musicians.
“Trial By Error” – While I love the version I recorded with Guy (see trk3), this tune always wanted to be played by a band as well. Guy and I were in part brought together by our mutual love of counterpoint, which is reflected in this tune, but Nic Cecire’s great drumming adds a new level of rhythm to it.
“Regrets #17” – This is a tune that I previously recorded with my 90s band The Transparent Quartet. One of my favorite things about the Coolerators is the freedom and spontaneity of our group improvisations, which is why you see that in a number of tunes played here like “What Is Real?” and “Legs Yet”. This is where the excitement of a live gig is captured on recording.
“Ducket Got A Whole In It” – I end with another tune written specifically for this recording. Why would someone write a tune like this? I will answer by saying that I try to write tunes that have the necessity of motivic improvisation built into them, and I think that you will hear that all of the tunes on this record have improvisations that are very closely linked to the tunes themselves and that it could not be otherwise. That’s what I’m trying to do anyway.
