By Sandi Tighello
Last night’s collaboration at Forty Five Downstairs, Melbourne is hard to pinpoint. It was jazz, but not always. Funk, but only sometimes. Salsa, for a little bit. Soul, in small sections.
The trio, comprised of Alexander Nettlebeck on piano, Jonathan Zion on bass and Simone White (from San Francisco via Sydney) on drums, was mesmerising. I often judge the worth of an act on the feeling it created, rather than the sound it generated. And last night, in the surrounds of Forty Five Downstairs’ archways and high pressed metal ceiling, I felt good.
The trio claim to have a range of influences – from avant garde to jazz to classical to jungle – and those influences certainly came through last night, but what I was most impressed with was the number of original pieces written by bassist Jonathan Zion. Zion’s talent and funk was evident in the number of people tapping their toes with ferocious enjoyment – he seemed to drive the trio, to elicit a mood most powerful. White was all about rhythm and at times seemed to restrain from belting the drums as hard as he wanted to – but it was his restraint that made me sit on the edge of my chair, not knowing what to expect and when. And then there was Nettlebeck – calm, poised but perfectly precise on the piano. If Zion drives the trio, then Nettlebeck is the one with his hands firmly on the steering wheel – if he takes his hands off, the trio risks veering all over the road.
Full of life, energetic and undeniably talented, the Alexander Nettlebeck Trio were a delight to hear. A wonderful fusion of sound and feeling, it’s people like them that make me wonder why anyone would bother staying home and watching television on a Tuesday night – when there is so much to be felt and heard, so much to be discovered and appreciated, right on our doorstep.