[2014005] New Cabal [FringeTIX]
The New Cabal @ La Bohème
10:00pm, Wed 12 Feb 2014
Once again, I found myself in the position of being able to sneak in a Wednesday night jazz session at La Bohème before the hurly-burly of the Fringe proper; once again, a glass of their pinot noir and a booth at the back of the room (where, thankfully, the acoustics seem to have improved markedly) supplemented The New Cabal’s original jazz stylings.
It’s the same lineup as last year – Lyndon Gray (appears to lead) on double bass, Chris Martin on keys, Kevin van der Zwaag on drums, and Chris Soole on smoky sax. Opening with a broody number in Aung San Suu Kyi, they smoothly cruised through their opening set (including a piece by double-bassist Marc Johnson), paring back for solos to show the talents of the group.
The second set kicked off with Martin’s One For The Road: it’s a magnificent track, dark and stormy and vivid, and it petered out with a glorious extended bass solo by Gray. The rest of the set was more smooth jazz goodness – it’s obvious that these guys have a great rapport, and the understated slickness of their performance is impressive.
As with last year’s show, The New Cabal (or is it just “New Cabal”?) was the perfect tonic for me; on this occasion, a super-shitty week at work (and all the stress associated with wrapping things up prior to Festival Holidays) needed a performance that I could just let wash over me… and, whilst the show wasn’t punctuated with any oddball audience hijinks like last year, this was still a wonderfully laid-back experience.
(5) New Cabal: jazzy goodness that gives me just what I needed. #ff2014 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) February 12, 2014