Frock
Bennetts Lane
5 August
Frock’s live recording last weekend marked the band’s 10-year anniversary as a creative improvising ensemble. In preparation, the quintet held a weekly residency at Bennetts Lane through July, performing the music from each of their four albums in turn. It was a valuable exercise, revealing not just the depth of Frock’s repertoire, but also the way the players have grown as composers and performers.
Sunday night’s live recording presented a new program and a sixth player on stage – saxophonist Anton Delecca, an occasional Frock member since the start of the year. Delecca’s warm, unfussy tenor sound extended the range of musical colours available to the band, which already features a flexible instrumental line-up (piano and accordion, vibraphone, electric guitar, double bass and drums).
Brothers Adam and Simon Starr wrote the lion’s share of Sunday’s repertoire, though all members contribute compositionally to the band. Anthony Schulz’s Leo was driven by the composer’s accordion, swirling and shuddering to create an air of muted tension. Please Make Good Harmony (co-written by Schulz and vibraphonist Craig Beard) opened with a gorgeously lyrical duet by the pair, this time with Schulz on piano.
Read the full review in The Age
