Nick Mulder talks to Jazz Australia about large ensembles

It’s a truly interstate gathering when Tom Pulford (SA), Nick Mulder (VIC) and David Theak (NSW/QLD), team up with leading jazz musicians from all around Australia for the Pulford/Mulder Nonet national tour. 

Featuring Tom Pulford (alto   saxophone/composer /arranger), Nick Mulder (trombone/composer/arranger) and guest tenor saxophonist David Theak.  Formed  in  2012,  The  Mulder/Pulford  Nonet  is  a  collaborative  project  put  together  by composers Nick Mulder (Melbourne) and Tom Pulford (Adelaide). Blending the compositional scope of  a large ensemble with the intimacy  of small group jazz, the band’s  mission is to showcase exciting original compositions, innovative  arrangements and great jazz soloists.

JK: Why a Nonet?

NM: The Mulder/Pulford Nonet was formed in response to a desire to write and perform hard swing music with a group of outstanding soloists in a larger ensemble setting. I formed the band with Adelaide based saxophonist Tom Pulford because we share very similar musical tastes and have great respect for each other’s playing and composing. Tom and I met as young music students at Adelaide University and have been playing together ever since, so it’s a great joy to be co-leaders of this group.

The project had its first airing through a Jazz SA funded residency program which enabled us to perform a short series of concerts. Over many hours of discussion we formed a picture of what we wanted the band to sound like, and each of us wrote and arranged compositions which we thought would fit that brief. There are some arrangements of standard tunes (Tom’s gorgeous treatment of When I Fall in Love is my favourite example) but most of the material is original music inspired by Thad Jones, Bill Holman, Stan Kenton and other great artists with a focus on hard-swinging music.

The nonet is one of my favourite ensembles to write for, because it perfectly blends the intimacy of small group jazz with the compositional scope of the large ensemble. This particular nonet instrumentation is 2 brass, 4 saxes and rhythm section, just like the Joe Lovano group that came to prominence in the late 90s. As a big band composer, it’s very easy to over-write for this ensemble and I’ve found the best approach is simply to let your musicians do most of the talking, and frame their improvisation with swinging melodies and backing figures that add fuel to the fire!

Some of the repertoire we’ll be performing on this tour has been played during previous seasons, but there will be some new music as well. Tom and I have deliberately chosen to write music for this tour without discussing beforehand; we’ll come together before the tour and pick tunes that will best suit the bands in each town. We’re incredibly lucky to be playing with a number of incredible musicians in each city, so each concert will be a treat for us (and ours audiences as well).

The Mulder/Pulford Nonet play Lazybones Lounge in Marrickville on Wednesday 16 September from 8pm (entry by donation)

Thur 17th Sept (7pm) – Brisbane Jazz Club (Brisbane)
Fri 18th Sept (7pm) – Paris Cat (Melbourne)
Sun 20 Sept (5pm) – Jazz SA @ Jade Monkey (Adelaide)

www.lazyboneslounge.com.au

featuring:

Cam McAllister – trumpet

Tom Pulford – alto sax

David Theak – tenor sax

Remco Keijzer – tenor sax

Steve Fitzmaurice – bari sax

Nick Mulder – trombone

Andrew Scott – piano

Max Alduca – bass

Andrew Dickeson – drums

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Editor of Jazz Australia, formerly contributor to Sydney Morning Herald and Women's Money MagazineMusic programmer and producer

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