Old Grooves for New Streets
Way Out West
Jazzhead/MGM
Rating: ****1/2
The west here refers to Melbourne’s western suburbs, illustrated by the first track, Postcard From Footscray which opens with Asian effects: gongs and Dung Nguyen’s dan tranh, a type of Vietnamese zither.
After this languid, rippling water beginning, underscored with echoes of industrialism, the insistent rhythm of a printing press emerges, dissolving into Howard Cairn’s resonant bass line.
Nguyen returns with the dan bau, a single string Vietnamese instrument to state a theme, soon elaborated by leader Peter Knight’s trumpet and Paul Williamson on saxes.
This album draws on many influences: Vietnamese, African, and a dash of the Middle East all melded into Knight’s original grooves, aided by Ray Pereira’s percussion and Dave Beck’s inspired drumming.
Multi instrumentalist Nguyen is a mainstay, also contributing some fine guitar work, notably on …and the Half Light.
Knight’s inventive trumpet is beautifully restrained in a lyrical Aqua Profonda and Williamson’s soprano sax wanders entrancingly on number one of three title tracks.
A fitting follow up to WOW’s 2003 album Footscray Station.
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This review first appeared in The Weekend Australian and is republished with permission of the author.
