Shut your eyes and imagine you are on a riverboat on the Mississippi. The Greasy Chicken Orchestra takes you to 1930s New Orleans with lots of energy, harmonising horns and some classic jazz tunes.
The Greasy Chicken Orchestra is an eight piece ensemble led by Phillip Johnston, an American saxophonist and composer who lives in Sydney, and still plays occasionally in New York City. Four saxophones lead from the front of the Foundry 616 stage surrounded by piano, guitar, banjo, drums and a sousaphone.
Opening with a rollicking version of Jelly Roll Morton’s Wolverine Blues. This was followed by Louis Armstrong’s Potato Head Blues and a Duke Ellington’s tune. Phillip Johnston joked that they could only go downhill from a start featuring these great legends. Rather than go downhill the band went on a different tangent with a sultry version of Panama and a longingly, heartfelt rendition of I Want a Little Girl, an uncomfortable title for today’s audience. The first set also included Zooming at the Zombie and a toe tapping version of At Sundown with just the right amount of cowbell.
Leading with four saxophones may sound a little redundant but they are all significantly different instruments and range from soprano sax to baritone. They sometimes play in harmony and mix it up with solos and duets. Featured musicians are Phillip Johnston on soprano sax, Peter Farrar on alto sax, Tim Clarkson on tenor sax and Jim Loughnan on baritone sax. It was a treat to have Matt McMahon on piano with his rhythms, echoes and solos. Tim Rollinson on guitar or banjo is similarly impressive and performing a comparable role. Mike Quigley on drums is full of energy, drive and entertaining solos. Matt Greening on sousaphone also drives the rhythms and is an impressive soloist. I really enjoyed hearing the full sound of a sousaphone punching out the bass line.
The second set featured an original tune from the hazy days of the 1970s and Jelly Roll Morton’s Grandpa’s Spells. A new original called Everyone Deserves Everything All the Time was a happy sounding song with glorious harmonies. A highlight of the evening was a slow, bluesy rendition of Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You. A change of tempo brought the punchy upbeat Jazz Me Blues and then back to a slow and mellow Twelve Angry Birds. That’s a Plenty was the energetic big jazz finale.
Foundry 616 and The Greasy Chicken Orchestra provided a great night of blues, ragtime and early jazz. This kind music is good for your soul.
The Greasy Chicken Orchestra performed at Foundry 616 on Monday, 15th October. They perform there regularly and are well worth catching.