Alex Pertout's High 5

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

High 5

Chilean born Alex Pertout has for decades being recognised as one of Australia’s leading percussionists and with credits on hundreds of albums and soundtracks is undeniably one of Australia’s most recorded musicians. Alex has also attained credits with television orchestras, in countless live performances and as a respected educator. As a founding member of the Australian Art Orchestra he has toured Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania, has performed as a soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, has recording, performance and television orchestra credits with an array of artists including Powderfinger, Badi Assad, Shane Howard, James Morrison, Paul Kelly, Casiopea, Jackson Browne, Little River Band w/John Farnham, Hunters & Collectors, Tina Arena and Archie Roach among many others and was a featured percussionist in The Lion King theatre production.

Alex has produced cds as a multi-instrumentalist/composer featuring guests including Mike Stern, Paul Grabowsky, Hossam Ramzy, Raul Rekow and Mark Levine, a book released worldwide by US publishers Mel Bay, and is endorsed internationally by Meinl percussion, Sabian cymbals and Vater sticks. Alex is a Senior Lecturer and Head of Contemporary Music Performance at the Faculty of VCA, University of Melbourne. He has a new release out now with Sri Lankan vocalist Nilusha Dassenaike, the project is

‘Alex & Nilusha’

, the album Moments In Time (Whispering Tree Music through The Planet Company/MGM) and it features pianists Joe Chindamo and Tony Gould, trumpeter Miroslav Bukovsky, drummer David Jones, guitarist Leonard Grigoryan, sarodist Saby Bhattacharya, bassist Craig Newman and legendary Latin-jazz flautist Dave Valentin.

In Chronological Order

1. SANTANA - Festival Hall, Melbourne, 1976

At the height of their popularity and with a new album to promote, Santana toured Australia in 1976. This was the ‘Amigos Tour’. I had missed the famous ‘Lotus 1973 World Tour’ which made it to Melbourne (too young!) and so I was eager to experience for the first time the new incarnation of this Latin-tinged band, which had developed a new genre in ‘Latin-rock’ and had inspired a new generation of rhythmic percussionists around the globe, myself included. I still remember the concert vividly. This was the Santana band with the legendary Afro-Cuban master drummer Armando Peraza of George Shearing and Cal Tjader fame and Ndugu Leon Chandler on drums. It also included Tom Coster on keyboards. It was also staged in the days where people moved freely around the hall, so as soon as the concert commenced, everyone moved to the very front of the stage, it was amazing. I stayed there and watched the entire concert right in front of Armando ‘s wonderful three congas and to the side of Carlos, his days of wearing all-white and burning constant incense sticks.

Armando’s sound and pedigree was first-rate and so for me this was an incredibly humbling experience. To be there, to see him and be able to watch his hands and hear this sound coming acoustically from the stage was something I will never forget. In the Australia of the late 1970s, it was actually extremely hard to find rhythmic percussionists with an understanding and knowledge of Afro-Latin American rhythms, so to experience someone of the stature of Armando, with his touch and rhythmic vocabulary, it was something truly unique. On a recent chat I had with Paul Grabowsky while on an Australian Art Orchestra tour we were discussing concerts attended and realised that as young teenagers we were both at Festival Hall on that particular Santana night! The Santana band of course has been back to Australia periodically and it has given me the opportunity to build life-long relationships with Armando and also with Raul Rekow, another inspirational mentor from the Santana legacy.

2. BRIAN BROWN - The Commune, North Fitzroy, 1980

Brian Brown performed regularly at a small room in North Fitzroy called The Commune. With only a few lamps around the room, the place was rather dark. The crowd would sit on the floor or on the benches that encircled the tiny room. Brian would welcome everyone, then the band would play freely for extended periods of time. It was so refreshing to witness this ever evolving sound, always a different experience. The band at the time included Bob Sedergreen on piano, Jeremy Alsop on bass and David Jones on drums. These were my developing years and Brian was at his creative peak, always extending himself and the players that surrounded him, the music was personal and in the moment. I was always fascinated by the freedom and the way the nights would evolve. It was always interesting and innovative. As a matter of fact I don’t recall any disappointing nights. It was the place to be.

Later I was to join Brian and his band in this creative environment, enjoying many years of inventive in the moment playing alongside Bob, Jeremy, David and later Virgil Donati on drums and Bobby Venier on trumpet. These nights at The Commune took place years before Brian would personally develop educational pathways for talented individuals at the VCA, becoming one of the pioneers of leading contemporary music performance education in Australia. Brian’s creative and highly individualistic musical philosophy, along with his sincere outlook has influenced my career deeply. No matter what environment I find myself in, from jazz, to pop, to orchestral, to rock, to world, to folk, it manifests itself in the manner I approach music making.

3. PAT METHENY GROUP - Melbourne Concert Hall, 1986

The Menethy Group sound inspired many of us when we were growing up. It produced a highly sophisticated sound, well orchestrated, performed at a high level, energetic and innovative, which was delivered over the years in highly refined album releases. The chance to see him in Melbourne with the quintet at its prime was quite exciting. This was the group that included Lyle Mays on keyboards, Steve Rodby on bass, Paul Wertico on drums and the wonderful Argentinian multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar.

My recollections are of a particularly well produced concert event, with a full stage set up that included some of the high-end technology available at the time such as the synclavier, Pat’s midi guitar as well as all the wonderful vintage and not so vintage sounds that Lyle contained in his arsenal. His set up also included a fully fledged grand piano that reportedly they were transporting from concert to concert. Pedro on the other hand covered an array of tasks, from rhythmic percussion and guitars to glock and of course his wonderful wordless vocals, a trademark of that Metheny ensemble sound at the time. The material captivated me and still does. I find so many interesting facets in the way Pat’s music is constructed, developed, arranged, performed and produced and it was a marvelous experience to witness it live. This was the period of First Circle and the material that took part in the soundtrack to The Falcon and The Snowman, a remarkable time in the group’s history.

4. KARAIKUDI MANI WITH THE AUSTRALIAN ART ORCHESTRA - New Delhi, Mumbay, Calcutta, India, 1996

Although this incredible experience could be classified as a shared performance, and it some ways it certainly was, as I was there as a participant, I also view this as an incredibly enriching musical experience from a concert observer’s perspective. The AAO toured India in 1996, yet another one of those awe-inspiring Paul Grabowsky developments, an adventure that I can firmly state here, touched and changed everyone involved. The concerts brought all of us very close to the mastery of Karaikudi Mani, whom we watched in performance throughout the tour leaving everyone spell bound. His delicate ways of articulating extremely advanced material, his patience in delivering and working through the music, his extreme enthusiasm and focus on the developing tasks and his overall professional attitude at all times, left all of us captivated night after night.

His percussive world certainly made a mark on me, made me reassess much and inspired me further in the development of new hand techniques, an extremely interesting rhythmic language and the acquisition of an array of fascinating percussive instruments. I feel that now due to these enriching experiences, I can impart some of this knowledge and incorporate some of the textures and new found sounds and techniques on to the wide ranging musical situations I find myself involved in.

5. PAUL SIMON - Rhythm Of The Saints Tour, Melbourne, 1992

This was a spectacle which featured a percussion section made of up of four of the top Brazilian studio percussionists at the time, Don Chacal, Mingo Araujo, Sidinho Moreira and Cyro Baptista alongside the legendary Steve Gadd on drums. The band also included Richard Tee on keyboards,Cameroonian guitarist Vincent Nguini and Michael Brecker on saxophone. The songs rhythmically arranged to embrace in the main Afro-Brazilian folk styles, were brilliantly executed live. This was presented in a refined and highly creative stage environment where the players and in particular the rhythm section players, excelled in the art of role play and ensemble interaction. Each percussionist had an incredibly defined role within the structures of the songs, yet they also freely improvised and further developed the patterns and overall ensemble sound throughout the concert. It was a remarkable musical offering, running and completing Paul Simon’s interesting lyrical songs.

Choosing five moments was exceptionally hard. I have so many great memories from so many other inspirational concerts attended, which while covering wide ranging musical areas, have also shaped the musician I am today, some of these include: Dianne Reeves with Trio and with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, James Taylor, Randy Crawford, Cassandra Wilson, Cat Stevens, Poncho Sanchez, Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra with Airto, Flora and Giovanni Hidalgo, Stevie Wonder, Deodato, Sergio Mendes, Inti-Illimani, Mercedes Sosa, Tito Puente, George Benson, Miles Davis among many more