Briana Cowlishaw's High 5

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

Inspired by the sounds of Joni Mitchell, Elis Regina, Esperanza Spalding and Miles Davis, Briana Cowlishaw is quickly being recognised on the Sydney scene as a young and creative vocalist, with a distinct vocal sound. Already having performed with some of Sydney’s finest musicians such as James Muller, Tom O’Halloran, Gerard Masters, Jonathan Zwartz, Cameron Undy, Evan Mannell and Cameron Reid, Briana was selected as 1 of 6 vocalists across Australia in both 2009 and 2010 as a finalist in the ‘Generations in Jazz’ Vocal Scholarship, directed by James and John Morrison. Exploring the limits of Jazz, Latin, Funk and Pop, Briana has recently been featured with her jazz trio ‘Shooting the Breeze’ and corporate covers band ‘The Usual Suspects’ at well known Sydney venues such as the Opera Bar, The Basement, The Sound Lounge, Star City’s Astral Bar, The Woollahra Hotel and the Park Hyatt. Other signi?cant performances include singing the National Anthem at Melbourne’s 2010 6-hour motorcycle race in Phillip Island, performing with the Jason Bruer Band at the Sound Lounge (SIMA) in 2009 and 2010 and at the Basement in 2010, performing with the Jubilation Choir at the 2008 Carols in the Domain under the instruction of Joy Yates, singing the National Anthem at the Royal Easter Show 2008, playing as a warm up act for Thirsty Merc at the Molong Music Festival March 2007 and Performing at the NRL Grand Final in 2008.

With a unique and creative flair for writing, and a Bachelor of Music Degree (Contemporary Performance) attained from the Australian Institute of Music in 2008, Briana is establishing herself as a one of Sydney’s newest young composers. Teaming up with esteemed Australian jazz musicians James Muller (guitar), Matt McMahon, Greg Coffin (piano), Ken Allars (trumpet), Brendan Clarke (bass) and Nic Cecire (drums), Briana’s Sextet most recently featured as a headlining act of the January 2011 Jazzgroove Summer Festival, and continues to pop up around town at original jazz venue’s such as Colbourne Ave and Venue 505.

“Her compositions already reflect a distinctive style, that promises to be unmistakable; her structures and arrangements are always interesting, her melodies transporting.”

— Lloyd Bradford Syke, (The Australian Stage) February 2010.

After a recent 3 month trip to New York during 2010, working with the great Kurt Elling, Gretchen Parlato, Gerald Clayton and Sean Wayland, Briana has returned home with an upcoming album on the way, co-producing the record with some of New York’s greatest jazz musicians, Aaron Goldberg (piano), Reuben Rogers (bass) and Greg Hutchinson (drums). Also featuring Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet) and Mike Moreno (guitar), the album is a collection of Briana’s original compositions and a couple of jazz standards, planned to be released by mid 2011.

1. THE PAT METHENY GROUP – The Umbria Jazz Festival, Perugia, Italy, July 2010

I had been listening to Pat Metheny a lot before I left on my overseas travels in mid 2010, and had booked tickets very early to see his group play at the Umbria Jazz Festival in July, so I was very much anticipating this gig. Not even my high expectations could have spoiled this performance, they simply made it all the more satisfying. I have never seen one musician take the stage so boldly and modestly, and captivate an audience so powerfully; I was in a complete trance from start to finish. The group were playing on the main stage, a huge performance space, and was made up of Lyle Mays (piano), Steve Rodby (bass) and Antonio Sanchez (drums). Aside from Metheny’s warm, silky smooth sound and solo’s that sounded like a collection of beautiful melodies, two things really took me aback throughout the performance. One being Antonio Sanchez’s dynamic approach on the drums, creating great intensity without being too loud and overpowering, and the other being Pat Metheny’s lyrical phrasing in ‘Midwestern Nights Dream’. So moving!!

2. GERALD CLAYTON TRIO + GUESTS – The Jazz Standard, New York City, August 2010

On my recent trip to New York at the end of 2010, I was lucky enough to hear and get a lesson from the New York based piano player Gerald Clayton. Over the 3 nights at the Jazz Standard at the end of August, I attended both the first and last night, 2 sets on each night. You might say that I couldn’t get enough of this band! I was so inspired by their collective energy, musicality and the way they all listened to one another and fed off each others ideas. I literally couldn’t leave the venue. The Gerald Clayton trio is made up of Joe Sanders (bass) and Justin Brown (drums) and on these particular gigs they were joined by Logan Richardson (sax) and Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet). You could really tell that these guys had been playing together for a long time, as they were such a unit and were constantly ‘creating’ together. The thing I loved the most about this gig was that each player had a uniqueness that added to the group sound; Gerald Clayton, a delicate touch and beautiful way of morphing different rhythmic ideas into one another, Joe Sanders singing along to his melodic solo’s, Justin Brown swinging his ass off and reacting to everything going on around him, and Ambrose and Logan fusing their horn sounds and counter melodies to create one voice out the front of the group. Inspiring stuff.

3. SEAN WAYLAND – The Basement, Sydney, October 2009

This gig for me was a huge eye opener compositionally. I love the way that Sean writes music and the ideas he plays around with harmonically, structurally and in particular, rhythmically. It was one of those gigs where I repeatedly thought to myself “this one is my favourite”, until it reached the end of the gig and I had said that about every tune! The Basement show was part of his Australian Tour with New York based drummer, Mark Guiliana, who similarly blew the whole of Sydney away with his ridiculous ability and unique and sensitive execution of the drum kit. He teamed up with James Muller on guitar and Brett Hirst on bass, playing a collection of his tunes from his album Pistachio, all of which were compositionally so different to anything I had ever heard, or could begin to understand at that point. I remember being particularly stumped with his rhythmic concept on ‘Arch is Enough’, and being SO frustrated that I couldn’t work out what was going on by the end of the song. I bought the CD straight after the gig and instantly went and put it on in my car to figure it out!

4. ELLIS MARSALIS TRIO – Snug Harbour, New Orleans, September 2010

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to hear and sit in with Ellis Marsalis when I was visiting New Orleans for a week in September 2010. I was going down to watch my friend Darrian Douglas play in Ellis Marsalis’s band, a drummer I had recently met at the Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland a month prior to visiting NO. It was a very different musical experience to the more modern jazz I had been overdosing on in NYC and listening to back in Sydney, and it really highlighted the concept ‘less is more’. Simply put, a good feel is everything!! Ellis Marsalis, Darrian Douglas and Jesse Boyd (bass) played beautiful arrangements of some well known standards in the first set, then after Darrian slipped in a good word for me in the set break, I was asked to get up in the second set. Singing some Antonio Carlos Jobim tunes and the standard ‘It could happen to you’, I will never forget how natural and free it felt to play with their group, despite the nerves (which seemed to evaporate when I heard Ellis play). I also managed to hear his son and great drummer, Jason Marsalis, play on this same trip at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse…man that family can swing :)

5. NANCY WILSON – Lincoln Centre, New York, September 2010

Nancy Wilson is one of the most natural and real performers I have ever seen. Getting into her 70’s now, this performance was quite amazing, as although her technique is probably not at its peak, her wisdom and ability to capture an audience is ever growing. She was so frank with the audience in her banter and introductions to the tunes that you couldn’t help but feel like you were sitting in her living room with a cup of tea, looking through old photo albums. Its even more phenomenal that she had the ability to do this in such a large ‘concert’ venue. It probably helped that Nancy Wilson, Llew Matthews (piano), Roy McCurdy (drums) and John B. Williams (bass) have been playing together for the past 30 odd years, so there was an immediate feeling of comfort and relaxation within the group. She played a collection of tunes from the many albums she has released, including ‘Never will I Marry’ on her Album with Cannonball Adderley, but the highlight for me was the encore ‘What I would do if I could’, which she dedicated to her children. After she finished the tune, she started speaking the lyrics very slowly to the audience, paused, and said, “Shit - how deep is that!”

6. VINCE JONES – The Basement Sydney 2009, 2010.

I know I am technically not allowed 6 .. but I just need to make a quick note of the many performances of Vince Jones I have seen over 2009 and 2010 at the Basement, and how he never ceases to amaze me with his tone, story-telling and phrasing!