Hammond goes to Jazz Music Institute, Brisbane
For the first time, on 15 May 2012, The Turnaround Club in Brisbane witnessed the magic of famous Melbourne Hammond organ player, Tim Neal. He came face-to-face with Dale Rabic and drummer Darryl Bowers. The club is part of the Jazz Music Institute (JMI) and offers a gig-style environment for students to perform and to see inspirational guest artists. The students of JMI were excited and all geared up for some real hot Hammond playing.
The night kicked off at about 8pm. Tim introduced the trio and went straight into it with his signature tune McGruff, which certainly warmed up the audience. There were 30 people on the night, the mix being students of JMI and local professional musicians. The trio (Tim, Dale and Darryl) drew on a mixed repertoire covering a varied range of tunes from Jazz and Swing to Latin.
Tim played the Hammond Pro XK system through a Leslie 2121 stationery unit and a Leslie 2102mk2 rotary top, while Dale gave his Hammond SK-1 a real workout through his Leslie 3300 (not to mention his extensive acoustic piano solos on the Hammond SK-1). The word was ‘hot’ when they both collaborated. During the interval there was a Hammond buzz all around and having Tim Neal, Dale Rabic (pro musician and Hammond supporter) and Dan Mansfield (pro musician and Hammond supporter), Garry Smith (Ellaways Music) and Franz Wankadia (Musico P/L) present was useful as the students had all their questions answered.
The second set featured Dan Quigley (Manager of JMI) on trumpet and one of the students on drums. They did a couple of sweet Latin tunes that went down really well. Tim took some time to speak about the models he was playing and been using through the years, which would have triggered a lot of curiosity about Hammond. The night was co-sponsored by the Brisbane Hammond dealer, Ellaways Music, who most kindly supplied the Hammond XK system and Leslie speakers for the night. Effectively, an adequate amount of interest and awareness for Hammond was generated on night.
We extend a huge thank you to all involved particularly the founder of the institute, Greg Quigley and his son Dan for putting on a ‘hot jazz night’. Also needless to say, a big thanks to Dale Rabic (who got the gig together and whose enthusiasm knows no bounds – good on you Dale!), Garry Smith from Ellaways Music for being there and Tim who performed his magic yet once again.
Franz Wankadia, Musico