Tangled Trails

Robbie Melville

‘Tangled Trails’, the latest album from Robbie Melville, is an introspective collection of songs inspired in part by the 1921 silent film of the same name. An imagined soundtrack to the early Western classic, each song can be matched to a scene of the film, ranging from the wintery wilds of Canada to the melting pot of Roaring Twenties era New
‘Tangled Trails’, the latest album from Robbie Melville, is an introspective collection of songs inspired in part by the 1921 silent film of the same name. An imagined soundtrack to the early Western classic, each song can be matched to a scene of the film, ranging from the wintery wilds of Canada to the melting pot of Roaring Twenties era New York.

Drawing inspiration from significant figures in Melville’s life, the music displays his characteristic warmth, quirkiness and sense of romantic melancholy. His various projects - from the frenetic 50:fifty album by cleverhorse, to the elegant chamber jazz of To Iceland! To Iceland! by his trio Antelodic - have exhibited an accomplished exploration of the subtle intricacies of human emotion.

Many of the compositions on the album are dedicated to friends and family. The album’s centrepiece, Gin Ode, was written for Melville’s longtime friend, collaborator and saxophonist Gideon Brazil. “Gideon and I have been playing music together in an array of different projects for many years now. All that time spent listening to each other has resulted in a deep musical connection. More importantly, our friendship has never faltered. Gideon is still the most unpredictable person I’ve ever met. It’s a wonderful quality”. Bookended by a jubilant melody, Gin Ode moves between several sonic landscapes like slowly shifting sands, exploring shades of darkness and light.

Romance is a personal and tender message to Melville’s wife, and Lullaby was written for his eldest daughter Bug. “When my daughter was a baby and we were living in Shanghai, I thought it would be great to be able to play her a song to get her to sleep each day. At the time I was studying the guitar playing of Jimmy Wyble. It’s harmonically advanced contemporary counterpoint, and not at all suitable for composing a simple lullaby. It unintentionally influenced the writing of the piece quite a lot. Instead of falling asleep, my daughter would cry whenever I played it to her”.

Three of the album’s pieces are duets for guitar and cello. These were written after the idea was suggested to Melville by his luthier Jim Matheas, who built the classical guitar he uses on the album. Featuring one of Australia’s leading cellists, Zoe Knighton, Seed builds tension with a repeated rhythmic figure and Orange Monsters I Have Known maintains its relentless forward motion with the guitar and cello filling in the negative space of the other. Orton, on the other hand, is a slowly unfolding ballad.

“Orton is inspired by the music of American composer Mark Orton. I originally heard the tempo as being a little faster, but when Zoe and I were warming up in the recording studio, Zoe started playing it really slowly. My initial thought was that it felt all wrong, but I kept my ears open, and after playing through it with her for a few bars, I realised that her instincts were spot on. I began to follow her phrasing. It seemed to me as if she’d written the piece and knew it better than I did. I experienced a really wonderful feeling of surrender. Zoe is incredibly musical, and I’m so grateful she was able to be a part of this album”.

The fourteen pieces on Tangled Trails travel through environments of modern jazz, country blues, contemporary classical chamber music and acoustic folk. Melville successfully weaves together such disparate elements into a unified and enchanting musical world.

‘The mix of moods and feelings achieved by Melville’s compositions is rare in any art form’ - John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald

‘TANGLED TRAILS’ TOUR DATES:
Friday 23rd June - The Old Church On The Hill, Bendigo VIC
Saturday 24th June - Cross Street, Melbourne VIC
Sunday 25th June - Broadford VIC
Tuesday 27th June - Nest Cafe and Cinema, Tumbarumba NSW
Thursday 29th June - Johnston Street Jazz, Sydney NSW
Friday 30th June - Paul Paviour Recital Hall, Goulburn NSW
Saturday 1st July - Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra ACT
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Distance (2022)

Robbie Melville

In 2016 I was fortunate enough to be awarded both the Industry and Orkeztra prizes in the Composition Competition for world music ensemble Orkeztra Glasso Bashalde with the piece ‘Tango In Pusan’. One part of the prize was recording time, generously provided by Adrian Akkerman at his Incubator Studio.

At the time, I was working in a band with
In 2016 I was fortunate enough to be awarded both the Industry and Orkeztra prizes in the Composition Competition for world music ensemble Orkeztra Glasso Bashalde with the piece ‘Tango In Pusan’. One part of the prize was recording time, generously provided by Adrian Akkerman at his Incubator Studio.

At the time, I was working in a band with Tristan Courtney, Danny McKenna and Garrett Costigan, and I felt we were all getting along together pretty well musically. On a whim, I asked them to come and record a number of songs I'd written over the years that couldn't find a home in any of my other projects. Happily, during the sessions, we continued to get along together pretty well musically.

After this initial recording session, I worked on the album with Mark Stanley at Red Room Studio in fits and starts for six years. Looking back, I can't understand why it took me so long, especially considering how much fun I had with the entire process from start to finish.

Several of the songs are written for people I admire. 'Foster' was inspired by the life and music of Stephen Foster, 'Squeaky' is for my friend Josh Bridges, 'One For Mont' is for cleverhorse and Antelodic alto saxophonist and dear friend Monty Mackenzie, and Punch is an imaginary meeting between Bill Frisell and the Punch Brothers.

My family life features in 'One Lip', 'Peering Around Corners' and 'Fern Hill'. 'The Chaining Tree' was inspired by a story Gideon Brazil told me about the justice system in Fryerstown during the Victorian Gold Rush of the 1850s.
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Antelodic

To Iceland! To Iceland! (2020)

Antelodic

‘Quiet Sufficient’ was one of my very favourite releases of 2017. Many moons ago, I had the pleasure of participating briefly in the teacher/student relationship individually with all three of these deeply considered musicians. Hearing the way they had blossomed and bloomed on ‘Quiet Sufficient’ was a deeply rewarding experience. The CD stayed in
‘Quiet Sufficient’ was one of my very favourite releases of 2017. Many moons ago, I had the pleasure of participating briefly in the teacher/student relationship individually with all three of these deeply considered musicians. Hearing the way they had blossomed and bloomed on ‘Quiet Sufficient’ was a deeply rewarding experience. The CD stayed in my car for months. The sound and attention to detail on this new record is in the same realm as their debut: delicate, ethereal and intimate.

And then there are beautiful surprises such as when the... Well, I don’t want to ruin it for you. This is music that deserves deep, uninterrupted listening. The music has been described elsewhere as cinematic, and it feels orchestral in both its dynamic and scope. At times it’s easy to forget that you’ve dived in to a world created by just three musicians. The fact that, of those three, only one is a traditional “rhythm section” instrument is at times quite profound.

The tone that the horn players produce on all their instruments is rich and warm without sacrificing directness and immediacy. No mean feat. The intonation and balance is superb throughout. The way the steel string guitar is recorded feels like you’re inside the body of the actual instrument; the nylon string is rich and never brittle. And the voicings (both of the guitar itself and the woodwinds together) are full of unusual surprises, especially on the title track. Melville’s compositions are beguiling, but it’s the way they’re realised by the whole group that makes this recording so special. There’s plenty of intrigue, but always room to breathe. It all feels like a very warm invitation to step inside, take the worries of the world off your shoulders, and let it all wash over you like a warm bath.

These are smart but enchanting compositions, realised and played immaculate, and captured and produced with pristine detail and sound staging. I get the feeling that this will be one of those recordings that offers a deeper and more immersive experience on each successive listen. - Julien Wilson
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Quiet Sufficient (2017)

Antelodic

Quiet Sufficient is the debut release from Melbourne instrumental trio Antelodic. Led by composer/guitarist Robbie Melville, the unusual trio was formed in 2012 at a time when each member of the ensemble was immersed in the disarray of new family life.

Using saxophone players Gideon Brazil and Monty Mackenzie from his contemporary jazz ensemble
Quiet Sufficient is the debut release from Melbourne instrumental trio Antelodic. Led by composer/guitarist Robbie Melville, the unusual trio was formed in 2012 at a time when each member of the ensemble was immersed in the disarray of new family life.

Using saxophone players Gideon Brazil and Monty Mackenzie from his contemporary jazz ensemble cleverhorse, Melville designed a trio in which the woodwind became the rhythm section and the guitar became the melodic voice.

The majority of the album was written in a six-month period following the birth of Melville’s second daughter. This time of joy and introspection, combined with the necessity of quietude, resulted in an album of of gentle, restrained reveries. Several of the pieces on the album deal with deeply personal events in Melville’s life, primarily the births and deaths of family members. Other themes are inspired by musical heroes Stephen Foster and Richard Rodgers, the turning of the seasons, and the simple joys of friendship. The album’s cover is an image by Czech photographer Viktor Kolář.

Quiet Sufficient also marks the first time Melville has included compositions by other artists on an album. “As a musician you spend a lot of time developing your own voice or sound, and sucking up these influences all around you”, says Melville. “Somewhere along the road, revisiting songs that had, and still have, such a profound effect on your own musical growth becomes really enjoyable. So as well as just having fun playing the songs you love, it has become important to me to kind of raise my hat to the artists who mean so much to me. The kind of music we were attempting to make with Antelodic lent itself well to an arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s “Blue”. I arranged the piano part for the guitar and tenor saxophone, with Monty playing the vocal line on alto”.

“We also did an arrangement of Krystle Warren’s “Sparkle and Fade” from her album “Circles”. I had the pleasure of playing a gig with her when she was out here on tour a few years back. After that, I pretty much listened to her albums every day for six months straight. She’s such a unique songwriter and singer”.

Recorded over three years at both Dog and Bear Studio by Steve Vella and at Red Room Studio by Mark Stanley, the completed songs were mixed at Red Room. Stanley’s sonically daring approach to mixing pushes the album further into a stylistic realm of its own.
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cleverhorse

50:fifty

cleverhorse

50:fifty is the new release by Melbourne five-piece instrumental ensemble cleverhorse. Led by composer/guitarist Robbie Melville, the band cites influences from ambient to avant-garde, funk to folk, jazz to jam band and world music.

With this, their second album, cleverhorse presents seven of Melville’s compositions as well as six improvised
50:fifty is the new release by Melbourne five-piece instrumental ensemble cleverhorse. Led by composer/guitarist Robbie Melville, the band cites influences from ambient to avant-garde, funk to folk, jazz to jam band and world music.

With this, their second album, cleverhorse presents seven of Melville’s compositions as well as six improvised studio experiments. Half of the album features stylized, well structured compositions that are interspersed with shorter improvised pieces. The group developed these improvisations as diversionary musical challenges intended to help maintain their energy, spark and creativity throughout the recording process.

The result is a body of work that contrasts the melodic and cinematic with the frenetic and quirky, on an album that shuns conventions of jazz and improvised music.

“Half the album is very ordered. The longer pieces have an intentional use of space and melodicism. The other half of the album is the direct opposite of that - mischievous, funky shorter pieces that are really quite idiosyncratic. The two styles of music are intended to complement and enhance each other. Listening to the album in its entirety is a bit of a roller coaster ride. The more “beautiful” pieces are made more so by being surrounded by the more “frenetic” pieces, and vice versa. This is the key feature of the album and is why it’s entitled 50:fifty”, Robbie said.

The first single from the album, “Reich” is a group improvisation inspired by the work of minimalist composer Steve Reich. It features two distinct sections, the first being a slow, ambient introduction that transitions into an intense, rhythmic sonic expanse. The accompanying clip for it was filmed in County Limerick in Ireland, directed and edited by Melbourne’s Jean Poole. The video’s dark images of the forest leading up to an abandoned castle match the broody nature of the music perfectly; it’s like a mini musical suspense film.

Other pieces on the album are based on personal themes of family and friendship, life and death, and are informed in equal measure by contemporary jazz, Norwegian folk, the sonic space of the soundtracks of films by Wim Wenders, and the sparse and playful writings of Richard Brautigan. The variety of influences on the music of cleverhorse means it reaches beyond jazz to resonate with music lovers across all genres, in a unique category of its own.

Released on the Jazzhead label:

www.jazzhead.com
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Goodnight Mr. Monster

cleverhorse

cleverhorse is a five piece ensemble who cite influences from ambient to avant garde, funk to folk, jazz to jam band and world music. Led by composer/guitarist Robbie Melville (Australian Pops Orchestra, Mundy, Aine Tyrrell, Krystle Warren), the band also comprises Monty Mackenzie on alto saxophone (Harmless), Gideon Brazil on tenor saxophone
cleverhorse is a five piece ensemble who cite influences from ambient to avant garde, funk to folk, jazz to jam band and world music. Led by composer/guitarist Robbie Melville (Australian Pops Orchestra, Mundy, Aine Tyrrell, Krystle Warren), the band also comprises Monty Mackenzie on alto saxophone (Harmless), Gideon Brazil on tenor saxophone (Gotye, The Basics, Adam Simmons Toy Band), Luke Hodgson on electric bass (Ross Wilson, Marcia Hines, Geoff Achison) and Dan Macdonald on drums (Kate Vigo), and often incorporates the use of live looping and samples.

“Goodnight, Mr. Monster” is their debut album.

“They have given a lot of thought to an overall sound, to an attractive surface, to listenability as well as creativity or simply ‘getting it on’… It was seductive and euphoric…They are onto something. They are undoubtedly creative…A band to be watched”. (John Clare, Sydney Morning Herald, 27th Feb 2004).
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