James Carter Organ Trio may sound like a normal, standard jazz band, but it definitely is not. James Carter is a 44-year-old saxophonist and flutist, and the founder of the James Carter Organ Trio.

An organ trio around the jazz scene will usually consist of three musicians, a Hammond organ player, a drummer and a saxophonist, in this case James Carter. The other members are Gerard Gibbs on the organ, and Leonard King on drums.

For some readers, it could be  hard to imagine how only three musicians achieve greatness and creativity in their music, which explains why this trio is special.

It requires great skill and technique to make an organ trio successful, especially since the bass player is also the organ player. Gibbs is the solid foundation that the trio supports itself on. Gibbs plays the bass lines, chords and melodies of most of the songs in a poly rhythmic sense . He uses a Hammond organ, which enables him to play the bass line with his feet, while playing the melodies and chords with his two hands, he wields the ability to control his four limbs independently, which is a huge challenge and a real musical skill. That will could soon extinct, as Gibbs is one of the few remaining masters of the real Hammond organ, with him the trio is a sextet.

James Carter is a powerful musician that  knows his instruments more than well. His instruments on stage are usually the soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bari saxophone and the flute, using all these instruments at one stage gives this trio good variety and always changing music flow on stage. At the trio’s last performance at the Perth International Festival 2013, Carter showed an outstanding, most extraordinary performance, with lots of woodwind solos that were more than just playing up and down the scale.

Leonard King  a not so typical jazz drummer that has a unique style and great skill, which bonds traditional and modern drumming styles into one, which gave it a new taste being put with the rest of the trio to make it complete and different than any other.

The James Carter Organ Trio’s recent performance at this year’s Perth Festival in Westren Australia was more than great. It was filled with instrumental energy, and a creativity with lots of solos like never seen or heard  before on any record. The trio’s performance may not have been attended by a large audience, but those who did attend did themselves a favor.

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March the 2nd, 2013, marked the end of Perth Festival at Chevron Festival Gardens,with what is known as The Antibalas, to conquer the main stage and the audience’s ears and sight.The Antibalas is a rare kind of band, playing music known as Afro Jazz, or Afrobeat. They are based in Brooklyn, New York, and have a diversity of nationalities within the group.

The Antibalas’ music at Perth Festival was outstanding. It was both lyrical and instrumental, featured technical musical skills that is as organized as a bee hive, instrumentally wise, and it had a great message, and purpose lyrically wise .

The Antibalas came to Perth, Australia with 11 of their musicians, that were as tight on stage as a Brazilian Football team, where they both have in common are skills and groove.

Their formation was 4-4-2-1 which consisted of a brass section that included: trombone, trumpet, tenor saxophone and Martin Perna–the founder of the Antibalas– on bari saxophone. As for the guitar and keys section, it included: rhythm and lead guitar, bass guitar and keys. Since the band is an Afrobeat, the most important section is the percussion with Amayo–the lead singer on the congas–and Marcus Farrar on the Shekere, and lastly their time keeper–Miles Arntzen–on the drums.

The Antibalas have nine album records that have made a big success with their latest song “Dirty Money,” that has made a  fuss around the scene. Listening to The Anitbalas’ records does not do them any justice. The band shows what they’ve really got in live performances like this one. One would be in the center of confusion to either talk about their music perfection or their music creativity, because metaphorically speaking both are two different books that The Antibalas have read to their audience on stage with a lot of onomatopoeia and imagery.  The group played at least 10 songs of which some were familiar, and other songs that were not, though all the songs appeared as if they were being composed on stage, and that was what caught the attention of many.

Being an Afro Jazz band, The Antibalas have a responsibility to move the listeners to their groove, which was not a hard thing to do, considering their musical abilities and the African rhythms that filled the atmosphere .

It is really a challenge to give The Antibalas justice in just once article, but one can sure say that Perth Festival 2013 really saved the best for the last.

The Antibalas Line Up :

• Stuart D. Bogie – Tenor Saxophone
• Martin Perna – Baritone Saxophone
• Jordan McLean – Trumpet
• Aaron Johnson – Trombone
• Victor Axelrod – Organ, Electric Pianos, Clavinet, Electric Celeste, Synthesizers, percussion
• Luke O’Malley – Guitar
• Marcos J. Garcia – Guitar, Vocals
• Nikhil Yerawadekar – Bass guitar, Guitar
• Miles Arntzen – Drums
• Duke Amayo – Vocals, Congas, Percussion
• Marcus Farrar – Shekere, Vocals

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It was a cool summer night when James Brown’s own saxophonist Maceo Parker funked up Perth City of Westren Australia, and when it comes to funk time, Mr. Maceo Parker is the man of the hour.

The 7th of February 2013 was the eve of the Perth Festival, and Parker was a perfect match for a night that special. The Perth Festival is the oldest annual international multi-arts festival in the southern hemisphere and offers some of the world’s best theatre, music, film, visual arts, street arts, literature and free community events, For more than 50 years, the three-week long festival that kicks off in February of each year, has been a host for the world’s greatest artists.

At the festival eve, Parker lined up with an “all groove” band, that featured keys, lead guitar, bass guitar, trombone and drums. It was a whole lot of jazz being played but Parker’s jazz is not just any jazz; and definitely not the jazz that would make you want to take five. It was that kind of  jazz that had the audience grooving to each single beat and note for two hours, non stop.

Maceo Parker goes way back to when funk and its father James Brown were teaching the world a thing or two about “the groove.” It was around 1964 when Parker and his drummer brother joined Brown’s band until 1970.

By 2013, the now 69-year-old Parker continues to delight fans in live concerts by not just play his alto saxophone, but singing too. Some see James Brown in Parker when he sings, especially when he gives a Brown’s “HEY!” and a “COME ON!” .

Instrumentally speaking, Parker and his band were playing right and tight whether it was a group song or an instrumental solo. It was an impressive performance where each musician had at least one solo and complimented each other.

And so begins the Perth International Arts Festival 2013, with a special evening by Maceo Parker.

Information about the festival and its events can be found on the festival’s website.

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