Above pic – Emma Pask Photo credit Helene Couchard
Jazz singer Emma Pask delivered such a great performance at The Lounge on September 4 to a sold-out crowd, that I began to wonder why this excellent venue without fail seems to bring out the best in the performers that are featured there. Of course the musicians selected to be part of its prestigious monthly program – curated by Jackie Thomas-Piccardi and marketed by Jacqui Bonner – have in many ways been the pick of Australia’s leading jazz artists, so their quality is without question.
Plaudits go to Willoughby City Council, as its support for this project has enabled the creation of a world-class performance space comparable to the best jazz venues of which I’m aware in several European or Scandinavian capital cities. While the facilities available at The Lounge might seem elementary in order to properly present music to a live audience, how many other venues, now that Foundry 616 has closed, offer an excellent grand piano, a lighting technician and a sound technician in a small concert space which comfortably seats 300, where there’s not a bad seat in the house? It’s hard to imagine a more suitable venue for the presentation of jazz in contemporary Sydney.
In her debut performance at The Lounge Emma Pask was accompanied by her A-team, the trio including Kevin Hunt (piano), Phil Stack (double bass), and Tim Firth (drums). The playing of these three outstanding musicians was so well-integrated into the singer’s style, and so empathetic in the way their music supported her, it’s difficult to suggest another comparable trio better suited to the strengths and artistry of such a singer. Except maybe one. Certainly Hunt, Stack and Firth are up there with Peter Locke (piano), Craig Scott (bass) and Andrew Dickeson (drums), who do a similar great job with the singer Gregg Arthur.
In the tradition of other artists who have graced the stage at The Lounge, Pask provided fascinating fragments of information which many of us may not have known or, if we did know, we might well have forgotten. For example, in introducing the tune Wouldn’t It Be Loverly? from the musical My Fair Lady, Pask reminded us that Audrey Hepburn, star of the original movie, had her songs dubbed by the Hollywood “ghost singer” Marnie Nixon. This is the sort of patter which in my view enlivens a jazz performance, and importantly increases an audience’s knowledge of the music’s history.
Emma Pask is apparently a fan of songs written by the great composer Harold Arlen, certainly a sign of her good taste. She opened with an Arlen tune The Eagle And Me, an interesting but little heard tune, hitherto unknown to me. Next was the more well-known Arlen tune Let’s Fall in Love, including its delightful verse, reminiscent of the great 1960 Tony Bennett version.
Then it was on to Paul McCartney’s ballad Here There and Everywhere, which was a model example of how a jazz singer can redefine a pop song. Pask’s soft expression of the lyrics illustrated perfectly the characteristic way in which she fashions the lyrics, in order to make the songs her own. It’s an essential aspect of her artistry. Hunt’s piano solo was something of a contrast as he took a somewhat more vigorous approach, but it was not out of step with Pask’s more ruminative style. When Pask returned after Hunt’s solo, she too built up the energy before finishing with a lovely soft scat cadenza, ending the piece on an exquisite note.
Here let me wax lyrical about the most significant discovery of the night: the extraordinary playing of Kevin Hunt. In my view he has palpably taken his pianism onto an entirely new level. He has invented a rich, percussive, way of improvising that I feel is totally unique. His individual take on how to navigate a chord structure is somewhat unlike the normal bebop-oriented style, and I looked forward to every solo of his throughout the performance with increasing fascination. Here was a pianist totally on top of all chord changes, playing with absolute freedom at the keyboard, providing plenty of space between his phrases, with his solos invariably generating serious applause, as listeners found their imaginations engaged.
Given the excellent sound possible at The Lounge, one could savour Hunt’s astounding work at the keyboard. I will long remember what was a tour de force of jazz pianism throughout the evening, and I hope that in future performances with Emma Pask, he is given the sort of excellent piano he deserves, where his artistry can be heard to best advantage.
After Here There and Everywhere, Pask went on to the Chick Corea classic You’re Everything from the Light as a Feather album, recorded by Corea’s group Return to Forever. That album won the 1972 Playboy jazz album of the year and has been selected by many magazines and polls as one of the greatest jazz albums ever recorded. It was energising to hear Pask’s version of this great tune, highlighted by an unusual ending. Hunt once again played an exceedingly exciting solo, and Pask, as if to challenge Hunt’s virtuosity, did a percussive, rhythmic scat solo herself to take the tune out. Whether this was planned or extemporised matters little, but this was one of the evening’s many highlights.
It’s always gratifying to gain insights into key episodes in the gestation of the career of an artist such as Emma Pask, particularly what drew her into jazz, a biographical detail which always interests me. It was instructive therefore to hear that, when she was still a schoolgirl, Pask heard the 1987 live album Diane Schuur & the Count Basie Orchestra, featuring US singer Schuur, who incidentally was blind from birth. This important album won Schuur her second Grammy for best jazz vocal, and stayed at the top of Billboard’s jazz charts for 33 weeks.
Having outlined this story Pask went on to close her first set with perhaps the best tune from that album, I Just Found Out About Love. As soon as I got home after the concert I ran to the internet to hear it again, and found it was sung in very exciting fashion by Schuur. Pask’s version was the first time I’ve heard this great song live, and I feel that her version was equally as exciting as Schuur’s. Such a great tune should be better known.
Pask opened her second set with the 1941 Ellington classic Just Squeeze Me (But Don’t Tease Me). The further we went into her program, the more I realised that Pask’s approach was full of such freedom that virtually every song she presented, was a re-definition. While most jazz singers take liberties with how to fashion a melody – that’s the whole point of the art form, to make the song one’s own – Pask was so virtuosic in this respect, that I often had the thought: this is the real thing!
The second tune in this set was Get Happy, another Harold Arlen composition, the first he wrote with his then new lyricist Ted Koehler in 1930. Pask then went immediately into another beautiful Arlen song Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea, written in 1931. Illustrating what a great team Pask and Hunt are, they brought off a well-arranged scat chorus in unison with each other, which was another of the night’s brilliant highlights.
This was followed by a soft version of the great Jimmy Van Heusen standard Like Someone in Love, dedicated to Emma’s family members who were present in the audience. This was a splendid curtain-raiser for the high-energy number which was to follow, a duet between Pask and Phil Stack.
This was Rumour Has It, written by the UK singer/songwriter Adele. When this is attempted two-out, just vocal and double bass, the bassist has to provide a strong orchestral sound, so that the harmonic structure is clearly in the air to enable the singer to stay in tune. Needless to say Stack’s rich sound brilliantly underpinned Pask’s vocal, so that what could be considered a difficult task was achieved with great success.
This highlight was followed by the 1975 Renee Geyer classic Heading In The Right Direction. Stack, once again showing what an asset he is to the Pask team, provided the vocal harmony which is essential to the success of this great number, written by Australians Mark Punch and Garry Paige. Notably Hunt provided yet another biting piano solo, which drew perhaps the loudest applause of the evening.
By this time in the second set a feeling had evolved in the room that Pask could do no wrong. Completely relaxed and full of confidence, she did a bright version of the Fats Waller/Andy Razaf song Honeysuckle Rose, showing, as if we weren’t already aware, her great ability to swing. From here on it was full steam ahead to the inevitable standing ovation.
Two tunes remained before the curtain went down on a splendid performance. Firstly, an excellent version of Mas Que Nada, the Brazilian Portuguese tune which was little-known until it was covered in 1966 by Sergio Mendes and his band Brasil ’66, on their debut album.
Secondly the R & B tune Don’t Touch Me, written by Teddy Edwards and memorably performed by the great African American singer Barbara Morrison. When Morrison visited Sydney in 1997 Emma Pask apparently had some positive interaction with her at the time, and picked up some valuable lessons. This episode harked back to the cavalcade of visiting overseas musicians who were arriving regularly in Australia in the 80s and 90s, and interacting closely with local musicians, a phenomenon which unfortunately is virtually unknown to current generations of Australian jazz musicians who are unaware of what they’re missing.
Two closing remarks, if I may. Firstly, when one hears a jazz performance in a second-rate venue (Sydney is full of them) the music can lose its lustre. A first-class venue such as The Lounge on the contrary massively enhances the music and enables our great jazz artists to present their best work, perhaps to be clearly heard for the first time. Emma Pask’s fine performance was in this league.
Secondly, Pask’s performance at this gig was evidence that her immersion in the art of jazz vocalising was unusually deep – so deep that one had the impression that scat phrases would bubble out of her at any moment, even when introducing a number, or speaking to her band members, or in the middle of singing the head of a tune. I have rarely heard a jazz singer who seemed so on the brink of expressing herself in wordless vocal phrases, with the possible exception of the great Melbourne singer Michelle Nicolle, who also has this sort of talent in spades.
This concert took place at The Lounge in Chatswood on September 4, 2025, and featured Emma Pask (vocals), Kevin Hunt (piano), Phil Stack (double bass) and Tim Firth (drums).
