Composer and jazz pianist Cleon Barraclough joins with bassist Osmar ‘Chiky’ Salazar and Sacha K (Kloostra) on drums to release the debut album from their band, Cleon's Three, ‘Techni-Colour Rain’.
The album will be released in February and is a distinctively unique recording of sublime Afro-Cuban jazz. Inspired by salsa, timba, funk and contemporary jazz, the album features the group’s original compositions. Cleon, Chiky and Sacha bring intricate Afro-Cuban grooves and jazz improvisation skills to audiences through their diverse musical experiences.
Chiky has been touring internationally as the musical director and composer of ‘Ballet Revolucíon’ and was formerly on tour with Lady Salsa. Chiky’s traditional Cuban roots emanate through his numerous album recordings and virtuoso style. Completing the trio, Sacha K holds the drum chair for Afro-Cuban ensemble Chukale, while his many collaborations with artists from diverse musical backgrounds reflect the knowledge and capability he brings to the project.
Cleon and Sacha K were already working together when they were joined by Osmar. "We just organised it and went for it," Cleon says. "There are lots of great bass players around Brisbane but to have a Cuban in the band and have that real Afro-Cuban influence [means] we were very lucky.”
Cleon is responsible for all but two of the compositions on the record; the others were the work of Chiky. The Brisbane-based musician says Afro-Cuban jazz is gaining popularity. "In Brisbane about eight years ago there was a guy named Gus and he came to Brissie, he was a really good Uruguayan-Latin musician,” Cleon says. “He formed a band called Chukale. Chukale are fairly well known around the traps, where they're the number one Afro-Cuban salsa ensemble. The drummer from Chukale is playing in my trio, Sacha. A lot of people are now dancing to Afro-Cuban blues, but we've stripped it back a bit and taken more of an experimental approach. We're doing more Cuban jazz harmonies and more odd-time signs, so some of it you can dance to but some of it, maybe not.”
If you're new to jazz, Cleon says: "you should definitely be listening to [American jazz and fusion pianist, keyboardist, and composer] Chick Corea and Gonzalo Rubalcaba [a Cuban Jazz pianist]".
Cleon recalls how he "got into jazz at a young age as well as having a classical piano background. Around age 12 I got into blues and jazz and I've been doing it ever since. Jazz is my main focus"
While recording their debut album, Cleon and his bandmates had the privilege of working with internationally renowned producer and engineer John Haeny. John's career, which spans five decades and features multiple Emmy nominations, includes work with jazz greats: John Coltrane, Weather Report, Freddie Hubbard and Duke Ellington. "John is in his 70s and he is semi-retired.. I actually know John through my uncle, who was the bass player for Mental As Anything. John has a piano, a really, really nice piano in his studio, It's a Yamaha C7 … he was keen to have someone come and play on it and record with it and I was willing.
"Working with John is like working with no one else. He is from the old-school era of jazz; he records a bit differently to how we record in the modern days. He had very strict requirements for recording. A lot of modern-day jazz recordings are done in booths, so the instruments have some separation but he doesn’t agree with that. He is of the school of thought that he puts all three instruments in the one room playing simultaneously so, basically, it’s a live recording.”
John uses the terms "Good bleed and bad bleed" when referring to how well the instruments sound together. Cleon explains that "good bleed between instruments and the recording adds to the overall warmth and the 'realness' of the recording".
When asked if he changed his style at all to accommodate Haeny's advice Cleon answers: "John purely acted as producer of the sound recording. I had complete freedom in terms of composition and arrangements. [Part of] John's involvement was to push as to play really well.”
And it must have helped because Cleon quite proudly declares that Haeny stated at the end of recording that 'Techni-Colour Rain' "is in his top five percent of albums he has produced in his lifetime".
As well as being a successful composer and musician, Cleon is also the director of his own tiling business. "It's full-on, I don't really have any down time. I have kids as well, so I've got a lot going on. Basically I work eight hours a day, Monday to Friday and when I get home I hit the studio: I write, I rehearse, I record and I practice. Then I perform music around town on the weekends.
“I started writing compositions [for this album] about a year ago, not knowing who I'd have in the band; about six or eight months ago I formed the band and about three months ago we started rehearsing.”
This month sees Cleon's Three tour the east coast of Australia. "I'm really, really excited,” Cleon announces enthuses. "It's my first national tour, and my first time playing a lot of interstate jazz clubs. In Melbourne I'm lucky enough to be playing a solo for the Yamaha Piano Series. The material is very challenging and I'm looking forward to playing it in public.”
Written by Jeremy Edwards
Cleon's Three Tour Dates
Thu 5 Feb - JMI Live (Brisbane)Sat 8 Feb - Jazz Upstairs (Brisbane)
Thu 12 Feb - Bennett's Lane (Melbourne)
Sun 15 Feb - Bennett's Lane (Melbourne)
Mon 16 Feb - The Promethean (Adelaide)
Tue 17 Feb - Newcastle Improvised Music Association
Wed 18 Feb - The Foundry 616 (Sydney)
Thu 19 Feb - Smiths Alternative Bookshop (Canberra)
Sun 22 Feb - The Ellington (Perth)
Sat 28 Feb – Brisbane Jazz Club
