Travis Jenkins says Brisbane is all he's ever known. So it figures the composer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist would write an album dedicated to the River City.
'Pieces For Glass Houses: Portrait Of A River City' is Travis' upcoming album. “My first solo release with my name on it, I guess you could call it,” he says.
Travis will be previewing the album at the Brisbane Jazz Club later this month with his band: The Travis Jenkins Quartet. Travis says he's always loved Brisbane's music scene and its creative culture. “People come from all different backgrounds and everyone's doing amazing work. It's inspiring to see that on your own doorstep.”
He talks about how the jazz scene in Fortitude Valley was pretty big when he was in his late teens, but that over time it's sort of faded away as music changed in the city. “Recently though, we've been experiencing this influx of people trying to create jazz music here.”
He also credits the Jazz Music Institute (JMI) for the current strength of the Brisbane jazz scene. Travis (a JMI graduate) says they've helped a lot of young people get into the genre. “It's intimidating, seeing all these talented young people, but it's really great.”
Travis hasn't got his sights set only on jazz, with a love for all kinds of music. But for his new album, jazz was the focus. “We follow the American traditions of jazz, with a lot of improvisation in there as well.”
The quartet is made up of a talented young drummer (Sam Mitchell) Travis studied with, an alto saxophone player (Brad McCarthy), and a double bass player (Nick Quigley) who's been a long time friend of Travis, and is the current CEO of the JMI. “They really complement my music,” Travis says.
Happiest when he's making music, Travis says the new album came from him sitting at his piano writing as many random songs as he could. “There's some darker, moody stuff in there, then there are some quite pretty, lush harmonies.”
The new album is a different beast for Travis in that he spent most of his time writing it at the piano. “Piano makes more sense to me immediately,” he says. Even though he feels more competent playing guitar, Travis says he gets a lot more freedom with the piano. “I can do things you can't really do with the guitar and I find it a lot easier to conceive music on a piano.”
Every songwriter seems to have a different process; for Travis it's a simple matter of being inspired and running with it. “It always tends to start with a simple idea for me, then I let that theme develop organically,” he explains.
For The Travis Jenkins Quartet, the upcoming show at the Brisbane Jazz Club was originally supposed to be the album's launch, but that's been put back a couple of months. “It'll be an album preview, so people can pre-order it, they can listen to it, and all the material we'll play will be from the album.”
The Brisbane Jazz Club has a reputation for hosting great artists. Travis says that's why he loves playing there. “Because of its historical significance in the city, people come there because there's an expectation that there'll be great music.”
Along with the Quartet, Travis has plenty of other projects on the side and is getting into some heavier music. He also plays with local group Captain Dreamboat, and is heading into the studio with them, along with reggae band One Dragon Two Dragons, who are recording their first single soon. “All of my projects have been completely different. I've always had a soft spot for jazz and improvisation though: they just bring everyone into the moment.”
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The Travis Jenkins Quartet play the Brisbane Jazz Club 23 April.
