The Necks @ L’Auditori (BCN) 19th of November 2024

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Last week we had the pleasure of a concert by The Necks, one of Australia’s long-standing musical legends. It took place in L’Auditori, a renowned venue, as a part of their intense European tour (17 gigs in less than a month). Their visit was hosted by the 56th edition of the Barcelona Jazz Festival, a celebration that spans over 60 events from October to March. And in spite of the wide array of performers, all leaning towards jazz in one way or another, the trio formed by Chris Abrahams, Tony Buck and Lloyd Swanton proved that both their approach and results are quite unique in the musical spectrum.

Divided in two sessions, they offered a journey across their multiple influences. Everything starts from an almost indefinite sound coming from one instrument, and the others join gradually. During the first half we felt the bass was the main axis of their elaborate yet simple mechanism unfolding in front of us. Either plucking or bowing, Swanton drew patterns through repetition and this merged perfectly with other sounds later in the set, wrapping and carrying them, leaving trails behind, like remains from previous motifs that are still in the air.

The second half had moments of beauty coming from Abrahams mastery of the piano, showing its occasional contrast between graceful bits of melodies and leading force that sets the mood. Its level of expression, with precise brush strokes of resonance, created a trance-like state that reminded us of works by Phillip Glass.

Tony Buck provided a masterclass in percussion. His remarkable skills were essential, a delicate symbiosis with the bass harmonics, overlaying tones and rhythmic patterns with a wholistic technique; or his playful and intricate pace, that sounded like a thousand clockwork mechanisms in an expanding loop synchrony.

The way every instrument blends in with each other turns their distinctive qualities into indistinguishable added elements to the greater good, this time in the shape of a vibration, with touching sweet melodies close to the end. As usual, they’re not playing their past releases, but we sensed some hints of their hypnotic work ‘Travel’, released at the beginning of 2023.

Their take on improvisation is pulsating and full of details, and there’s something about the way they play that’s hard to define, but it feels ceremonial and ritualistic, a possible challenge to norms and listeners, with guaranteed results after each session. This is food for your soul.

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