INFLUENCES

Peter Thoms recalls the inspirational musicians he encountered in Melbourne, Sydney, New York and London

I grew up in Melbourne, Australia, where the first record I bought in the early 1960s, was Ray Charles’ ‘Hit The Road Jack’, a joint purchase with my twin sister. Later purchases included Duane Eddy, the Impressions, Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell. My father had played violin in a dance band and would play standards with a flair that always impressed me. I took violin lessons at school but the ‘Tune A Day’ approach didn’t inspire me; the transition to another ‘fretless’ instrument (trombone) came later.

In Melbourne in the early 1960s Traditional Jazz, Blues and Rock’n’Roll caught on in a big way. Clubs sprang up and I spent many a weekend checking out the bands emulating these genres. At my school (Haileybury College) some of the older boys formed a jazz group playing Jelly Roll Morton, Luis Russell and other 1920s repertoire in a fresh way. The Red Onion Jazz Band were a model for other young musicians.

The Swaggie Record label released vintage US jazz and blues recordings lifted from 78rpm records. With early Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Big Bill Broonzy and Sidney Bechet now affordable, I could hear music that inspired our present day heroes. At the annual Australian Jazz Convention I heard New Orleans pianist Alton Purnell, who was the real deal – an authentic jazz legend giving us a taste of New Orleans’ French Quarter.

By the mid-1960s. I was studying with brass teacher Norman D’Ath, whose party trick was to have you kneel on his stomach while he played a high ‘C’ on trumpet. Memorable concerts I attended included Ellington with a young Billy Preston; Tijuana Brass; and a package with The Who, Small Faces and Paul Jones. With Norman’s help I joined a brass band and then a pop band playing current pop covers as well as backing artists like Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham. We shared billing with acts such as the Valentines (with Bon Scott, later of AC/DC) and the Strangers (with John Farrar, who later wrote ‘You’re the One that I Want’ for Grease).

Many local bands followed the route of The Loved Ones (a Red Onions offshoot) to play home-grown R&B, including my classmate Ross Wilson, who helped form the Pink Finks and had a radio hit with ‘Louie Louie’. Ross went on to front Daddy Cool whose ‘Eagle Rock’ is now an Australian anthem.

Major Australian record labels were selective and safe, so the emergence of import record shops, who imported directly from the US distributors of Tamla Motown, Stax, Atlantic and Impulse, were a big influence. The Miracles, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Booker T and others began to dominate my mates’ turntables, and my musical tastes expanded to Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp and J. J. Johnson.

In 1969 I was recommended for the band in the musical Hair, recently opened in Sydney. The move to a new city exposed me to yet more exciting music, and the cast and band (including some Americans) opened my ears to yet more exciting music. Stevie Wonder appeared at a large hotel near our theatre so I organised a cast and band outing on our night off. Stevie was amazing and met us after the show, and his bass player Michael Henderson (later with Miles Davis) was magnificent. Meanwhile, I took valuable lessons from retired SSO first trombone Harry Larsen, who shared his orchestral musical knowledge and revealed that Kent Larsen, his Stan Kenton namesake, was a friend.

In 1970 I moved to Surfers Paradise for a residency and met the incredible US drummer Gaylord Birch. My bandmates and I would jam with him after the clubs closed, and he showed us close up what we had only heard on record up to that point. (Gaylord later played with Larry Graham and the Pointer Sisters.) I also saw Healing Force, a band that included singer/bassist Charlie Tumahai (later a member of Bebop Deluxe).

The band returned to Sydney to a club residency where my bandmates included sax giant Ken James, arranger/pianist Eric Myers and Czech trumpeter Miroslav Bukovsky. I studied the Schillinger System of composition with Bill Motzing, originally from Pittsburgh. This permutation system gave me a new way to look at both arranging and composition that I still refer to. I also enrolled in the Sydney Conservatorium with US jazz educator Howie Smith leading the course, bringing the American style of contemporary music education with him.

In 1973 I had an opportunity to see what London had to offer, going to see my sister before she returned to Australia. The night I left Sydney I went to a Frank Zappa Concert and was amazed by trombonist Bruce Fowler, who kindly showed me his electronic set-up (which I later used in Landscape).

Going via the US, I caught the Newport Jazz festival, where I saw the Maynard Ferguson band with Bill Watrous (and was introduced to Stanley Clarke) and a Shea Stadium concert with the Staple Singers, Billy Paul, Grover Washington and once again Stevie Wonder. I bought my King 3B trombone at Manny’s Music Shop in New York.

Once in London I discovered a jazz seminar set up by Stan Tracey’s wife Jackie at Lambeth College. There I met avant-garde trombonist Paul Rutherford and several Brotherhood of Breath members. After my organised Sydney experience, the course was unexpectedly chaotic, but I met many future friends, including Rob Goodale, with whom I shared a love of Fred Wesley.

Through the Melody Maker’s small ads, I discovered that the re-located American group, The Fantastics, needed a trombonist for a touring band. They modelled themselves on the Four Tops and the ‘Philly Sound’ style, and had a strong Northern Soul following. We toured throughout the UK until I got a call from an Australian friend working in Hong Kong. I found myself working with the Peter Nelson Group at the Hotel Furama on Hong Kong island for the next year. The band included several Australians: pianist Lance Dixon, bassist Greg Lyon and Mick Kenny on trumpet. We absorbed the music coming to us from all sources but the classic Extension of a Man by Donny Hathaway was a favourite. A year later the residency ended and we returned to London.

I continued touring with the Fantastics for a time, but with more London commitments and the attraction of the John Walters Band (replacing Rob Goodale), playing music that fascinated me, I cut down on the touring. Fortunately, I became a JWB regular as more live dates came in. Richard Burgess and Chris Heaton were already in place and I suggested Greg Lyon for Thursday the 12th, the Jaguar cassette recording John had arranged which turned out well. Greg played with Tim Hardin and other artists but soon returned to Australia. The eight-piece evolved so that the remaining creative and committed five piece became Landscape.

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Landscape A Go-go: the story of Landscape 1977-83. is out now, available from the Landscape official store, landscape.lnk.to/landscapeagogo