For most bands, living on opposite sides of the world would be a nail in the coffin of a shared musical career.
But being unable to practice together is no problem for Perth duo Cassani/Campbell – an improvisational jazz outfit whose debut album was recorded in a single afternoon.
Made up of Perth-born, New York-based saxophonist Fraser Campbell and Italian double bass player Roberto Cassani, who has lived in Perth for 20 years, Cassani/Campbell are a band who like to make it up as they go.
But they pinpoint the beginning of their story to either end of a bench on the North Inch, during the quietest part of lockdown.
Fraser had flown home to be with his family during the pandemic, while Roberto was “stuck in the house with nothing to do”.
Having been introduced once before by mutual musical friend Bruce Michie, the pair decided to meet up for a ‘socially-distanced’ jam on either end of the park bench – with Roberto lugging his double bass out for the occasion.
“It’s probably less poetic than what it sounds,” smiles Roberto, 48. “We used to just meet up and sit on a bench and play jazz. We weren’t busking or anything – in fact, when people wanted to give us money we were saying ‘no’.
“But it was good fun, so we did that for the summer. I was taking my double-bass along,” continues the father-of-one, who lives in Scone with his wife and 11-year-old daughter.
“I used to take a ‘little’ one – which is still gigantic, but not as big as my gigging bass!”
An album in a day
Both lifelong musicians, Roberto and Fraser found it easy to improvise and play off one another’s skilled handling of their respective instruments, combining jazz influences, bossanova and spoken word in their tunes.
Initially self-taught back in Italy, Roberto eventually honed his skills under the legendary Danny Thompson, while Fraser’s talent was spotted early during his Fair City upbringing, and he landed a scholarship to study music at Berklee in Boston.
And when the pair got into a recording studio together – the picturesque Tpot studio in Kinross – they recorded what would become their entire first album in one fun-filled afternoon.
“We just went there and played for an afternoon, improvised everything,” explains Roberto.
“Then we went away and we listened back to it. It sounded kind of different, so we approached one record company in NY called Sunnyside records.
“And quite surprisingly they got back immediately saying that they wanted to put the record out on their label!”
Their debut album, poet / shuts / clock is named after the geolocation tag of the bench on the North Inch where they initially met to practice.
But shortly after its release, Fraser returned to New York, making Cassani/Campbell gigs impossible for this once socially-distanced, now long-distance band.
No practice? No problem for professional improvisors
Still, their love of playing together persevered, and when Fraser returned to visit his relatives again in 2023, he and Roberto got together with fellow musicians Ross Ainslie (whistles), Graeme Stephen (guitar) and Doug Hough (drums) for a jam.
And in another afternoon, they knocked out another album – Care (Very Much), out from Friday January 19.
“Again we didn’t practice, didn’t rehearse – in fact, I had never met some of them!” laugh Roberto.
“I knew Ross, we had played together a wee bit – but I had never met Graham and Doug. But we just started playing and it was great, we loved it.
“So we made another album in an afternoon.”
Now, the geographically scattered five-piece outfit are coming together for a mini-tour, and stopping at Perth Theatre’s Joan Knight Studio for an evening of “joyful” entertainment.
And due to the improvised nature of their music, Roberto isn’t worried in the slightest about how little time they’ve had to practice.
“There’s no real great point in us doing any preparation because most of the music is improvised music,” he says, and insists there’s no nervousness around their lack of a traditional ‘set list’.
“It’s actually the opposite,” he explains.
“It feels like a natural progression for somebody who has played music their whole life. We all have played music that you read and play and it’s just as it’s written by other people. But then you just develop a willingness to play in the moment, because it’s the only way to completely express yourself.
“Obviously, there are parts of the tunes that are written so that they make sense and it’s not a complete cacophony,” he adds.
“But there are massive parts of the tunes that are left to our imagination.”
Cassani/Campbell with Ross Ainslie, Doug Hough and Graeme Stephen will play at Perth Theatre’s Joan Knight Studio on Friday January 19 at 8pm.
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