Music / Wanderlust, The Street Theatre, February 13. Reviewed by ROB KENNEDY.

ENDURING, innovative, diverse music that references the entire world of musical influences are some of the acclaims about Wanderlust. In its 30th anniversary concert at The Street Theatre in Canberra, its seven members proved they are worthy of all the praise.

Wanderlust founder Miroslav Bukovsky, on trumpet, led the players with Brendan Clarke, bass, James Greening, trombone, Fabian Hevia, drums, John Mackey, saxophone, Jeremy Sawkins, guitar, and Alister Spence, piano.

Wanderlust leads audiences on musical journeys through complex sounds combining world beats and jazz improvisation. But at the heart of this fusion lies the sound of jazz. Original compositions from more than three decades filled this concert.

With four albums and an ARIA award to their name, Wanderlust has proved that Australian jazz stands by itself in the world.

Not having played together for two years didn’t seem to have made any difference to the quality of its sound. The group opened with a chromatic and wandering solo piano piece that became more intense as the bass and drums expanded the tune. Soon after, the horns entered, which helped grow this upbeat and driving composition. The trombone slid in and created an electric arrangement from top to bottom.

Bukovsky on his trumpet brought out a glorious sensual sound complementing the trombone. Soon Mackey on sax added so much colour through his swift and slow playing. This was a powerful opening piece where Mackey blew everyone away. But it wasn’t over yet. It kept going as Clarke on bass laid down his sound with an elegantly technical array of deep notes before it ended.

Opening with a drum solo for the second piece, this upbeat sound became more rhythmic as the bass joined in. Sawkings on electric guitar, who plays left handed, turned the tune into a power-driven experience. The leads swapped as each instrument had their expressive say before the piece found its way home.

It is a unique form of music where one instrument can lead and take the sound in one direction or another, while underneath the rhythm section, may or may not maintain a straight path. The lead can completely change the colour of the music. It is fascinating.

The tunes moved from the very funky with the piece “Mambo Gumbo” to a slow love song called “Twilight Rain”. A work by Duke Ellington titled “Wanderlust” brought back his delicious sound, with many additions. The stage setting of hanging metallic shapes and the changing colours of the lighting and the onstage fog added depth to the diverse music.

Greening on trombone is the joker of the group. He constantly danced his way around the players, laughing and kidding with them. His performance while using a plastic mute was extraordinary. The limitless sounds he created had this reviewer in awe.

Wanderlust is a group of quality musos, each with a unique voice and style. They complement each other and blend perfectly no matter what the mood. Canberra is lucky to have four of them lecturing here at the ANU School of Music.

This was a 100-minute concert of contrasts, colour and control, where seven musicians made one helluva sound.

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