My Goodness McGuiness – The Basement
13th July, 2009
Reviewed by Greg Levine
“The Argentinian theorist, Nestor Garcia Canclini, asked the question, “How can we understand the presence of indigenous crafts and vanguard art catalogues on the same coffee table?”…The Basement – Monday 13 July: My Goodness McGuiness seemed to propose an answer to Garcia Canclini’s question. Embrace the hybrid and re-arrange it, as has been done many times, but without the postmodern irony…How did they manage to play this eclectic range of tunes in a stronghold of the postmodern – a venue that trades on its jazz heritage but purveys the dullest pop rubbish most days of the year – without getting sucked into irony and lip service? Easy; McGuiness positioned these tunes as something that he grew up with – the raw material out of which he built his craft. It’s not an empty, clever appropriation; it’s something essential within his musicianship. This band, in its first gig no less, achieved “reconversion” by putting something essentially humanistic into Garcia Canclini’s cultural confusion: like having sex on the coffee table. They are a band to watch.
read the full review at jazz.org.au
