Roundtable Australia Vinyl & CDs

Review: "Pyramid Pieces" is a long overdue retrospective of the golden years of Australia's modern jazz scene in the 1960s and '70s. It could hardly be called a well-known scene - it was barely celebrated in Australia, yet alone elsewhere - but over the course of two decades produced a string of fine releases showcasing fresh interpretations of then contemporary jazz from the USA and Europe, as well as a homegrown style known as 'Eco-Jazz'. Highlights are plentiful, from the magnificent modal movements of Jazz Co/Op's "A La Coltrane" and the effortlessly evocative spirituality of "Exploration of the Sun" by the John Sangster Quartet, to the heady eco-jazz beauty of the Brian Brown Quintet's "Wildflowers" and Peter Gaudion Blues Express's winding instrumental cover of jazz staple "People Make The World Go round".