CyberHalides Jazz » 2018 » WANG - Ben Hauptmann Ensemble - 3 Nov 2018

I enjoyed the delicate, intricate playing in this performance by the Ben Hauptmann extended family acoustic ensemble, but I found that others that I talked to had the same reaction as me - it wasn't quite what they were expecting. I guess the image in the program (one of mine) with Ben playing electric guitar and pulling one of his best jazz guitar faces, probably conditioned that expectation. Ben told me afterwards that the switch to acoustic was a relatively late change. As Forrest Gump famously quoted his Mama as always saying, "Jazz is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get ... but ... it's still chocolate!". In this case a chocolate with hints of a medieval European folk flavour.
 
The Ben Hauptmann Acoustic Ensemble (Ben Hauptmann - guitar; Arne Hanna - guitar; Franco Raggatt - guitar; Harry Sutherland - piano; Zoe Hauptmann - bass; James Hauptmann - drums; Evan Mannell - percussion) performing in the WPAC Theatre at the 2018 Wangaratta Festival of Jazz