The Mike Nock Underground "Between or beyond" 1971

When Miles Davis called jazz pianist Mike Nock at home in New York during the 1970s the first thing the trumpeter said was, “They tell me you're a genius.” Although Nock replied with something typically self-effacing, he later commented, “I should have said, ‘that’s right, man. We should get together.’ ”
And that dialectic – on the one hand humble, reflective; on the other self-confident and assertive – is at the heart of the music Nock has been making for more than 60 years. At times his music is contemplative and spare, at times it is dense and caffeinated. But – perhaps because it traverses such a broad range of ideas – it always manages to sound like Mike...
...Michael Anthony Nock was born 27 September 1940 in Christchurch although most of his childhood was spent in Ngāruawāhia and Nelson. At around 11 years old Nock began taking piano lessons with his father. After his father’s sudden death in 1952 lessons continued with Ngāruawāhia pharmacist Bert McNamara.
Leaving school as soon as legally permissible, Nock fell in with some Nelson musicians and began performing jazz and dance music. It was a good place to start but Nock’s considerable appetite for music, and a driving ambition to play as well as possible, saw him move to Wellington around 1956.
In Wellington Nock played with many local musicians and for a time worked with The Fabulous Flamingos, a Palmerston North-based dance outfit promoted by popular entertainer Johnny Cooper. Conditions in that group were so straitened that they had to sleep together in a single room at the motor camp, and to eat they stole vegetables from gardens or money from milk bottles on the street. Occasionally a girlfriend might be roped in to help provide some money or food, but the gigs simply didn’t provide enough income to support the band.
The greener pastures of Auckland inevitably beckoned and by 1957 Nock was living there. He was soon performing with many of the best players, recording with early rock and roll singer Johnny Devlin, and forming important relationships with drummer Tony Hopkins, trumpeter Kim Paterson and, in particular drummer Lachie Jamieson. As good as it was to play with Jamieson, who had spent time in the United States working with musicians including Sonny Rollins, Nock’s ambition was to experience first-hand the heartland of jazz, the United States; he believed that the best route there was by way of Australia.
Stowing away on a boat, Nock arrived in Sydney in 1958 and soon became embedded in the local scene. His group, The 3-Out Trio with bassist Freddie Logan and drummer Chris Karan, became one of the most popular jazz groups in Sydney. They played up to four nights a week at King’s Cross jazz club the El Rocco, and recorded Move for EMI’s Columbia label in 1960. The album sold like hotcakes and its follow-up, Sitting In, featured a number of Australian horn players performing with the trio.
The extraordinary local success Nock enjoyed with The 3-Out was a double-edged sword: while he was grateful for the opportunities to perform and the financial benefits of the group’s high profile, he was also aware that such local acclaim was a trap that might entice him to stay in Australia...to be continued... - Norman Meehan & audioculture

traxfromwax:
01 Outfall 02 The Squire 03 Hobgoblin 04 Between Or Beyond 05 Space Bugaloo 06 Lady Love 07 Wax Planet 08 Denim Dance
…served by Gaius…