Interview with Henry by Robert Dunstan, Rip It Up Magazine July 8th 2010.

 
Melbourne-based heady jazz combo Henry Manetta and the Trip are heading to town to play a couple of gigs to further promote their Sexjazz CD which will follow appearances in Sydney and Brisbane as well as in their hometown of Melbourne with The Twoks.
 
"I'd never ever been to Brisbane, let alone played there so that was an adventure," vocalist Henry says from Melbourne. "But Sydney and Brisbane went really well. And we're playing another gig in Melbourne - a new place called Red Bennies in South Yarra - before we drive over to Adelaide the next day. So we're in touring mode at the moment, although we still play fairly regularly here in Melbourne. And it'll be good to come over to Adelaide again." 
 
 Originally from Adelaide, Henry was a member of early '70's band Precious Memories which had Clare Moore, now of Dave Graney & The Lurid Yellow Mist, as their drummer and the jazz singer was last here with Clare to play with Precious Memories following the screening of a movie, Bijou, filmed in the early '70s which featured the band alongside such other acts as Genestra, Chris Finnen and Lucas Aaron.
 
"That went really well," Henry says of the event that formed part of this year's Adelaide Fringe. "Precious Memories played at Enigma Bar after the movie had shown at The Mercury. And the Adelaide Fringe seems to have become huge now. Isn't it the second largest in the world? But we attracted a good crowd so that was great."
 
The Trip, which is Henry alongside Adam Spiegl on bass, Sam Hall on drums and Adam Rudegeair on piano and keyboards, are looking forward to returning to Adelaide.
They will also record a new album early next year as they have a bunch of new songs pretty much ready to roll.
 
"Some are finished and some are still in the cosmos somewhere although the ideas for them are certainly there. So maybe early next year we'll have enough to record another album. But we have been doing a few of the new songs in the set. We're giving them a bit of a workout on stage before we record them."
 
The jazz combo will be joined at their Friday night gig by Adelaide band Swamp Daddies.
 
"They played with Precious Memories at that Fringe Gig, Enigma Bar, and I know the saxophonist, Paddy Page, because he used to play sax with Precious Memories all those years ago. We're old friends. And Ian Reidy on guitar and vocals was also a mainstay during those Bijou days in the '70s and he played percussion with Genestra before going on to play with the very first line-up of The Dagoes. Not too many people know that. So Ian's quite a legend in my eyes because The Dagoes went on to spawn the Greasy Pop label and that whole Adelaide scene. I'm glad he's finally put a band together.
"Swamp Daddies are very high powered rhythm and valve," Henry then adds. "They're really, really good."
 
I've often thought that The Trip would work well at Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
 
"I've sent stuff to them but I don't know if we are really a cabaret act or want to be." Henry says with a slight sigh. "I don't know that we'd be too viable in the world of cabaret. Someone such as Dave Graney, especially with his Point Blank show, can easily drop himself into that scene and we did something similar at (Melbourne's) The Butterfly Club a while ago that was just piano, vocals and poetry and, while the owners really liked it, they said 'Go away and put together some kind of show.' 
I don't know if we could be bothered getting around to doing that," he concludes with a laugh.

 

 

Interview with Henry For Red Bennies By Crimson Cat

You have the talent of vocally transmogrifying unique Jazz, Blues and Soul sounds. When did you learn you could do that? Thanks for saying that. At a really young age, sixteen or seventeen, when I first opened my mouth with a group of musicians, and it really kicked in when I stepped onto the stage not long afterwards for the first Bijou concert in Adelaide. I remember it really well although it was a long time ago. It was a huge lift, like a star transport, which is what it has always been about for me, and still is, a cathartic thing. Stylistically I have always come from that Jazz Blues Soul realm, all the artists I love are from that town, so to speak, but they are also unique and so the whole thing is to take that and try and create your own thing out of your influences.

How did your love for jazz begin?
I remember my mother, who studied opera at the Conservatorium of South Australia, playing operas and classical pieces for me as a child and the one that got me even then was Porgy and Bess so the blue note attraction must have been already there. Later on I discovered Billie Holiday and Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Sun Ra through Aretha and Tim Buckley and Gil Scott Heron. This was at maybe twelve and fourteen years old so it was through serendipitous exposure sometimes, but also through a natural affinity to the music I guess.

You’ve been the vocalist with a vast number of distinguished bands such as Precious Memories, Jump The Gun and The Immortals, and also alongside renowned artists such as Kate Ceberano and Paul Kelly. How was it like performing with other famous names? Oh, immensely exciting, the Kate Ceberano shows were when she was with I’m Talking, a whirlwind of a soul band, so much energy, and we were honoured to be on the same stage. Paul Kelly I met years before at The Catacombs in Adelaide and at one of the Bijou concerts Precious Memories organised, but by the time we were asked to play on the same bill (in Jump The Gun) he was a national icon. My most treasured memorex is a duet with Wendy Saddington at The Rainbow a few years ago. Just one song, a spontaneous occurrence during her show that night. She has been a seminal influence from when I was a child, an amazing and unique Australian artist, and I was totally thrilled, not to mention a bit in awe.

Why did you decide to create your own band?
I’ve always been really stubborn about singing the way I want to, no compromise, but I also had a nascent vision of an ideal band in its entirety, a sound for the whole thing, and I wanted to try and make that happen. On a more prescient level I had also just recorded my first album ‘Shiver’ and needed to put together a live outfit for the launch.

How did you meet the band members that form The Trip?
I met the remarkable Adam Rudegeair, my main man on piano, at the original Dizzy’s, the one in Swan St. run by Steve Sedergreen. It was at the jam sessions and I still needed a pianist to complete the band and on this particular night we played together first and introduced ourselves afterwards, just improvised, and it was kind of a magical connection. So we have been writing the Trip songs and performing together for about ten years now. The rest of the lineup has changed over the years. The current Trip, which has been together for quite some time now, is Ron Romero on sax, who I originally met at Dizzy’s as well during his first foray to Australia. When he returned for good I just snatched him up, an amazing player. Adam Spiegl, on bass, we found through his playing with Jack Pantazis, also of great pedigree. And Sam Hall, on drums, was suggested by Adam R when his predecessor suddenly took wing to ‘find himself.’ I had seen Sam play a few times and had met him once or twice and thought he was a force of nature on that percussive altar and was very pleased that he became a Tripster.

How did the name ‘The Trip’ come about?
Well, it has connotations to do with Dr. John and there is a definite late 60’s reference going on there. There was a club in L.A. during that period called The Trip as well, I think the word ’The’ was hung upside down…plus it was Adam’s favourite of the names we came up with. I think it’s fairly apt and descriptive and evocative, hopefully, of what we do.

Henry Manetta and The Trip produced shows for The Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals that were huge successes. What was the highlight of that?
We tend to do thematically special performances for The Fringe such as Brainville, our Sun Ra Tribute, which is just such a blissful thing to do, gold hats man, I loved it. The Trip is usually an extended version at these times, with poets and theremins and guest musicians such as Justin Ashworth. So I think the highlight was definitely Ra, we’ve only done it twice, so it remains a very special dream.

You also launched your second band album ‘Bijou Box’ to a packed house at Dizzy’s Jazz Club in Melbourne, The Governor Hindmarsh in Adelaide and Soup Plus in Sydney. Which would you say was the most successful and why?
Dizzy’s, I guess, because it kind of gave birth, or at least was the midwife, to the Trip zone. I actually cried when it closed, it was my second home for many years.

What was the most bizarre thing that happened during one of the launches? The Mothership landed on top of The Gov during a piano solo and vacuumed up the Green Room into the vortex of eternity. No, whatever happens on tour stays on tour I am told, so my lips are sealed.

You also recently released your third band album ‘Sexjazz’. What sets this one apart from your debut album ‘Shiver’ and ‘Bijou Box’?
‘Sexjazz’ is further along the continuum, it’s a bigger lusher sound, more saxophone thanks to Mr. Romero. There is even a string section on a couple of songs, not to mention vibes and harmonies courtesy of the luminous Clare Moore. The soul thing, which has always been a major mix with our jazz, is even stronger on this album, I think. ‘Bijou Box’ was much more a small group recording, essentially piano, bass, drums and voice. ‘Shiver’ was a solo project which was recorded with various guest musicians I kind of roped in, you know, as opposed to a band, so there is a specific single mindedness and sound to that album. I was blessed to have Bob Sedergreen and Geoff Kluke on that recording, two national treasures of Australian music. Also, with ‘Sexjazz’ the band had been together for quite sometime beforehand so there is the organic growth that occurs from that kind of familiarity with each other.

 

Interview with Henry for the Bijou Movie Premiere. By Jeff Crawford, Messenger Press, Adelaide. February 2010.

What suburb were you based in when you lived in Adelaide?
I mostly lived in Toorak Gardens at my parents house, we were very young at the time, but there were occasional forays into 'Bijou Houses.' There was also the Albert St. arts collective in Dulwich based around Michal and Adam Dutkeiwictz where a lot of rehearsal, not to mention well attended living room performances by my band, Precious Memories, occurred.

What sort of crowds did Bijou attract in those days, both in number and the types of people?
The crowds were very bohemian and counterculture. As with most undertakings the attendance was very in house at the first event but after that it grew quickly until we were attracting up to four hundred people at one time. This was in the heady mid period Bijou days of 1975/76.

Who directed the movie?
The movie was directed by Patrick O'Grady and the main camera man was Andrew Bunney of Exploding White Mice and currently Triple D Radio.

Who was the main person behind staging the reunion?
Patrick O'Grady was the main organiser which reflects the nature of the original Bijou concerts as he was always at the helm in the early days as well as being guitarist with Precious Memories, the Bijou house band. Patrick Page was his dependable assistant, particularly in terms of equipment issues.

The movie documents the 2001 reunion concert, is there much early 1970s footage and pictures featured in the film?
Yes, there is footage taken at the first Bijou House in Ringarooma Ave ( I still dig that name) in 1974, featuring myself, Patrick O'Grady, Ian Reidy (Cirkus), Tony Catalano and Mark Cornwall (both of Genestera). There is footage of Genestera featuring Tony and Frey Micklethwaite as well as film of Bohdan and Black Chrome from the 70's, and many photos from that period.

What was the highlight of the reunion concert for you?
Oh, it would have to be singing with Precious Memories again on the stage of Crafers Institute Hall, the first Bijou venue, and having many of the original Bijou people in the same place again.

Have you caught up with many of the people since 2001, or will the screening be the first chance to catch up again?
I am in touch regularly with a core group of friends from the period and always have been, but there will be some that I have not seen since the 2001 concert and probably some I have not seen since the original Bijou days. This will be the first screening of the film.

Are there any plans for more screenings or national distribution?
One would hope that there will be further screenings but that is something to be approached after the Mercury Cinema event. I must say the Adelaide Fringe Festival has been immensely supportive.

Was there a strong community feeling among Adelaide musicians in those days?
If so, was that rekindled at the reunion? Oh definitely, there was a remarkable camaraderie and co-operative sense among not only the musicians but also the poster designers, visual artists and theatre troupes that were part of the Bijou extravaganzas, not to mention the people who made food and refreshments for the shows. It was all very underground based and we felt very much part of a 'Movement' dare I say. That sense had not been dimmed by time at the 2001 event.

Will the DVD/CD be available in stores?
Yes it will be available in selected stores and online. At the screening all ticket holders will be presented with a copy.

Are you still playing and, if so, what project(s) are you involved in now?
Yes, I am still singing, the truth is I have never stopped. My current band, Henry Manetta and the Trip, has its third album out now, 'Sexjazz.' The band includes Adam Rudegeair on piano and some of Melbourne's finest jazz/funk young guns. I must also mention that there is an after movie event at The Enigma Bar, 173 Hindley St. City at 10.30pm. Precious Memories, The Downer Sisters, Black Chrome and Swamp Daddies will be playing. The golden period Precious Memories drummer, Clare Moore (of Dave Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist) will be playing with us and there will be an appearance by Melbourne icon Sylvie Leber, who played bass with us in our very early Melbourne days at The Pram Factory.

Interview with Henry by Robert Dunstan, Rip It Up Magazine, November 12th 2009.

Henry Manetta and the Trip are heading to town to launch their latest musical offering, Sexjazz. So we emailed Henry, who has been described as Australia's most unique jazz vocalist, some questions and began by asking about the album.

"It was recorded at Atlantis Studios in Port Melbourne with the wonderful James Clark at the helm. It took quite a few sessions over a period of months as I wanted this to be a very lush album. It has a real string section courtesy of Alex Taylor, and layered harmonies, vibes and percussion courtesy of the miraculous Clare Moore. There was synth programming by Justin Ashworth as well."

Did you have any kind of template or did you just want to make it an extension of previous recordings?
"There was a definite template and concept to this album. Although we had been performing some of the songs for quite a while they had been organically precursoring the direction the album was to follow. When I quipped to (pianist) Mr. Rudegeair that I was calling the next album 'Sexjazz' he held me to it! And so everything followed on from that."

Originally from Adelaide, Henry was a member of the band Precious Memories which had Clare Moore, now of Dave Graney and The Lurid Yellow Mist, as their drummer. How did the Sexjazz duet with Clare come about on Who Knows Where The Time Goes?, a Sandy Denny composition.
"I have always loved that song and Clare was performing it herself so it was an obvious choice for us to sing together, which we did on several occasions. When the time came to record 'Sexjazz' it was something I just had to get on to black wax, so to speak. Clare is a remarkably evocative singer and a joy to work with."

Who’s heading over with you?
"I'm bringing my current crack rhythm section, Adam Spiegl on bass and Sam Hall on drums. And, of course, my main man Adam Rudegeair on piano and keys. As well we have Ron Romero on sax, unless he gets stuck at LA International Airport as happened for our recent Paris Cat show in Melbourne."

No qualms about performing on Friday the 13th?
"I am sure it will be a perfect night to play as I feel a certain kinship with the discombobulated spirits that will be afoot that eve."

You seem to do well in Adelaide and draw big crowds.
"Ah well, Adelaide has good ears, but also it is very supportive of it's wandering sons, of which I am one. Adelaide also has a long history of appreciation of things that are maybe a tad different."

Where to from here?
"Christmas and a rest! We just launched 'Sexjazz' in Sydney last week and performed our Sun Ra tribute recently in Melbourne, plus Adam and I practically have the next album written."

What kind of hat is that in your current promo shot?
Where did you get it? "It's called a Castorino, and it was a gift from Adam Rudegeair, the doyen of millinery."

Interview with Henry and Adam for Melbourne Fringe, Inpress, September 24th 2008.

The best thing about Melbourne in Spring (besides Fringe) is:  
Springtime is very unpredictable, it beckons one into summer with the lusciousness of its feminine aerodynamics.
 
Where will you be spending your Fringe before and after you perform?  
Before, we will be engaged in an intense pre-gig chess game. At least Adam will, Henry will be at the bar or clattering down the stairs with an armful of bells and codeine. After, we'll be indulging in cocktails that represent the perfect mix of decadence and opulence. Why don't you join us?
 
If you had to convince a grandmother to see your show (yours or someone else's) how would you sell it?  
You haven't been this turned on since 1951, Gran.
 
If you could collaborate with anyone to make a Fringe show who would it be?  
For Adam it'd be Uri Geller, he could bend your minds while our music flows in like an ectoplasmic river of molasses. Henry already bends people's minds so he would have to collaborate with Adam.
 
If you were a punter attending Fringe would you be going hard early or pacing yourself?  
Pacing oneself is always good if one wishes to avoid RSI.

 

Interview with Henry for Melbourne Fringe, Inpress, September 26th 2007.

Describe to us your Fringe show in ten words or less...
Henry Manetta (writer/performer) "Scalding vocals, dissonant piano, translunar sax, jazz-groove rhythm, original music."

What sets your show apart from the rest of the Fringe Festival?
"It's at the lusciously ambient and acoustically excellent Paris Cat, a wonderful venue. It crosses funk and jazz in an original song cycle of composition and features two unique and testifying vocalists, myself and Anna Gilkison, the funkmaster of the keys, Adam Rudegeair, not to mention the walk-around-heaven saxophone of Mr. Ron Romero, bass insouciance of Adam Spiegl and on the altar of the drum, Mr. Scott Hay."

At what point did your show go from being a cool idea over a glass of chardy to a fully fledged show?
"That happened quite some time ago, we have been part of Fringe World for a few years now."

Apart from great hair, what is the best part of your Fringe effort?
"The emotional wallop, we play everything as if it is the first and last time."

Finish this sentence: " I hope people who come to my show will leave with...
the shock of the WOW!"

Interview with Henry by Robert Dunstan, Rip It Up magazine, March 15th 2007.

Vocalist Henry, once of Adelaide band Precious Memories, is now coming back once again to take part in BankSA Adelaide Fringe 07.
We e-mailed Henry a few questions and began by asking what he had been up to in the last 12 months.
“We’ve been exceptionally busy over the last year, with Trip performances at various Melbourne and Sydney clubs and, of course, Dizzy’s before its untimely closure. The last night was very emotional and also quite spectacular with people lined up around the block until 2am. I also sing with Adam Rudegeair’s funk orchestra Rhymes With Donkey and his One Hat Band.”

You videoed a performance at Dizzy’s. How did that turn out?
“The footage is great, and now, of course, archivally important since Dizzy’s has gone. The editor has survived my paranoiac pedanticism and it’s all ready to go now. Part of it will appear as a bonus disc with our next album, ‘Sex Jazz’.

Who is in the Trip at present?
“Adam Rudegeair, my main man, on piano and keyboards, Owen Downie on bass, Scott Hay on drums, Clare Moore on harmonies and percussion and the amazing young American Ron Romero on sax, so we have had a couple of line-up changes in the past year. New blood.
Anything else we may need to know?
“As well as our own show at Club 199 on Fri Mar 16, we are also doing the spoken word ‘Erosophy’ on Sun Mar 18 at Club 199 from 4pm. Erosophy melds Jazz with Spoken Word and will feature Tom Joyce, Matt Hetherington, Angela Cook, Helen Milte and Kris Allison on word as well as myself and the Trip.”

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Interview with Henry by Robert Dunstan, Rip It Up Magazine. March 2006.

What have you been up to since you came to town with The Trip to launch Bijou Box?
We've travelled to Sydney to launch 'Bijou Box' at Soup Plus, premiered the current Jazz at Fringe show at Dizzy's for Melbourne Fringe 2005, which was filmed, plus a four month season at Insomniacs Bar. I have also been singing with Adam Rudegeair's funk band, Rhymes with Donkey, at various venues in Melbourne.

Any new recordings in the offing?
Yes, we have been writing for a new album to be titled "Sex Jazz," and we will be performing some of these songs in Jazz at Fringe. I may include some of the footage from the Dizzy's film as a visual bonus disc with the CD.

Is it the same band – Clare, Adam Rudegeair, Scott Hay and Pete Mitchell? If not who else. And who plays bass?
If there is even a bass player? Yes, it is the same band, I have them bound by moon and blood to me now. The bassist is Simon Bonney, another Adelaide boy.

Why have you elected to come back during Fringe time?
Does Adelaide Fringe hold some precious memories? Well, Adelaide Fringe is such a legendary occurrence globally, kind of like Carousel on a two yearly rotation. And of course Precious Memories and Fringe are both inextricably linked to a sense of timelessness and a certain event status in my personal cosmos that can only happen in Adelaide. A perfect time to perform at home..

Is there likely to be any surprises?
Such as will Dave (G) jump on stage at anytime and spring forth with some free form jazz poetry.
There are always surprises, we tend to fly on the wings of improvisation, but as far as the wondrous Mr. Graney pre-empting his Saturday Spiegeltent appearance with us on the Friday, ah, well, things like that are in the lap of the Gods. What a good idea, though, Robert.

Anything else to declare?
After Fringe we are heading back to Melbourne to do a Dizzy's show dedicated entirely to the music of Sun Ra on March 23rd, so anyone in Adelaide who is planning a visit to Melbourne should do it then.

Jazz at Fringe hits Dizzy’s Jazz Club on Thursday 29th September.
Tony McMahon.

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Henry raps about fortyfivedownstairs, published in “fortyfivedownstairs” 2006.

Henry Manetta and the Trip's first performance at fortyfivedownstairs was a dedication to Dr. Nina Simone. I arrived to chat to Mary Lou regarding a show date and ended up staying for hours, involved in a fabulous and expansive conversation that integrated itself into the comings and goings of the office at the time. This was the genesis of the Nina Simone dedication idea and, as far as I know, it was the first to be done in this country.

We also premiered our 'Jazz at Fringe' show at fortyfive, which has since become a yearly extravaganza and has travelled interstate. The meetings were very Margaret Rutherford-esque and brilliantly rambly, reminding me of my early days with 'Bijou' concerts in Adelaide. Adam Rudegeair (my main man on piano) was most pleased to meet Anthea Williams, the director of the play 'Quiet,' who added some much needed practical zones to our staging decisions. We were on immediately after 'Quiet' with very little set up time and I recall Mary Lou rushing in to tell the actors at the last minute that they could not spill water all over the stage as we were setting up amplifiers and electric instruments minutes later. The salt was OK but no liquid. A fortuitous occurrence since it would have been RIGHT WHERE I WAS STANDING! I did that show on red wine and no food as I had forgotten to eat, such was the excitement of the theatrical buzz. But then I have always thought of red wine as a food group. Scott Hay, my drummer, did the show with the flu AND a bad case of epistaxis, spending much of the evening with his head tilted backwards. In spite of this, several audience members reported that we had turned in a peak performance. Sometimes adversity can inspire extra levels.

I remember singing 'St Louis Blues' and 'I Love Paris' with Colin Nettelbeck on piano at a party thrown by fortyfive for it's artists and benefactors and Clare Moore also debuted as harmonist/percussionist with my band at fortyfive. So there were many firsts for us there.
I always enjoy singing at fortyfive due to the gallery ambience, visual art being a major influence in my song concepts, and the inspiration of the surrounding exhibitions was an atmospheric plus.

Last but not least, I admire fortyfive for its independent stance as a venue and its free thought both artistically and politically.

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Interview with Henry by Tony McMahon, Inpress, 21st September 2005.

Jazz at Fringe is an eclectic and exciting concert performance from Henry Manetta and the Trip at Dizzy’s Jazz Club on Thursday 29th September. The Trip seek to invigorate contemporary jazz with groove and funk influences. The set features both strikingly original material and re-vamped standards. Manetta is a dynamic vocal improviser, drawing inspiration from such diverse sources as Aretha Franklin,Tim Buckley and Sun Ra. The other band members are Adam Rudegeair (piano), Pete Mitchell (sax), Clare Moore (harmonies/percussion), Simon Bonney (bass) and Scott Hay (Drums). No less a personage than Melbourne music Royal Dave Graney says that “Henry’s music is very individual, very spaced out, very physical and very out there.”

Based on this, I ask for Henry’s take on what it is that’s unique about the band’s sound.

“I call the music oblique soul/jazz, as it comes from extreme funkiness and impassioned bluesiness, as well as jazz harmonics and improvisation. Most of the songs we’ll be playing are originals, written by myself and Adam Rudegeair, my right hand man on piano. I first met Adam at the Dizzy’s jam sessions and a musical marriage was born. We’ve been playing and writing together ever since.”

Henry currently has two records available. The first,‘Shiver’ was recorded with Bob Sedergreen, Geoff Kluke and Christphe Genoux. More recently he recorded ‘Bijou Box’ with the Trip. Clare Moore provided harmonies and percussion on both albums and is now part of the live show as well. So what will it be like to be in the audience?
“Expect on the edge vocal improvisation (vocal transmogrification, I call it), terminally funky piano, luscious harmonies, husky emotive sax, and a groove rhythm section. There will be Indian Rope Man Dance and intense musical conversation. I have a tendency to take off into wordless scat flights and each musician’s solos are free and based on the spur of the moment. There will be jazz/funk grooves to move your whole body to and blues ballads to break your heart.”

Couldn’Couldn’t ask much more from a night out,in my opinion. Sounds like a scene from ‘On the Road.’ And what with poor old Gilligan(AKA Maynard B. Crabb) shuffling off this mortal coil recently, feels to me like it’s time to honour his memory with a couple of cold ones and some way out sounds at Dizzy’s, one of the best jazz joints in town. See ya down there.

Jazz at Fringe hits Dizzy’s Jazz Club on Thursday 29th September.
Tony McMahont ask much more from a night out,in my opinion. Sounds like a scene from ‘On the Road.’ And what with poor old Gilligan(AKA Maynard B. Crabb) shuffling off this mortal coil recently, feels to me like it’s time to honour Couldn’t ask much more from a night out,in my opinion. Sounds like a scene from ‘On the Road.’ And what with poor old Gilligan(AKA Maynard B. Crabb) shuffling off this mortal coil recently, feels to me like it’s time to honour his memory with a couple of cold ones and some way out sounds at Dizzy’s, one of the best jazz joints in town. See ya down there.

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Interview with Henry by Robert Dunstan, Rip It Up, May 2005

Can you begin by telling us a little about your background - perhaps beginning with Precious Memories?
Precious Memories was my first band, put together with Patrick O'Grady on guitar and including Clare Moore on drums before she was snatched away by The Sputniks. But then we did snatch her from sister Janet's Rock Mass Emporium.We were an Avant - Blues Band playing music ranging from Miles' Tribute to Jack Johnson through Dinah Washington's Blowtop Blues to Nina Simone's Westwind, which I have finally committed to disc on ‘Bijou Box’.We all moved to Melbourne circa 1980 and became The Cakes. From that point on I sang and wrote in a number of bands, including pure funk outfits like ‘Jump The Gun’, and some cross breed projects featuring musicians from different musical styles banding together to write and perform. Some of these bands were Steam, Zulu Din, The Naked Flames. I always feel some interesting stuff came out of those collaborations but it wasn't until I formed The Trip that I found musicians again who really GO WITH ME and are on a similar wavelength contextually.

Congrats on Bijou Box.
How long did it take to make?
Bijou Box was recorded in just a few sessions, it is a very spontaneous album, some of the songs we had hardly played before, ‘I Love Paris’ for example, so it is a very improvised, spur of the moment thing which is what we wanted. There is some layering of backup vocals and percussion and organ on certain tracks, but it is essentially live in the studio.

I think there used to be some gigs in Adelaide back in the '70s known as
the Bijou Sessions - were you involved in them at all?
Precious Memories were the house band for the Bijou concerts, which traversed almost the entire decade, so I sang at all of them, and I was also on the production committee although Patrick O'Grady was the major organiser of these events. They were panoplies of all forms of under exposed music, theatre and, at times, film. The title track of ‘Bijou Box’ is a memorex of those times.
It's obviously in some way a dedication to Monk. When did you first become interested in his music? Was that from an early age or later?
I think I first heard Monk in my teenage years so I have been into him for a long time, but the main progenitor of Monk-ness in the Trip is Adam Rudegeair, my pianist, who is a long term devotee, possibly from before the womb. The trilogy of Monkesgues on the album are a stream of consciousness referencing Monk and some of his life but also encapsulating a history of sorts of Jazz ranging from the slave ships coming into America to right now.

How often do you play in Melbourne and what's your profile like there?
We've had quite a flurry of activity lately, what with Trip performances to promote ‘Bijou Box’ and Adam, whose quartet I also sing with, just launched his album ‘Transmogrify’ a couple of weeks ago and we made ourfirst foray into NSW in February. There will be a Dizzy's showcase in May, and a residency at a place called Cafe 42 beginning around the same time which could very well stretch on into infinity. We are also stcryboarding a video clip for May production as well. Our profile at present is what I like to call The New Jazz Underground, a collective of musicians and artists who are coming up in Melbourne and Henry Manetta and the Trip is a definite spearhead for this.

Adam is obviously an integral part of the band - and a fine pianist. Where did you meet up?
We met at Dizzy's Jazz Club at the Friday evening jam sessions, and I was in the middle of forming a band after recording my first album ‘Shiver’. So I stepped on to the stage and called for a piano and Adam came up and we improvised something on the spot and there was just such a powerful connection happening that we both knew this was IT. So a musical marriage was born, and we have been writing and performing together ever since. I feel blessed to be working with such a fine musician, he has real FEEL, and takes risks, which is what it's all about.

Is Rivage your own label?
Yes it is, but you know it is just waiting to be taken up by a distributor.

How would you describe your style to someone who didn't know of you?
My style comes from a strong blues bedrock but it takes a walk into spaced jazz improvisation and also is strongly influenced by soul/black gospel. It's confessional and intense,I always give utterly everything whenever we perform. Some people have said they feel it's a new genre of its own, which is very flattering, but I just call it Soul Jazz.

Are you a fan of 'jazz' singers such as Kurt Elling and Mark Murphy.
Who were your early influences?
Yes, I like Kurt Elling and Mark Murphy but my influences stretch further back. People like Aretha Franklin, who I still think is the greatest, Nina Simone, Tim Buckley, we always listened to a lot of Miles Davis, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Sun Ra and James Brown, Laura Nyro and Ray Charles. Betty Carter is amazing. I was taking in this music from the age of eleven or twelve so I must also mention Wendy Saddington, who made an indelible impression on me very early on, a great and unique Australian blues icon.

What can we expect at your CD launch?
Extravagant vocal improvisation, terminally funky piano and groove rhythm section, Saturnian Sax from Pete Mitchell, and the luscious harmonies of Clare Moore. We may even pull out a Sun Ra song.

Anything more to add?
I am very much looking forward to playing at home in Adelaide at The Gov, hopefully it will be the beginning of regular visits by the Trip. Remember, we are all down with that burning
heat. .
Thanks for you time and look forward to catching up on Sunday

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Interview with Henry by Dave Graney, 2002.

Henry Manetta is an old compadre of Clares’. They played in an art rock blues band back in the days before the punk rock wars. He’s surfaced again recently in Melbourne with his outfit, “the Trip”. Henry’s music is very individual and very spaced out and very physical and very OUT THERE. Its not touching on much that’s current in what you would call popular music. It’s a thing by itself and operating, out of convenience, mostly in the world of jazz. (There isn’t much else like it in jazz either). If I was to have to tell somebody what it was kinda like, I would use words like, “Tim Buckley/Starsailor period with a Ra vibe”.
He’s made a blinding CD which features Clare on some tonsil freaking harmonies which you would be able to get at his gigs.

How do you sing like you do?
I open my mouth and let the feeling take me, a possession of sorts, or, dare I say, a shamanistic sequence. On a more practical level I guess I am the product of every thing I have listened to and loved transmogrified through my own sensibilities. That’s a stylistic accounting of course, but you see the utter, draining transport of it all is the real source.

Do you do any exercises for your voice?
No, I don’t do any formal exercises. However I do sing at the drop of a hat, in the car, around the house, trying things out, stretching notes and extrapolating vocally. I am usually alone at these times. I do tend to drink Pernod as a vocal restorative, and would dearly love to extend to Absinthe if Kylie was still in the bottle……

You seem to start out with some words and then take off into sounds. Are there any songs that you just trip out on more than others?
Well, all songs are tripped out on, but the more amorphous/groove songs such as the African hymn Westwind, Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter, and during the Indian percussive scat sector in Home Is Where The Hatred Is I tend to ride off into a babble of words and then off into wordless sound…a conversation between instruments, maybe the piano or the sax might answer what I am doing and then we set each other off…Holy Roller gospel meets Jazz Scat…..I guess all songs are subjected to this but some are more Is I tend to ride off into a babble of words and then off into wordless sound…a conversation between instruments, maybe the piano or the sax might answer what I am doing and then we set each other off…Holy Roller gospel meets Jazz Scat…..I guess all songs are subjected to this but some are more extensively soundscaped.

Are there any other songs that you want to put the lyric across more?
Lyrics are all important always, I don’t believe in singing something that does not mean anything to you on some plane or other, but the lyrical importance of certain songs does not preclude taking off into wordless expression as an extension of the feeling. But certainly songs like Laura Nyro’s Christmas in my Soul and God Bless the Child, for example, are of a peak dramatic fervour and the words are of extra special import.

What instruments can you play? I’d like to know how you can communicate musical ideas to the other players?
I have a rudimentary knowledge of the piano keyboard, and that is about it as far as my instrumental expertise goes. I communicate ideas to my musicians by use of visual imagery such as ‘can you play me a 3o’clock in the morning Mamie Van Doren bass line,’ and someone exceptional like a Geoff Kluke will know exactly what I am talking about. In fact that is exactly the genesis of ‘Prologue to Penelopeornthia.’ I will also suggest isms to explain what I want, I will hum things, describe the picture in my head sing the concept and this gives a colouring board for the boys. My most oft mentioned phrase is ‘more space, darlings more space.

Muddy Waters, Billie Holiday, Wendy Saddington, Laura Nyro, Gil Scott Heron, what other inspirations do you have?
Aretha Franklin was, and still is, my first and foremost inspiration. There is also Betty Carter, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Sun Ra, Miles, The Reverend James Cleveland, Tim Buckley, Raahsan Roland Kirk, James Brown.

Are you Jazz?
Yes, I am Jazz.. To be more precise a Blues singer with strong Jazz and Soul extensions, you know the blues leads on into the scat and can travel to Mars and back. I have always come from that place where Blues Soul and Jazz meet, and they are related , and to me a holistic threesome.

What do you see of contemporary music?
When I look inside my contemporary window I see Cassandra Wilson, Kurt Elling , Angie Stone, Jamiroquai (some of it) Portishead, St. Germaine ( great sample of Marlena Shaw ) certain hip hop /jazz fusions, Kerri Simpson, Steve Sedergreen, David Graney, Clare Moore and Beige S.A. I also see a phalanx of quite amazing and funkified young Jazz musicians around Dizzy’s getting ready to fly. I feel a peak period approacheth.

Can you take us through your activities in the 70’s and then the 80’s?
My activities in the Seventies centred around singing with Precious Memories, an Avant Blues meets Funk and Soul band featuring Patrick O’ Grady on guitar and of course Clare Moore before she was snatched by a band called The Sputniks, or was it Sister Janet:?
Precious Memories were the house band for the series of immaculate Adelaide underground concerts and theatrical extravaganzas known as Bijou. Bijou tripped the light fantastic until 1979 when Precious Memories relocated to Melbourne and became the Cakes.
The Cakes concentrated mostly on immensely funked out original material, while preserving a couple of its previous Precious Memories gems such as Respect and also Blowtop Blues from the limited edition Precious Memories Cassette release of the same name.
The Cakes boasted Geoff Raglus on trumpet at a memorable evening at the Pram Factory in 1980. (one of the last such Pram Factory events.) In the mid to late eighties I sang in an original Funk outfit called Jump The Gun, supporting the likes of Kate Ceberano, I’m Talking, Steven Cummings and Jo Camilleri. Jo told me at one point that I gave too much on stage. After the premature demise of JTG I sang in a Jazz hiphop kind of thang called Zulu Din which recorded in Argyle St. in Fitzroy with Jex Sahrlert guesting on Piano. This morphed into The Flames and then The Immortals with Tony Faehse ( JoJo Zep) on guitar.
The 90’s?
Through the early to mid nineties I sang in a piano based Blues Jazz combo called Steam featuring the pianist Evatt Christodoulou, and this was a very productive time as far as song composition was concerned, although performances were comparatively rare. Was I woodshedding, I don’t know. I also performed quite regularly in Adelaide with Beige S.A. Patrick O’Grady’s ambient keyboard based band. ( and continue to do so.) There was a brief combo called Roux Garoux, and then after a years break I began recording The Album ‘Shiver’ with Geoff Kluke as my lynch pin and featuring guest appearances by ClareMoore Bob Sedergreen and Christof Genoux. This album was co-produced by Jacques de Jongh, once the bassist in Hush, no less.

Do you write the songs on your CD or do they come more from the performing side?
The songs on Shiver were written for the most part with the pianist in Steam. These songs were initially written specifically, and gradually travelled to their current expressions. ‘Prologue’ was a prose piece that was taken to the studio and improvised on the spot. So songs can either emerge if not fully fledged then reasonably fledged, or transform gradually through performance. I tend to write in both these ways, but then in either case the song in performance is always being improvised on so nothing is ever static.

Could you take us through a dream/ideal recording date. (Any songwriters, any players, any studio, any period)
New York. Atlantic Studios. Late sixties early seventies. Aretha's band---Cornell Dupree guitar, Chuck Rainey bass, Bernard Purdie drums, Aretha on piano. This would be supplemented by Pharoah Sanders on Sax, a tad of Alice Coltrane on Harp and maybe a Miles on Trumpet. The song would be a composition co- authored by myself and Laura Nyro and I dare say Aretha would lead the Back up choir which would include Labelle, Laura and Clare Moore. The Rev. James Cleveland would also lend some vocal obbligatos. Of course there is the other one about the Newport jazz festival in 58 with Billie Holiday’s Trio…….

Could you take us through the players in the Trip?
The Trip comprises Adam Rudegeair on piano, a young Jazz pianist and protégé of Steve Sedergreen who also holds a Degree in graphics and Media Art. Adam also comes from The Funk and understands the Soul Jazz Blues miridian. My drummer is Nigel Harrison who has been with me on and off since Precious Memories and Nigel is capable of playing anything although his modesty will never find him stating this fact. A long term soul brother. Mark Matthews on Sax is TWENTY my dear and a student at VCA. The bass is in flux at the moment but may well include Dan Gordon from E-type Jazz in Adelaide ( I seem to be something of an Adelaide ghetto ) and a fabulous young woman named Indra. We shall find out at the next performance.

Are you doing all the managerial/business stuff as well?
Yes. And I am turning in my grave doing it all. ‘Nuff said.

How do you think you could plug into the rock scene? Do you want to?
I could maybe plug into the rock scene through the Funk aspects of what we do, of course a guest appearance on a David Graney album, or a support spot on tour would help to achieve that. Plus there seems to be a tad of crossing over between the Jazz and Rock worlds at the moment, like ‘The Dumb Earth’ , who are a very noir Jazz influenced ensemble, so it is possible.

How come there’s no guitar in the Trip?
I’ve always loved the concept of piano bass and drums as the central rhythm section and have rarely had it. I have often worked with guitar in the past, however, and loved it, I do not have anything against guitar, but I am just into the whole Alice Coltrane blue note waterfall of the acoustic piano set up at the moment. That does not mean there will never be a guitar in The Trip but at the moment dear it is an extra mouth

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