A Red Hot Go

The Mighty Boosh's Noel Fielding would assure us in his role as Vince Noir that jazz is a musical genre reserved for “science teachers and the mentally ill”, though if multi-instrumentalist Michael McQuaid has anything to do with it, his ten-piece band the Red Hot Rhythmakers (RHRM) will show you otherwise. They're “rocking” at the moment, a word you're definitely able “to use for a swing band”, and one fitting for the variety of swing and jazz the band are currently emanating.

They should not however, be confused with Red Hot Rhythm (at least for the purpose of YouTube-ing), a Queensland-based tap-Irish-dancing fusion group whose musical career appears to have peaked in the throws of an Australia's Got Talent final back in 2009.

By contrast, video footage of RHRM bear witness to incredible musical ability and unity, as well as audiences who are pretty talented in their own right, usually as swing dancers, but also as super enthusiastic and rhythm-literate punters. Praised by multiple critics for their precision and embracing of a rather dated genre in spite of their youth, the bright-eyed Melbourne band attempt to breathe new life and enthusiasm into the work of jazz masters like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday, who are “still probably the biggest influences for me today,” says McQuaid.

But it's more than the music of the 1920s and 1930s that appeal to the band, with McQuaid claiming enthusiastically, “We love the whole atmosphere of that period, which is part of the reason why we love the dancers so much as well! Not just for the quality of the music but because it leads to a great time as well. We often dress up and do our hair in the style of the '20s and '30s…it can be great fun. We occasionally play themed events too.  Historically the 1920s were a really exciting time, with the war being over. And then the depression hit, so the music was something to escape to. I think it was a cool time in terms of heading out and having a good time.”

With two albums already out and a third stewing in the works, RHRM have toured significantly both nationally and abroad in recent years, with some of their most memorable shows being in countries least suspected of possessing thriving jazz scenes and their respective enthusiasts. “There was one when we were in Europe, at a great club in Stockholm…” McQuad reminisces.

“It's in the old town that's been there for centuries. There was this old pub called Stampen, and we busked in the nearby town square during the day, and then told everyone we were going to play a gig at the pub that night. By then the place was jam-packed with young tourists and Swedish and German people – it was one of the most rocking gigs we've ever done. The whole place was just insane! And what was so exciting about it was that for many people in the room, it was a new style for them. They were young, just like us. And not even necessarily jazz fans.”

However, the biggest event remaining on their calendar is sure to be The Gangster's Ball, now in it's fifth year and literally swinging through Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane during September. “The key thing about it is that it's great if you know how to swing dance, but it's the sort of music that you can't help dancing to even if you don't know the steps!” McQuaid insists. “Everyone can get involved and we really enjoy that element of it. We're going to be featuring a few new tunes, and choosing others we hope will be the right songs to get people on the dancefloor at The Gangsters Ball. It's a great gig; we're really looking forward to it. And, we'll be doing some routines with (Harlem's dance Troupe) Echoes Of Harlem!”