My friend and I arrived at Tilley’s by 7:00pm as advised, but we did not enter a crowded restaurant. By 9:00, when the Victor Martinez Trio walked onstage, all tables were occupied and I was glad to see a full house for Jigzag, a Sydney-based trio I have quite fallen for.
The Martinez Trio and Jigzag make an odd pair, the Martinez’s intense blend of Latin, jazz and pure electric guitar and Jigzag’s laidback and joyful acoustic sound are poles apart. The Martinez family was not chatty, but buried their energies into impressive jams producing waves of sound that could only be produced by fingers moving somewhere near the speed of light. Someone in the audience found the music "boring," sparking off a night full of jokes beginning with "This next song is called Boring."
When Jigzag took to the stage the atmosphere quickly lightened. The band is chatty and delivers songs with a great sense of camaraderie and fun. Jigzag played a mix of beautiful ballads, upbeat songs full of melody, and excellent original fiddle tunes that this reviewer, who does not consider herself a fan of folk fiddle, found to be most light and enjoyable. How the audience remained so still through Jigzag’s set is beyond me: I was bouncing up and down and swaying side to side through the whole thing. The longest Jigzag concert I’ve yet been to, I came out feeling elated, with a grin on my face and a dance in my toes. Thanks, Jigzag, for giving me "a chance to smile."
Review of performance at Tilley's Sat 10th August.
Rachel Funari, BMA Magazine, Canberra ACT 2002