The Rookies - Stay Weird (2019)

Melbourne cult jazz quintet The Rookies offer a quirky and diverse journey into the minds of frustrated jazz musicians seeking more from their genre with their second LP, ‘Stay Weird’. An album that nods to the hard bop and spirit jazz of their forebears, ‘Stay Weird’ is a collection of wonky originals and obscure treatments of standards by the likes of John Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders.

Featuring guest vocals from Melbourne-based soul/exotica phenomenon Laneous (Laneous, Kafka, Laneous and the Family Yah), and Australian jazz legend Ben Gillespie (The Hoodangers, The Four Scoops), ‘Stay Weird’ is an ode to the unique energy when people shed their pride to collaborate and honour each other’s creative offerings. It is a celebration of the raw energy of improvisation, where anything is possible if you can just let your weirdness shine through.