Jamie Oehlers: Walking the tightrope

Jamie Oehlers: “Everything we do is enveloped in the arts, from the music we hear on the radio, the television shows we watch, the community events that draw people together, the phone we put in our hand. Art is all around us and inspires new thought and communication. This is how we create an identity as a national – not through digging up coal.”

Album review: The Bitter Suite (Paul Grabowsky Sextet) by John Shand

Just as the album’s title is both brooding and punning, so the music is in a constant flux of what, were it writing, we would call ‘tone’. Grabowsky can seem to create a pastiche of an idiom out of which a deep truth will grow in the improvising, while a more solemn-sounding piece will spawn sly asides and dramatic jolts from the players, or perhaps contain an unexpectedly curdled harmony.

Festival review by Garry Lee: Perth International Jazz Festival 2014

This second Perth International Jazz Festival (PIJF) commencing Friday 9th and concluding Sunday 11th May seemed to be an unqualified success. If key indicators included engaging the populace, developing on last year’s inaugural festival, presenting a variety of styles and venues, presenting music more challenging and innovative than may be heard in Perth on a weekly basis then all boxes could be ticked.