I am happy to say the new Divergence Jazz Orchestra album – cheekily and tartly titled ‘Fake It Until You Make It’ – is here. And I want to shout about it.
As assured and fully-formed as ‘The Opening Statement’ was, the three years between it and the new one has added an even greater depth and daring to Jenna Cave’s writing and the band’s entirely apt and sympathetic reading (in all senses) of her charts.
“Crowd funding is a really great way to get things happening yourself when you just feel the need to fulfill an artistic goal but there is a large cost involved.”
‘…when I compose I just sit down and write what I’d like to hear.’
Jenna Cave and Paul Weber’s Divergence Jazz Orchestra is one of Australia’s keepers of the big band flame. More power to them.
And now we have their (astonishing) debut, The Opening Statement.
It is a combination you won’t get anywhere else and they are one of Sydney’s – if not Australia’s – treasures. The Siren’s Big Band – long may they sing us over the edge.
‘We’re all friends who enjoy making music together’, says Jess, ‘which makes for a really exciting and engaging live show. Audiences really seem to dig it and keep coming back for more, which is something we don’t take for granted.’
