I get tired of seeing films about loud, arrogant figures who feel the need to be up front, in front, or affronting; even the way Bill arranges the band on stage says so much about his attitude, how its about the music, how he tries to affect the music from the inside out.
‘Another thing I came to realise when I had to spend a few years really lost in my film and unable to practise music, is that when singing, because the breath is really focussed and controlled over a period, it has a meditative, almost yogic quality that is incredibly good for health and mind.’
The story of Emma Franz’s debut film follows jazz drummer Simon Barker’s journey and describes his fascination with, and search for, the music of South Korean Shaman drummer Kim Seok-Chul, the Intangible [cultural] Asset No. 82 of the film’s title.
People say of Bill Frisell that he reinvented the way people think about the electric guitar. That’s possibly an understatement.
A kind of serendipity has been at work to bring Dresser in touch with the Australian musicians he’ll be playing with at Wangaratta.
The Freedman Jazz Fellowships provide Sydney audiences with a mini-festival each year that features music by artists hoping to bring their exciting projects to life. We talked to the 2012 finalists about their projects and what the Freedman means to them and to the broader jazz scene in Australia.
My favourite live performance experience of the year was ten minutes spent in a small wing of the Art Gallery of NSW. During the October long weekend the gallery played host to an astounding gathering of indigenous artists from around Australia.
