For me, Charlie Parker’s music will always be connected with my relocation from Athens to Australia; the moment I was boarding on the plane, by an act of ironic coincidence, my MP3 player (which had been set to shuffle mode) decided to accentuate the event by playing Nows the Time.
We are all constantly improvising in life be it with work or play. I believe it plays an important role in anyone’s life and it’s definitely an indispensable skill to have and to continue developing. It is part of the human condition.
“I love the power of the piano to convey emotion and narrative using all those elements, so when I perform solo piano my energy is much more inwardly focused on narrating and telling the story of the music.”
“Pascal brings a real sense of soundscape to the Berardi/ Foran/ Karlen music; he thinks texturally, but also melodically. So when we added him to the group, it brought so much colour and depth to the sound, but also without standing out. To us it sounds like a natural fit.”
“I am greatly inspired by all of these ethnic influences that are already here in Melbourne. This patchwork is inspiring and Samassin’s music here is global.”
“I don’t have any expectations about whether the Jazz Social will continue after the shutdowns. It might be unique to this time and place, but on the other hand I also think it does something different to a regular gig. It’s a different medium.”
“Under Paris Skies is a little different from traditional voice / guitar / bass trio albums. For some of the songs James Sherlock plays both rhythm and lead guitar, and for others Ben Hanlon overdubbed multiple bass parts. For the rest we play as a trio. I love hearing a jazz musician improvise and create with themselves. I find it really beautiful to discover their voices in this setting, and that curiosity inspired me.”
“The music we’re playing is heavily funky, fast and at times frenetic. If I had to bring someone in I would probably choose either Freddie Hubbard or Hiromi Uehara.”
” I was having a lesson with the great Caroline Henbest, preparing Rebecca Clarke’s ‘Sonata for Viola and Piano’. It was the first time I had ever played a solo viola work by a woman composer, and I felt so connected with her composition. Everything about this work spoke to me. I just had this crazy epiphany, that I didn’t want to play the music anymore, I wanted to speak about it!”
Now more than ever, we need the healing power of music; we need the community building experience of live music performance to cope with the new normal we are trying to adapt to. Self – isolation, quarantine, lockdown, physical distancing – you name it, it will affect our lives for longer than it actually lasts.
