Leading a well-oiled machine of an ensemble, featuring Ricki Malet on trumpet, Harry Mitchell on the keys, Zac Grafton on bass and Ben Vanderwal on drums, Jamie Oehlers presents yet another collection of memorable tunes, delivered with passion, urgency and vigour.
The Melbourne Jazz Roots Festival marks a welcome addition to the annual jazz festival calendar
Melbourne jazz fans rejoice – on 28 April, in line with the Jazz Day celebrations, the city will become home to the all-new, all-sparkling Jazz Roots Festival.
– Which song reminds you of your favourite journey?
– ‘Detour Ahead’ – the Vince Jones version.That song is incredible and I think Vince sings one of the best renditions of it. It reminds me of my favourite journey, because my favourite kind of journey is the one where you end up in a place you weren’t intending.
“The greatest challenge is doing something different with standards that still feels natural. I think we achieved it on this album. We were very open and just tried to play like ourselves with no judgment.”
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.”
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.
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.
APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) and the AMC (Australian Music Centre) are proud to announce the finalists for the 2013 Art Music Awards, an event which celebrates the outstanding achievements of composers, performers and educators in the dynamic fields of contemporary classical, jazz and experimental music.
