“If you want to actually follow the tradition of jazz, you have to respond to your story and the place that you live in. Jazz has always been questioning and curious and absorbing other influences. And this is one of the most exciting things about being an Australian musician, being surrounded by lots of different cultures”.
Artists include jazz legends Vince Jones, Peter Gaudion and Bob Sedergreen in one-off shows with some leading names joining their line-ups.
20Up sees the AAO return to the place of its first concert: the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne. A total of twenty-five musicians will perform a range of works from Ringing the Bell Backwards, the first work written for the AAO by Founding AD Paul Grabowsky which premiered at Malthouse in 1994; Passion, which is the AAO’s take on Bach’s St Matthew Passion; Testimony, Sandy Evans’ extraordinary tribute to Charlie Parker; Struttin’, Eugene Ball’s impressionistic take on Louis Armstrong, and a brand new commission from young composer, Austin Buckett called Virtuoso Pause.
“Over an eleven day period, I’d seen a lot of jazz, a lot of great jazz. I missed a lot too, such is the extent of the festival’s program. ” Greg Phillips gives us a considered overview of the textured 2014 Stonnington Jazz Festival
This is Williamson’s eighth album since 2001’s wonderfully-named Non-Consensual Head Compression and, as well as being an obvious evolutionary step, it is a beautiful thing.
Peter Kenneally reviews In Cahoots by Paul Williamson’s ensemble Inside Out. But wait… it’s in the form of a sestina, and breathtaking. A little bit like the way he describes the music on this CD…
“A true departure from ‘traditional jazz’ and the result is not only fresh and instantly likable, but has the potential to become a modern classic.”
