
Elly Hoyt has harnessed the power and beauty of music, not simply for its own sake, but to give voice to those we have heard far too little from.
Elly Hoyt has harnessed the power and beauty of music, not simply for its own sake, but to give voice to those we have heard far too little from.
Shannon Barnett writes brilliantly for jazz – there is challenge, rhythmically and melodically, but there is also space enough to move around in.
There were over 70 performances to choose from, so even without the big international names in the line-up, it was outstanding value for pass holders. The tightly packed schedule meant catching complete sets was the biggest challenge.
“I grew up looking up to musicians like Andrea Keller and Sandy Evans, because I could see that they had their own bands, were writing their own music and were totally accepted and respected by the jazz community. I saw that it was possible to have a career in music.”
Keller’s harmonic sense throughout seems to have its own logic, following its path to places, once arrived at, are just where we want to be. Like all valid jazz writing, her compositional language seems to suit the soloists just fine, too.