Colbourne Ave started after musician Spike Mason was travelling around Europe in 1996. He went to some beautiful jazz concerts that were acoustic, and more like concerts than he was used to in the Sydney jazz scene. One of these was in the round, and it was so moving and intimate that he decided to try and recreate the experience in his own scene back home. After much searching, he found that the church in Glebe he was working for had perfect acoustics for listening. From 2000 to 2009 the venue was called "eight oclock sharp", the name of the first ever series - a season of the play Waiting For Godot with five jazz piano concerts. There was a very strict 'no talking during the music' rule, and the promise that the music would start exactly on time - eight oclock sharp!

Over the years, and with help from Andrew, Barney, and the CafeChurch community, the concert series grew from half a dozen performances a year - almost always acoustic, often in the round with great musicians and respectful audiences - until in 2008 they organized their third 'Jazz Piano Master Series' with sixteen solo pianists over four weeks. It was so good they decided they had to do it every week!  Over the next couple of years we managed to organise a consistent series of concerts, and changed our name to Colbourne Ave.

  • 07 Jan 2016
    Adrian Mears

    Adrian Mears, was one of Australia's best trombone players in the 90s.  he's from Newcastle, of course, but he has been composing, teaching, and improvising in Germany and Switzerland for the last 25 years.  His visits to Australia have been rare.  For us, he will play a duet with old friend Andrew Dickeson on drums.   

    adrianmears.com

    Read 2840 times
  • 14 Jan 2016
    Bob Barnard

    The master of swing and melodic invention, Mr Bob Barnard, makes his Colbourne debut with the killer trio of Andrew Dickeson, Pete Locke and Brendan Clarke. This is a very rare to hear opportunity to hear Bob play in all-acoustic, beautifully dynamic environment.

    Read 3538 times
  • 21 Jan 2016
    Bambino Dell'oro

    Evan, an Australian drummer, and Niko, a French/Italian pianist, formed this ephemeral global project a few years ago.  They have one album, but their focus is theatrical and performance based, and we love to adapt to the natural acoustics of the room and set up the space to compliment our performance.  They play "acoustic, quirky and outlandish (while still being accessible), sometimes progressive, Jazz(ish) / Groove compositions, utilising a multitude of additional conventional and unconventional instruments between the two of us in the show."

    bambinodelloro.com

    listen to the new album here : https://artascatharsis.bandcamp.com/album/los-belvos

    Read 1966 times
  • 28 Jan 2016
    Hannes Buder (Berlin)

    Hannes Buder is an improviser and composer in the field of experimental music. His works concentrate on issues of movement, authenticity, intuition, minimalism, density and slowness.  He's been working regularly in Western Europe with Mike Majkowski and Tony Buck. 
    On his way to SoundOut festival in Canberra (next weekend, featuring Aviva Endean, Miroslav Bukovky, and wealth of other mostly-european artists), for us Hannes will play solo electric guitar - prepared, sometimes played with a violin bow, through effects, with occasional added instruments.

    hannesbuder.de

    Listen to Hannes' latest solo album here : umlautrecords.com/u/records/hannes-buder-changes-ii/

    Featuring

    Read 1412 times
  • 04 Feb 2016
    celebrating Chuck Yates

    Chuck is a legend of the Sydney jazz scene.

    It's his 80th birthday.  His last concert was at Colbourne Ave one year ago, the week of his 79th.  Unfortunately since then his shoulder has become so painful that he can't play any more.  So, to celebrate Chuck's birthday, and his contribution to the Sydney scene, we've invited some of Sydney's great pianists to perform in his honour, along with his long-time collaborator James Ryan:

    Jex Saarelaht (flying up from Melbourne for the occasion)
    Kevin Hunt
    Adrian Keevil
    Matt McMahon

    Hopefully the man himself will show up.  

    Read 2893 times
  • 11 Feb 2016
    Gary Daley and Paul Cutlan

    Gary Daley and Paul Cutlan, with consumate cellist Ollie Miller in the second set.  They are half of Bingarribee, who we still hope to bring to Colbourne Ave sometime (watch Notturno by Bela Bartok here http://vimeo.com/89289097).  Dave Ellis called their last show at Colbourne "one of the best gigs of 2014"

    Gary and Paul have become firm musical soul buddies over the last few years, discovering their shared passion for twentieth century classical music, world music and free improvisation.  Between them lies a kaleidoscopic world of tone colours, with piano, accordion, and various saxophones and clarinets in the mix.  From Messian to Bartok, Fats Waller to Steve Swallow, traditional African to atmospheric improv, Gary and Paul create music of colour, beauty and emotion.

    Read 3392 times
  • 18 Feb 2016
    Francesca Prihasti

    This is Francesca's 8th Colbourne Ave gig, and since the last one, Francesca has recorded her first album, Night Trip (to be launched at Foundry 616 in April)... and she's got engaged to Sydney guitarist Nic Vardanega.

    We have a couple of bottles of champagne in the fridge 

    Read 2863 times
  • 25 Feb 2016
    joni Mitchell (not really)

    At Colbourne Ave, we have a half-arsed kind of tradition where on the anniversary of the first gig we ever put on (it was Bill Risby) we have a jazz tribute night to a pop band. Kind of like Frisell plays Lennon. Or Eckleberg plays Jackson.

    It’s Thursday the 25th of Feb, and we’re doing Joni Mitchell (almost a year since the aneurysm from which she's still recovering). Three songs per musician, no song twice, more interpretations than covers. There will be moments of genius from :

    Spike Mason (and Barney Wakeford)
    Leonie Cohen
    Bonnie Stewart
    Jonny Maddox
    Bill Risby
    Joseph Zarb

    and they'll be playing, in chronological order of publication :

     

    album

    year

    Song to a Seagull

    Song to a Seagull

    1968

    Both Sides

    clouds

    1969

    The Fiddle and the Drum

    clouds

    1969

    Woodstock

    ladies of the canyon

    1970

    For Free

    ladies of the canyon

    1970

    Blue

    blue

    1971

    a case of you

    blue

    1971

    the last time i saw richard

    blue

    1971

    Don't interrupt the sorrow

    the hissing of summer lawns

    1975

    Amelia

    Hejira

    1976

    Dry cleaner from des Moines

    Mingus

    1979

    Good bye pork pie hat

    mingus

    1979

    Be Cool

    wild things run fast

    1982

    Chinese Cafe

    wild things run fast

    1982

    Hejira

    shadows and light

    1990

    Coyote

    shadows and light

    1990

    cherokee louise

    night ride home

    1991

    the sire of sorrow

    turbulent indigo

    1994

    And we leave the last work to Chaka Khan, who in an interview a couple of months ago said :

    See, Joni Mitchell, she's actually funky, she just doesn't know it, and I'm bringing that forward. The jazz is in there. You get her, but I've slowed a lot of the stuff down because a lot of the lyrics - she's a very fast singer, so sometimes it's hard to catch her words - but I think she's so relevant

    Read 4144 times Read more...
  • 03 Mar 2016
    Jazz Organism

     STOP PRESS : This is actually the album launch of the new "Jeremy Sawkins Organ Quartet" JazzTrack recording.  The band has changed their name to "The Jeremy Sawkins Organ Quartet", but I had already created this event and i couldn't bring myself to change the great name to a boring name just because they switched drummers.  I don't even think they did switch drummers.

    The last time the Jazz Organism played, someone asked me "who plays jazz on an organ or for that matter listens to organ music other than in church?....this Thursday not for me?"  and i said "you're thinking of the wrong kind of organ.think of Deep Purple... Pink Floyd... Procol Harum... Booker T...  Darren's groove comes from the middle 60's jazz players who influenced the psychedelic movement of the 70's.  i can listen to him all day long, and i'm not one for church organs."

    That's what the organism is.

    Read 3665 times
  • 10 Mar 2016
    date bros

    Ian Date, swinging past from Ireland.  Nigel Date, dropping in from out of space.  

    Read 3285 times
  • 17 Mar 2016
    Leonie Cohen and Tomomi Takahashi

    Everybody who knows Leonie knows how great she is.  Everybody who has a copy of the Pony album loves it.  She hasn't been playing so much the last couple of years, but she's doing a duet set for us.  Leonie says she's "thrilled to be performing as a duo with bassist Hugh Fraser......... On an evening following superb pianist/composer Tomomi Takahashi who’ll be playing the first set with her ensemble."

    Tomomi will be opening the night with her quintet - piano, double bass, sax, violin and euphonium.  She's an improvising musician who works with improvised theatre, and will be mostly playing premieres of original music.  I have a photo, but it's hard to get two photos on this website thingy, so you'll have to show up and meet her in person.

    Read 2888 times
  • 24 Mar 2016

    Barney Wakeford Trio featuring Cam Reid

    playing works, among others, by Bud Powell, Mulgrew Miller, Duke Jordan, Bill Evans,

    and with special guest Alexandru Bota performing an adaption of The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams and The Peacocks by Jimmy Rowles.

    Read 3177 times
  • 31 Mar 2016
    Maddogg Morgan feat. Jim Denley

    Andy Butler is a pianist and composer living in Melbourne, playing improvised and experimental music. He plays in Australia and Europe with ellipsis, the Phonetic Orchestra, and DRUM. He was a finalist in the 2013 National Jazz Awards and has performed with many of Australia's leading improvisers. Andy is interested in ideas characterised by use of limited material developed through exploration of repetition, resonance, and register.

    Jim Denley - wind instruments born Bulli, Australia 22/1/57
    Spontaneity, site-specificity and collaboration have been central to his work. He sees no clear distinctions between his roles as instrumentalist, improviser and composer.
    He has played throughout Australia, Europe, The Americas, Lebanon and Japan with artists such as Maggie Nichols, Carolyn Connors, Kari Rønnekleiv, Sidsel Endresen, Satsuki Odamura, Thembi Soddell, Natasha Anderson, Monika Brooks, Clare Cooper, Ami Yoshida, Amanda Stewart, Ikue Mori, Satchiko M, Rosalind Hall, Laura Altman, Julia Ready, Bonnie Stewart, Romy Caen, Prue Fuller, Sonya Hollywell and Annette Krebs.

    His passion is playing music outdoors in Australia.
    Maddogg - myserious, anonymous figure. Performing tonight on electronics

    Read 2480 times
  • 07 Apr 2016
    Vanuatu Women's Water Music film

    (soundtrack for reading about this filmmaker)

    Last year in Budapest I met Tim Cole.  And saw his film, Vanuatu Women's Water Music.  It's a long ambient look at the music and culture of a traditional village in Vanuatu.  It looks beautiful and sounds amazing.  it's a little bit funny.  There's no story, no text, not many words.  It's like spending a week in a beautiful place where you don't speak the language.

    Tim and BaoBao will be there.  They'll answer some questions.  And talk about their new project Small Island Big Song, about the musical culture that has travelled around the South Pacific for 5,000 years.

    Here's the trailer : youtube.com/watch?v=vUUVEvffzSI

    Read 1880 times
  • 14 Apr 2016
    Janet Seidel quartet and guests

    The trio will be touring the UK from April 28th until August this year and they will be playing on the 14th April at Colbourne Avenue. Joshua Morgan will be joining the trio on drums and expect to see some guest musicians sitting in.

    The admission is the regular $20 at the door (children with adult admitted free) and we are asking for an extra $10 donation to the Fiji Oxfam appeal. The last concert we did resulted in the band equalling the amount raised and the total went to Nepal appeal.

    https://www.oxfam.org.au/donate/different-ways-to-give/current-appeals/

    Read 2876 times
  • 21 Apr 2016
    Renata Arrivolo / Richard Gawned Quartet

    Renata Arrivolo Piano
    Richard Gawned Sax 
    Max Alduca Bass 
    Nic Cecrie Drums

    Renata Arrivolo and Richard Gawned met a few years ago playing in the Mortal Blow Big Band.  Both have a passion for improvisation and contemporary jazz . They found a common language exploring musical ideas in a duo setting .

    Tonight they will be playing some widely known and lesser known standards.  As well as some originals.

     
    Read 3448 times
  • 28 Apr 2016
    Kelly Ottaway (tas)
     
    Amelia Johnson - Vocals  (imagine that i've spliced that photo of Kelly playing piano together with a photo of Amelia behind the mic)
    Kelly Ottaway - Piano
    Spike Mason - Saxes
    Brendan Clarke - Bass
    Andrew Dickeson - Drums
    Read 3678 times
  • 05 May 2016
    john Maddox duo

    John Maddox, legendary acoustic bass player of the inner west, and the outer world.  He’s played in every gypsy band in Sydney, in every pug and café.  This is a photo of Tim and John at Mr Falcons just up Glebe Point Rd.

    If you came to our Joni Mitchell night, Johnny played last, the beautiful Pork Pie Hat.  I’m hoping he’s going to reprise a couple of the Joni songs this weekend.  But Maddox plays whatever Maddox feels, so we’ll have to wait and see.

    facebook.com/John-Maddox-Duo-1462202164088098

    Featuring

    Read 3150 times
  • 12 May 2016
    Herb Armstrong

    Born and bred in New Orleans, Herb Armstrong lived the dream of performing the infamous Bourbon St and French Quarter clubs as a daily reality. Sharing stages with Bobby Womack, Missy Elliot and the Neville Brothers, Herb performed around the USA before following his heart to Australia.  Performing the music and memories of his grandfather, the late great Louis Armstrong and the infectious Zydeco and Second Line grooves.
    Herb takes you on an emotional journey: feel the sorrow of a second line dirge; warm to the stories and jokes of his grandfather Louis; groove like you're at Mardi Gras.  Here's Herb at the Paris Cat in Melbourne.  I don't think he'll have a horn section, but he will have the suit and the voice and the songs. 

    We like him.

    Featuring

    Read 1860 times
  • 19 May 2016
    TQM4F1 : Bonnie Stewart & co.

    TQM4F1 premiered at the 2016 Tectonics Festival in Adelaide in March. The quintet's members have been collaborating as part of Splinter Orchestra for many years.  Whilst the influence of their beloved larger band of improvisers is obvious, TQM4F1 have forged something new in the smaller format that sets their music apart,  

    Cor Fuhler’s preparations on piano often melding with Tony Osborne’s electronic and natural voice sounds whilst Bonnie Stewart introduces percussive textures.  At the forefront of prepared saxophone in Australia are Jim Denley and Peter Farrar, extraordinary then that they are also both at the core of this formulation.  

    TQM4F1 are an unpredictable bunch, creating sounds that alternately wash over the audience in great waves of kinetic energy and then diminish to almost imperceptible and fragile articulations.  Don’t miss this great concert when the group will play 2 sets of their unique sounds for the Colbourne Ave. audience. 

    Read 2563 times
  • 26 May 2016
    Casper Tromp's Black Tulip
    In their electro-acoustic line up they use their own compositions as a platform for their improvisations. Grooves intermarry with strong melodies and dreamy sounds; risk and intuition are the cornerstone of their music. Initially inspired by 60’s jazz, they will bring you a combination of groove, experiment and jazz!
     
    Casper Tromp – piano / electronics
    Max Alduca – double bass
    Cameron Reid – drums
     
    Read 3522 times
  • 02 Jun 2016
    FAR OUT trio

    FAR OUT is Craig Collinge : piano, drums, percussion, vocals; Arron Manfield : soprano and tenor saxophones, flutes, ocarina, percussion; Luiz Gubeissi : double bass, effects, percussion.

    facebook.com/outimprov

    Read 1130 times
  • 09 Jun 2016
    George Washingmachine

    George is a legend, a brilliant fiddle player and astounding entertainer.  His main-line is gypsy jazz, which he plays with his various duets, trios, and quartets. 

    But for his last gig at Colbourne Ave, he got together old friends Peter Locks and Jonathan Zwartz, leaning into some standards and styles you'll rarely hear played or sung like this.

    It was fantastic.  We booked another date so we could hear it again.

    Read 3379 times
  • 16 Jun 2016
    Louis Stapleton

    This quartet features the awesome talents of Jonathan Zwartz on Bass and Hamish Stuart on drums plus Carl Morgan on guitar- winner of the national jazz award 2014
    While attending Germany’s largest music academy in Cologne for 4 years, Louis absorbed a wide variety of influences - workshopping with the likes of John Taylor, Aaron Parks, Alan Broadbent and studying under Hubert Nuss and Florian Ross.

    These influences come together in this new quartet which values tradition and familiar forms but you’ll also hear modern harmony and abstract colours. The compositions span an array of styles including swing, ballad, blues and groove while some tunes lend themselves to spontaneous improvisation and open playing.

    No matter what your tastes are there’ll be something for you at Colbourne Avenue June 16. It's a great cruisy venue where you can bring your own food and drinks with comfy lounges and ambient lighting. So come on down and treat yourself!!!

    https://www.facebook.com/events/870810176364012/

    Read 2662 times
  • 23 Jun 2016
    Selen Gülün

    As a leading contemporary musician in Turkey, Selen Gülün combines her Western music education and her Turkish soul. It is possible to hear traces of Turkish music in her work as composer, pianist, and singer. She has attained critical acclaim internationally.

    “Gülün’s music is by turns distant and immediate -- often in the span of a single track.”
    Downbeat by Eric Fine, Jan. 2012

    “In a raspberry mini dress and black high heels, Ms. Gulun led her trio, defying stereotypes in the male-dominated musical world that she inhabits, infusing her works with the serenity of her classical training and the energy of an Istanbul upbringing.”
    The New York Times & Herald Tribune by Susanne Fowler, Feb. 16, 2011

    “In her style, influences from classical and contemporary music rife: pointillism, impressionism, low pitches, clusters, modal, atonal. Gulun has just released a trio record, rich and vibrant, full of different colors and dynamics.”
    all.about.jazz by Gian Paolo Galasi, Sep. 1, 2011

    “...I waded into my vast Myspace page and found several as yet undiscovered gifted women from the Eurasian continent who are doing the good work. Ms. Gulun employs a stunning integration of Turkish music elements into her vocalizations in addition to her adept applications of keyboardry. I wonder if she ran into Butch Morris when he was teaching in Istanbul?”
    Brilliant Corners by Christopher Ruston Rich, July 26, 2009

    Selen Gülün, composer, pianist, vocalist, arranger and educator started her early music education at the Istanbul University State Conservatory. After graduating from Istanbul University Business Administration Department, she continued her music education at the Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory in Istanbul. In 1996, she received a talent scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music and received her B.A. in Jazz Composition summa cum laude in 1998. After graduation, she returned to Istanbul and completed her Master’s in Music at Istanbul Technical University’s Center of Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM) in 2003.
    She taught Piano Performance, Music Theory, and Composition at Istanbul Bilgi University’s Music Department from 1998 to 2015. She has given lectures on new music and contemporary music at the Berklee College of Music, the New School, the Malmö Academy of Music, the Utrecht School of the Arts, TEDx Bogazici University among others. She currently teaches at Özyegin University and Bilgi University.

    Selen Gülün works actively as a composer/performer in various styles of contemporary music. She has received many awards for her performances and compositions including the Charles Mingus Composition Award 1998 and the British Council Visiting Arts, Creative Collaboration in Music 2003.  Her music has been performed in countries around the world including Austria, Germany, Holland, the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, France, the USA, Brazil, Japan, Cambodia, Pakistan, Lithuania, Russia, Mozambique, and Turkey. She has released five albums: Just About Jazz Live (recjazz, 2005), Selen Gülün Trio Sürprizler (recjazz, 2006), Selen Gülün by Selen Gülün (re:konstruKt, 2009), Answers (pozitif, 2010), and Başka (linrecords, 2013). Answers reached #6 and Başka reached #4 in the Jazz Tokyo Weekly Chart.

    Featuring

    Read 2790 times
  • 30 Jun 2016
    Eddie Bronson

    Eddie Bronson - the sax player from Monsieur Camembert, and almost every russian band you've ever seen in Sydney.  Schmaltzy standards and love-sick original songs with Eddie on soprano and tenor sax, accordion and voice, with

    Daniel Pliner : piano
    Jonathan Zwartz : bass
    Hamish Stuart : drums

    Eddie was born in Moscow, moved to Israel, then New York, and eventually Sydney where his distinctive style has infected the sound of a generation of sydney musicians.

    Watch Eddie on one of those great days at Qirkz nearly ten years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjEsMwFer6E

    Read 3147 times
  • 07 Jul 2016
    Ephemera

    "The music and more is, truly, out of this world.. this is an intergalactic love song dedication that knows no peer" Lloyd Bradford Syke, Australian Stage

    Ephemera Ensemble: a musical exploration of celestial landscapes such as pulsars, craters, planetary atmospheres, stars, sun and void. Merging the sound worlds of jazz, classical, experimental and flamenco, and set to real space recordings, the performances create an original sonic experience. Playing music composed by Keyna Wilkins, the ensemble comprises Keyna Wilkins (piano/flute) Elsen Price (double bass/loop pedal), and Will Gilbert (trumpet) and includes freely improvised sections.

    NASA recordings of electromagnetic waves from planets and stars is the backdrop soundtrack and has been constructed by astrophysicist Professor Paul Francis. Each member brings their own unique voice to the ensemble drawing from a multitude of musical backgrounds. Elsen is a new music specialist, Damian is a versatile world musician, Will is a jazz trumpeter and Keyna is a jazz/classical/flamenco musician and composer, who combine to create a distinctive sound world that organically react to stellar concepts. Universe and Universality.

    http://www.ephemeraensemble.com/

    Read 2970 times
  • 14 Jul 2016

    Francesca just got married.  She's having a few weeks honeymoon and family time in Jakarta.  Coming back to Sydney for one show before she moves to New York for a year.

    So she'll be back in 2018 with a Masters of Jazz, but until then it's been slim pickings for the great local-global pianist.

    Featuring

    Read 3759 times
  • 21 Jul 2016
    My Goodness, McGuiness!
    Treading a faint path between modern jazz, world music and pop song, instrumentalists My Goodness, McGuiness! strip back all genres back to celebrate melody and emotion as king. Jazz trained musicians been dancing around songwriting and pop music influences, then finally approaching it head on. gently.

    lineup:
    Sarah Belkner : voice
    Lucian McGuiness : trombophone
    Dan Junor : saxomaphone
    Paul Cutlan : clarinets and things
    Aaron Flower : leccy guitar
    Jonothan Zwartz : contra-bass
    James Hauptmann : drums
    Fabian Hevia : other hitting things
    Strings led by Rachel Pogson

    Lucian McGuiness is a composer, arranger and musical director in jazz, circus-theatre and contemporary pop arenas. My Goodness McGuiness mixes some of Sydney's finest improvisors and groove masters with skilful arranging and writing.

    “There is pure quality to the McGuiness tone, coupled with a less-is-more approach.”
    — Limelight Magazine

    "Bithe as a bee in spring"
    – Sydney Morning Herald

    Also talented arranger, musical director and songwriter, vocalist Sarah Belkner has a signature sound that ferries catchy, emotional lyrical depth and vocal ear candy for days to a rich beautifully strange world of complex, subtle and layered arrangements.
    Read 2905 times
  • 28 Jul 2016
    Tim Clarkson trio

    “The stars seem to have aligned themselves… His playing achieves an aim of “stillness” in the air that is certainly evident.”
    4/5 stars    – Peter Wockner, Jazz and Beyond 

    The Tim Clarkson Trio is an intimate band with bite to their playing. They bring together elements of music often at odds with each other: their compositions can be rhythmically and melodically intricate, but in spite of this a sense of groove, melodicism and quirky playfulness permeates the band. With a sense of space and occasion, it is music that gets both the head and the heart, not one at expense of the other.

    Tim has a unique approach to saxophone-bass-drum trio which shares roles, often turning elements of the music on their head, with bass and drums often at the forefront. Audiences are always delighted and surprised at their musical twists and turns, and the stories they weave. They have been playing together for a decade, toured nationally and their 2013 album “Land of Free Men” has been heavily featured on ABC Radio. 

    timclarksonmusic.com 

    Read 3298 times
  • 04 Aug 2016
    A moment in time

    An album launch for a four-piece band living on three different continents plus Tasmania.

    You can support the production of the album here : https://pozible.com/project/a-moment-in-time-jazz-album 

    Read 3836 times
  • 11 Aug 2016
    TJ Eckleberg

    There are those musicians. The ones who create music , but rarely let it out to the world. The ones where you have to wait for years to hear a new song, and it's always perfect. The ones where they only perform once or twice a year, and yet it's perfect.

    TJ is one of those. He has created a seventh album. He's going to play the songs. And some old ones too, probably. It will be sublime. 

    As you can imagine, TJ thinks a lot.  You can read some of those thoughts : a good place to start is http://tjeckleberg.com/if-you-look-too-long-you-see-angry-lost-young-men/ 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfzoGO7Leyo 

    After releasing five albums from Sydney, TJ left Australia for Berlin, where he spent three years writing and recording West & Lime (and doing other stuff).  Last year he moved to Kyoto and finished Black & Amber, a set of songs exploring what it is to trade a world you know for one you don't.  A soulful, lush guitar-based album of sparkling tremelo, ragged radio speaker vocals, rippling sunshine delay lines and Eckleberg's knack of balancing world weary whisper with fragile wail. 

    Read the full press release : TJEckleberg_BlackAndAmber_press.pdf

    Featuring

    Read 2434 times
  • 18 Aug 2016
    Scattered (and James McLean)

    Sam Gill is a young local saxophone player.  The type we like.  He's played freaky post-jazz with The Splinter Orchestra, sparse improv with Simon Barker, and new sydney jazz with his own ensembles. To Colbourne Ave he brings Scattered, a sax-led quintet mostly made up of reeds (with accordion as the keyboard reed, and Julia as the string Reid (that was funny before Julia couldn't make the gig)).

    Read some of this thoughts on some of his influences here : http://www.jazzgroove.com/selecta-sam-gill/ 

    James McLean will be opening with a solo percussion set.  James has just been awarded the 2016 Friedman Jazz Fellowship Prize, making him the first drummer ever to take the prize.

    Read 2627 times
  • 25 Aug 2016
    The Corridors

    The Corridors began with a long mid-week residency at Corridor bar in Newtown.  They've recorded an album now, and they're stretching their wings, performing as far afield as Marrickville and Glebe.

    It's jazz with jive and a rock and roll vibe, Louis Prima and Bull Moose Jackson style. Rockin tenor sax melodies are the order of the day, and there is plenty to go around for everybody.   

    Justin Fermino and Chris O'Dea : tenor saxes
    Slammin Sam 'Shazzam' Dobson : double bass
    Nick Meredith : drums

    Read 2992 times
  • 01 Sep 2016
    Unified

    The band features the intuitive and soul stirring vocals of Samoan musicians Steve Ale, Asinate Fonua, Mariah Filoa, Kate Lauina and Loma Schaff. These 5 vocalists have roots in gospel and church music and have an intuitive way of blending and harmonizing with each other that is incredible and beautiful at the same time. The rhythm section contains bassist James Haselwood, drummer Hamish Stuart and pianist Gavin Ahearn. The music is a Unified blend of the influences/vision of all the musicians on stage; gospel, jazz, soul, r&b, pop, world and beyond.  

    Read 3320 times
  • 08 Sep 2016
    Mutiny Music by Baecastuff

    One of the great jazz suites to have emerged from Sydney in recent years : A modern music show based on the story, music and culture that developed as a direct consequence of the Mutiny on the Bounty and the clash of Tahitian and English cultures which developed into the language and song of the of the Pitcairn and Norfolk islanders.

    http://www.mutinymusic.org/ 

    Rick Robertson – Soprano and Tenor Saxophone
    Phil Slater – Trumpet
    Matt McMahon – Piano, Fender Rhodes Piano, Hammond Organ
    Alexander Hewetson – Acoustic and Fender Bass
    Simon Barker – Drums and Log Drums
    Aykho Akhrif – Percussion

     

    Read 3573 times
  • 09 Sep 2016
    Friday : Martha Marlow and Jonathan Zwartz + Mike Nock

    Martha says :

    I am so very excited to announce this gig! It has been a some time between shows and in the interim I have written a whole set of new original material which I can't wait to share with you! I'll be perfoming this accompanied by the incredible Jonathan Zwartz on bowed double bass and we are very lucky to have the amazing Mike Nock perform an opening solo set on piano.

    Our friend Simon Rippingale is filming the concert, so wear your best, and come along to what promises to be a very intimate and special night.

    Special thanks to Andrew Lorien and the Glebe Justice Centre.

    Date- Friday September 9th. Doors- 7:00pm.
    Tickets (purchased on the door) $20/ $15

    Read 1099 times
  • 15 Sep 2016
    Fabian Hevia : FAR BEYOND

    FAR BEYOND, makes its debut performance at Colbourne Ave with the talents of Paul Cutlan on saxophones, flute and clarinets; Gary Daley on piano and accordion; James Greening on trombone; Ben Hauptmann on guitars; and Sandy Klose on bass. These great musicians will be bringing life to the much anticipated compositions and creative drumming of Fabian Hevia.

     

    Read 3161 times
  • 22 Sep 2016
    Crossover (Bonnie Stewart)

    Bonnie plays drums and percussion and writes and sings. Peter plays strange ethereal noises through the saxophone. Luke plays beautiful wandering passages on the piano.

    They have great song ideas like "When you think somethings in D and its not in D but it has a D and you did pilates in the morning" and "Dark Slow Scary One".

     

    Together they are Crossover.  Soft, lyrical, complex songs that take you across landscapes and into strange lands.

    She has some beautiful new songs on her soundcloud site., some recorded at Colbourne Ave  Listen to them one rainy afternoon : https://soundcloud.com/bonniedrums

    Read 2497 times
  • 29 Sep 2016
    Spike Mason piano trio

    Once a week, in the cafe at the arts community in Tasmania where Spike lives, he and Lea play a jazz duet.  They've been doing it for years.

    Spike is one of Australia's great jazz saxophone players.  So it's a bit of a surprise that he's been playing piano.  But this will be his first trio gig.

    - he has chosen some beautiful musicians to help him

     steve elphick : double bass

     

    cameron reid : drums

    Spike Mason : piano

    Lea Mason : vocals

    Read 3090 times
  • 06 Oct 2016
    John Harkins / Grace Chung

    John is a great player of the American songbook part of jazz piano.  He's one of our favourite players, solo or in an ensemble.

    This week he will be supporting Grace Chung, who sings the great songs of Alan and Marilyn Bergman

    Read 2961 times
  • 13 Oct 2016
    Treloar at 70

    A recent review characterised Phil Treloar as an enigmatic philosopher; one for whom clarity lies in the doing. An overview of the major “Works” in his compositional output will verify this observation. Treloar’s work has been, from the outset, visionary and devoted.  The rigours of Treloar’s compositional output is equally matched by his performing career. He has performed extensively with many of Australia’s premiere groups and individuals as well as with internationals and these in the ‘legit’, the jazz, and the improvisation genres. He has established a creative legacy that has, and will remain, beneficial for generations to come.

    Phil Treloar’s guiding light is Collective Autonomy, a term he coined many years ago to signify his life-philosophy, while Primal Communication: Truth–Faith–Trust, continues to be his credo.  This year he turns seventy.

    Phil's special guest will be Simone de Haan, an improvisor who has followed his own muse, delving into trombone sonics and group soundworlds with a rigour most might, at best, dream of. He has rendered state-of-the-art performances by composers that range from Brian Ferneyhough to John Cage to Luciano Berio.   In addition to having works written specifically for his virtuosic abilities as a trombonist, he has also commissioned many ensemble works for the express purpose of exploring the intersection where improvised and notated music meet. Crucial to this has been a focus on audience reception. Simone has toured internationally as a master teacher, soloist, chamber musician, and conductor. He has taught, inspired, guided, and encouraged young performers and budding creative artists, several of whom are now acknowledged as leaders in their chosen field. This year he returns to performing after an extensive break.

    Phil has composed a new work for solo trombone, and a new work for the duo.  In addition they will each perform a solo improvisation, and a duo improvisation.

    Read 1907 times
  • 20 Oct 2016
    Steve and Hannah Cooper

    Steve and Hannah live in the same community in Tasmania as Spike Mason.  They travel the country working with all sorts of communities, inspiring people to engage with their creativity.

    For us, they will perform some of their song and dance numbers :

     
    - two  "Becoming Australian" performances : live and recorded music/dance/story with film
    - multi-tracked vocal performance
    - straight-up piano jazz
    - dance/music/words improvisation(s) performance with Spike Mason
     
    Read 3401 times
  • 27 Oct 2016
    Grey Wing Trio

    Luke was one of the three finalists for this years Friedman Jazz Fellowship.

    The Grey Wing Trio was Forged in Sydney's suburban hustle and bustle, the musicians realised their distinct musical rapport and hyper-lyrical zeal when they first played together in 2011.

    Luke Sweeting (piano), Ken Allars (trumpet) and Finn Ryan's (drums)  improvising plays off compositions that are often delicate and texturally versatile. Described as intriguing and impulsive and, yes, epic, Grey Wing Trio playfully explore alternate forms and endings, discovering in-the-moment colours.

    Luke Sweeting is an incredible pianist and composer, having toured with Swedish-Australian ensemble Svelia, the Antipodes Sextet and various projects. His previous releases include "People and Lightbulbs" (Luke Sweeting Sextet) and duo album "The Great Unknown" with vocalist Rachael Thoms. He has also recorded and arranged with the Australian 2012 Generations in Jazz vocal winner Liam Budge.

    Ken Allars has already the ears of the nation, performing on the Australian ARIA award winning album Hear and Know by Mike Nock and also winning the James Morrison Generations in Jazz scholarship in 2011.

    Finn Ryan is distinctly remarkable for his improvising with the electro-acoustic trio 3ofmillions, the free style African Dance ensemble Prophets and his strong connection with Sydney/European improvising legends Jim Denley and Tony Buck.

    Grey Wing Trio draw their music from diverse influences; certainly jazz with heavy interests from twentieth century and early classical music, folk traditions and texture-based improvisational music. The band's name pays homage to a peaceful and now rare Australian budgerigar: the Greywing.

     

    Read 2575 times
  • 03 Nov 2016
    Kelly Ottaway

    Kelly is a pianist from Tasmania : a great improvisor with a great groove.  His last concert for us was beautiful, we booked him immediately for his next Sydney trip.

    this one will feature Dan Barnett on trombone, as well as Amelia Johnson on vocals.

    http://abcjazz.net.au/artist/kelly-ottaway

    Read 2690 times
  • 10 Nov 2016
    Gavin Ahearn jazz mcjazz quartet

    Kennedy | Laskowski | Alduca | Ahearn

    aka

    KLAA

    or, as i like to call them,

    The Gavin Ahearn Jazz McJazz Quartet

     

    Read 2937 times
  • 17 Nov 2016
    Barney Wakeford

    Barney Wakeford played for our third concert ever, in May 2000.   Since then he's played more than 50 times in ensembles including Barney Wakeford's New Roses, the Nagarm Trio, The League of Rosebud, and Adjective Noun - as well as many solo performances, and hundreds of appearances at Free For All.  For many years he was the driving force behind these concerts, and his commitment to quality music that makes the best use of the acoustics of the room set a standard which we've tried to keep.

    His compositions are few, but fantastic.  His collaborations are short-lived, but beautiful.  His improvisations are unpredictable and unforgettable.  He's sensitive about being called sensitive, waxes lyrical about lyricism, and has spent tens of thousands of hours considering the ways chords can progress through the jazz piano.  He's a dark horse, a quiet genius, and on Thursday, one more time, he's going to play the piano at Colbourne Ave

    Read 3630 times
  • 24 Nov 2016
    Tomomi Takahashi

    The much-awaited return of Tomomi Takahashi, this time with a nine-piece band.

    "Into the Starry Sky" will feature original piano compositions by Tomomi, orchestrated for her large jazz ensemble.  The kind of music you don't hear very much, because it's very difficult to write, rehearse, and perform.  But for us, she's doing it.

    Jay Byrnes : saxes
    Anne-Marie Brade : violin and viola
    Mary Rapp : cello and double bass
    Pete Atkins : drums
    Ben Crocker : euphonium
    Meredith Cheng : voice
    Meg Collis : flute
    Esther Lamb : voice
    and of course
    Tomomi Takahashi : pianist and composer

    Read 2633 times
  • 01 Dec 2016
    Renata Arrivolo

    Renata played for us earlier this year, after asking for a long time.

    It was a beautiful gig.  Piano trio, plus sax.  Like a warm autumn day with a hint of cool breeze.  Actually maybe it was a warn autumn day with a hint of cool breeze.

    Anyway, she's back with her excellent very-sydney rhythm section of Nic Cicere and Max Alduca.

    You can read about her on her own website, which i can't believe I didn't tell you about last time.  It's quite good.  renataarrivolo.com.au

    Read 3142 times
  • 08 Dec 2016
    Mike Nock + Free For All

    Mike Nock

    One of our most consistent supporters.  A man who is always in the zone.

    One set, solo piano.  Followed by a break for hanging out and drinking tea and wine (it's our third last concert after all).

    And then, for one last time,

    Free For All : an experience that will change the way you think about art.

    Free For All is an improvisation movement we developed over a few years last decade.  It goes like this:

    Everybody is welcome to perform.  Perceived musical ability is not a factor.  If you wish to perform, place your name (or a false name, if you wish to remain anonymous, which we usually do) into the Chalice Of Love.  An acolyte of the Chalice will draw names (duets, quartets, nonets?), and they will become an ensemble.  Without discussion, those people will begin to play, and they will continue until the music has finished.  And another ensemble will be drawn.

    The only rule is that you can't play anything you've ever played before.  You can interpret that rule any way you want.

    Free For All can be profound, hilarious, life-changing, horrible, beautiful, surprising, shocking, and fun.  Usually not all in the one piece, but very likely all in the one night.  Instruments will be invented, friends will be made, bands will be formed and broken up in the space of minutes.

     

     

    Featuring

    Read 2459 times
  • 15 Dec 2016
    Chris Cody

    Chris Cody, piano
    Michael Avgenicos, sax
    David Groves, bass
    James Waples, drums.

    Pianist and composer Chris Cody has performed and recorded internationally for the last 25 years while based in Paris. He has headlined at many international festivals including Paris Quartiers d’Eté, London, Rome, Brussels Jazz Marathon, Marciac, Nantes, and Algiers and at a vast array of concert venues throughout the USA, Europe and Africa. He has worked with many outstanding international musicians including Rick Margitza, Roy Hargrove, Glenn Ferris, Carla Bruni, Annie Whitehead, Tina Arena, Michel Jonaz, Rhoda Scott and Herb Geller.

    With nine CDs of his music released on international labels he has received glowing reviews and featured on radio and television around the world, and has collaborated on over thirty other albums.

    His compositions have been commissioned for the inauguration of the Australian Music Centre Paris, as well as for the Sydney Theatre Company, American Academy of Dance, Pillow Book Dance Company Pittsburg, and other French and American theatre companies, and he has composed the music for eight films, and several TV and Radio documentaries.

    He was a member of the judging panel for the 2014 and 2015 Freedman Fellowship Jazz Prize, Australia.

     "Magical!" Piano Magazine, France

    "Exhilarating ... a feast of melody… an inspiration never at fault" JazzHot, France

    "Full of music and future!" Le Monde, France

    "A marvellous climate, between subtle arrangements and vast spaces of improvisation..." Jazz Magazine, France

    "Very luminous jazz!" Télérama, France

    "This is jazz that takes off for the heights" Figaroscope, France

    "A European sensibility with a nod to Debussy" Rolling Stone

    "Splendidly rich and varied" Jazzwise, U.K

    "A performance full of colour, humour and rhythmic movement." Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

    "A fine mix of superior technical talent and youthful inventiveness" Variety USA

    Launched one year ago, Chris Cody's album Not My Lover continues to do well - here are some recent  media highlights:

    A piano style that enthuses, is luminous and breathes, with slicing attacks, a left hand in support with unique chords, a right hand that sings…For Satie, revisited by the blues and the Balkans, is a minor masterpiece…very inspired…a fine and solid quartet and especially a remarkable pianist, like a fish in water in piano trio.” Jazz Hot, France

    The City of Light has the strongest of Jazz associations and Cody captures that intimate relationship perfectly .You can feel the ebb and flow of the city’s life running through his fingertips as he plays. The beauty of the architecture, the elegant Seine, the mad driving through the twisted maze of streets. Cody is a man of great charm and warmth and the compositions echo his urbane humanity.” JazzLocal - John Fenton, NZ

    You feel a particular cosmopolitanism seeping through the music: jazz colliding with European sensibilities and France colliding with African ones. Cody is an equally sophisticated composer and pianist who likes to create mood-based pieces and solos in which a touch of ambiguity or mystery compounds the interest. … Cody generates a striking luminosity from the piano's upper register. “ Sydney Morning Herald

    Cody works with flair and sensitivity... This is an album of talented performers playing varied compositions, adding an unusual jazz piano style that’s incorporates interesting classical ideas and flourishes”. The Australian

    Solid pleasure…a very solid and satisfying disc…a fast, happily frantic dance…top flight musicians…the piano suggests both abandon and contemplation…his playing is often funky with a modern boogie or shuffle feeling to it… a very beautiful re-working of Satie’s Gnossienne No. 3” Loudmouth, John Clare

    Polished composition and pianism … Modern contemporary improvised music doesn’t get much better or more enjoyable than this and Cody proves he is the master of form.” Fine Music Magazine

    Read 3243 times
  • 22 Dec 2016
    Virna Sanzone

    Our last concert for the year.  It'll be a celebration, i can tell you that.  and Virna has the voice to bring it.

    This will be a duet (my favourite!) with Phil Stack, an amazing force of musical energy.  They've been playing together for years, exploring and improvising, pushing standards into unusual shapes, stripping pop songs back to the simplest nuance.  Drawing from Virna's deep knowledge of vocal traditions and Phil's atmospheric heights of jazz and rock, they'll build something completely different from scratch.  It'll be very exciting.

    Just a couple of days before christmas, a chance to lose yourself in great art before it all turns to holidays.

    Read 2841 times

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