The culmination of a chance meeting at a jazz club in Berlin, the Quintet is an exciting new offering led by former Canberra musician Reuben Lewis.

Reuben plays trumpet
James Greening on trombone
Luke Sweeting on piano
James Waples on drums
Mark Shepherd on bass

https://soundcloud.com/reubenlewis

http://www.myspace.com/reubenlewismusic

Nic is an emerging local guitarist, who has recently completed his studies at the con.  He's played at Colbourne Ave with Francesca Prihasti many times, and for the first time this thursday he'll be bringing his own band to the venue.

Aaron Blakey is a jazz pianist originally from New Zealand.
Before moving to Sydney, Aaron spent three years living in Japan as an active pianist on the Tokyo Jazz Scene. The Aaron Blakey Quartet will be presenting a variety of original tunes that Aaron has composed, based on various experiences from his times in Auckland, Tokyo, New York and Sydney, as well as some cool standards.
Aaron will be joined by Mike Rivett, James Heazlewood Dale and James Waples. Each of these wonderful musicians brings their own voice to the tunes.
Look forward to a fantastic night of music!

Aaron Blakey (piano)
Mike Rivett (tenor sax)
James Heazlewood Dale (bass)
James Waples (drums)

www.aaronblakey.com

Mike Majkowski, bassist extraordinare, home from Berlin for a couple of weeks.

James Waples, one of the great drummers on the Sydney scene.

Dale Gorfinkel, Melbourne vibes player, for his first Colbourne Ave show.

All three incredible improvisers, masters of invention, creators of instruments and sounds previously unheard.  But above all: musicians who listen first then play, who respond as fast as the music can change,who build layers of textured sound onto entrancing, shifting rhythms.  I love it.

Francesca returns with a quartet - James Waples on drums, Alex Boneham on bass, and Nic Verdanega on guitar.

Harry Sutherland is one of Australia’s most promising young jazz pianists. In 2010 he won the James Morrison Scholarship at the Generations in Jazz festival in Mount Gambier. He recorded a set of music for ABC Jazz digital radio and had a track played on Jazztrack with Mal Stanley. He plays with Geoff Bull and the Finer Cuts, Mike Rivett, Matilda Abraham and A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Orchestra among many others.

This newly formed ensemble will mainly play Harry's original compositions. It features Thomas Botting on double bass and James Waples on drums

here he is at the ABC with another trio : abcjazz.net.au/features/abc-jazz-recording-harry-sutherland-trio

Originally from Indonesia (In 2005, she led her quartet in the Jakarta International Java Jazz festival) but currently based in Sydney, Francesca Prihasti is now studying under Mike Nock at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and recently played with Dale Barlow in his sidewomen project.  It's the first time we've had the pleasure of hearing most of these young musicians - James Waples (drums), Alex Boneham (Double bass) , Nic Vardanega (guitar), Chris O Dea (Sax), and Simon Ferenci (trumpet) - it will be a great six piece band plaing Francesca's original compositions and new arrangements of standards

Jackson Harrison piano trio

Winner of the 2006 National jazz award for piano, Jackson Harrison is one of Australia's finest and original jazz pianists. Recently returned from touring Asia and  recording a solo piano album, Jackson brings his band to Colbourne Ave for what is sure to be a spellbinding night of music.

Chris Abrahams, James Waples, and Mike Markovski - maybe the most creative improvising trio in Sydney.  totally UN-composed, completely free jazz by three of sydney's free-est improvisors.  Despire their differences in age and history, they clearly understand each other well enough to climb around each others sounds.  ROIL mesmerise you with the way they surge together then careen apart, ramming textures and harmonics against each other in ways that would be totally destructive in less competent hands.

I just found this overview of Mike's playing, by John Clare.  he quotes ROIL's last gig at Colbourne Ave:

"More recently I heard him in Roil ... The room has a wonderful sound, so good in fact that even when Majkowski played glissando patterns by vooming the palms of his hands on the wood of the bass I thought he was using amplification, but they were all playing acoustically. “How do you do that?” I asked. “A lot practice,” he said. “And the room. Actually I’ve done a lot of work on projection.” Using the bow and, simultaneously, rapid fingers down near the bridge, Majkowski created a maze of high notes and interacting harmonics that took my breath away. Also pings, pops and chattering. The instrument was singing and crying like several voices, and in fact he sometimes projected his own voice into it.

As with The Necks, so with Roil- in this regard at least: it is misleading to say there are no solos, but brief focus on one instrument can be the result of the others suddenly dropping in volume rather than the one shouldering itself into prominence. The isolated instrument suddenly has a kind of supernatural presence. There are a number of Australian contemporary jazz bands in which such a “solo” would be entirely in context. Others of course where it would not be seen to be serving the music."

[John Clare, sima.org.au/2010/10/14/profile-2-mike-majkowsk]

and then he quotes Mike:

“In this regard jazz is dead. But when I play with a trio like Roil I feel I am really playing jazz. In our rehearsals we just play. There’s no verbal dialogue, or very little. There’s no leader. No one is worried about playing over anyone else. We are solving the musical problems in the moment. We got together in 2007 and we weren’t talking about playing gigs. We just enjoyed playing together. Playing no one else’s music."