Craig Scott and Brendan Clarke

Double-bassists.  Double double bass.  The gentlemen of the F clef.

It's the last in our explorations of improvising duets, and we're finishing on a low note.  Expect the resonant deep tones and sit back and enjoy the vibrations.

You heard it right folks, it's a duo of double bass.

One of those perfect, rare duets that work so well in the Cafe Church space and are almost impossible anywhere else.  Following on from Spike and Matt's sax/piano duet, this piano /trumpet duet will provide the perfect environment for these two best mates to bring everything they have to the music.  Original, improvised, new Sydney jazz.

Steven Barry

Eamon Dilworth

Possibly Australia's most influential living jazz musican, Judy has taught and performed with generations of performers, helping to create the sound and culture of Sydney's jazz scene.  It's more than two years since they last played for us, and the ABC has just released a 4CD box set of Judy's recording projects.  She will play for us with her long-time trio : Craig Scott on bass and Tim Firth on drums.

STOP PRESS! Tim Firth has injured his arm, so it's another duet!

Spike Mason on sax, Matt McMahon on piano.  Two great musicians with a long history of playing together and a deep love of improvised music.  Matt and Spike can both draw from a huge catalogue of standards and each has a long list of original compositions.  It is an important day for me, and I know it will be a perfect night of music.

John and Brendan, both steeped in the jazz tradition, great improvisers who have worked together for years, will perform this very rare duet show.  2 sets of Jazz and Bebop compositions, mixed with Standards from the Great American Songbook.

PJ Wolf finds bios either make him sound cooler than he is, or alternatively; in trying to achieve exactly that end, far less cool than he'd like people to imagine him. That being said…

Drawing on an eclectic range of musical influences from Erik Satie to Bob Dylan, PJ Wolf explores the beautiful, the terrible and the profound through his unique alt-pop sound.

In 2008 PJ was a winner of the triple J unearthed Top Song competition. His winning track was described on the Unearthed website as:

“… indie pop… while still being serious. And Seriously Good. The quirky instrumentation and lush harmonies make PJ's winning track "Skin And Bone" a standout winner”

This win came after a number of his demo’s were picked up and played on the station. Just prior to receiving the Triple J honour PJ was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Young Australians to help produce his current EP Arcadia Street, an collection of pop songs about death.

For years we've loved his last album, Storms Dreams and Flying Machines, and the new Arcadia Street is beautiful.

i've seen them playing around the hyde park fountain in the wee hours, busking on king street in the mornings, and opening a music festival.  They are Charlotte Craib (vocals) and John Maddox (Acoustic Bass, Kazoo, Percussion) - a very modern interpretation of depression instrumentation.  Maddox is a long-time member of Nadya's 101 Candles Orchestra, and is a legend on the Jazz / world music scene; Charlotte brings amazingly clever insights into standards from Ella Fitzgerald to Horace Silver and original songs, not always finished.

Barney Wakeford

Long-time collaborator of senor Maddox and one of the people responsible for all of the music we present, Barney presents original compositions (never the same way twice) and the songs of Vince Jones and Chet Baker

The musical lives of pianist Alister Spence and reedsman Paul Cutlan regularly cross in groups like the Australian Art Orchestra and Steve Morley's Squall. They have recorded together as a duo for the ABC and performed in Canberra and Sydney. Tonight they will combine their love of tradition with natural curiosity and playfulness as they explore a widely varying repertoire of originals and standards.

In the second set they welcome the wonderful vocalist Susan Gai Dowling for renditions of rare and beautiful songs.

Two men who have taught and inspired generations of Sydney jazz musicians. Absolute legends, i'm not even going to say more than that.

The Gumnut Memorial Band:

Barney Wakeford and Johnny Maddox

Two intuitive improvisers who have been playing together for a decade.  Piano, double bass, kazoo, and the unexpected.