PAUL GRABOWSKY SEXTET
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Friday, November 8
Illawarra Performing Arts Centre
Tickets: 42245999
Finding the right people to bring his musical babies to life is crucial to Paul Grabowsky.
The acclaimed Australian jazz musician says the group he has put together to play his latest collection of tunes, from the upcoming album The Bitter Suite, is one of the best he has ever played with – quite a compliment when you consider he has worked with some of the country’s most eminent musicians, including Paul Kelly and Katie Noonan.
‘‘In a band I like to think of it as a movie, where you’ve got a script and you cast it. Finding the right cast is important to have the music be what it is supposed to be,’’ he says.
Jazz music in particular brings with it a special set of challenges, so artists need to be at their peak.
Though Grabowsky carefully crafts the foundation of his tunes, drawing on influences as disparate as reggae and film noir, he says improvisation is at the heart of the genre, meaning performers need to be talented enough to make their musical experiments work.
‘‘When you’re playing on this level there’s a great deal of applied intelligence and I think we’re beyond the point now where things just don’t work,’’ Grabowsky says.
‘‘We’ve got a handle on what we’re doing and the likelihood of something falling apart is very low.’’
Grabowsky will tinkle away on the piano for his upcoming performance, joined by Jamie Oehlers on the tenor saxophone, Andrew Robson on the alto saxophone, James Greening on the trombone, Cameron Undy on bass and Simon Baker on the drums.
Though he often works solo and in different group configurations, Grabowsky says he particularly enjoys composing and performing in the sextet.
‘‘I’ve always loved that kind of format because it allowed me as a composer to do more interesting compositions, there’s a great degree of variety.’’
‘‘Playing jazz music is all about interacting with people.’’
But that’s not to say all his proudest moments come from playing in a group of six. On his long and rather impressive resume are stints as artistic director of the Queensland Music Festival and Adelaide Music Festival, contributions to the film scores for movies such as The Eye of the Storm and The Jungle Book 2, wins at ARIA and Helpmann and the creation of the Hush series of CDs that help the healing environment at the Melbourne Children’s Hospital.
He also founded, and is the artistic director of, the Australian Art Orchestra, which has allowed him to collaborate with indigenous performers across the country. One of his projects is with ‘‘traditional song men’’ from Arnhem Land.
The masterclass is on at 3.30pm, prior to the sextet’s show, and is $10 or free for performance ticket holders. Bookings are essential through IPAC.