jazz

A small seaside town in Tunisia in the 1970s. A boy walks along a deserted shoreline picking up the odds and ends he finds lying around: A broken fishing net; a few discarded sardine cans; spokes from an old bicycle. His heart and mind are full of music and he wants to play. It's as much as his father can do to put food on the table for Dhafer and his seven brothers and sisters. There certainly isn't spare money for music lessons, let alone for an instrument. So Dhafer makes his own oud, the traditional middle-Eastern lute, using whatever he can find.

Lucky Elephant are united in a desire to provide warm, inviting, melodic, challenging, fresh music. The 4 dashing young blades armed only with a collection of high maintenance, but hugely loveable old synths, tape delays, Wurlitzers, harmoniums, drums, ukuleles and guitars stride proudly out to battle – confident that the truth will out, and that once again music can provide inspiration and comfort.

The music of Kooii is unique, resting readily in a morphing Australian way of life. Their songs click with many, and the music is held dearly. Kooii breathe, roll and transform. They are a seven-piece collective with a ‘rootsy-tribal-groove’ that is both urban and earthy. Reggae, Jazz and Latin are realised in the sound. The group started some two and a half years ago as a duo of trumpeter Peter Hunt and percussionist Anthony Forrest (who both also play guitar). It has since grown to its present form.

Bohjass are a high energy, experimental free jazz outfit at the forefront of the Melbourne Music Improvisation Music scene. Led by saxophonist Tim Pledger