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, Ascona 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 eleven 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 Freedman Fellowship, 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
AWARDS :
2010 US Department of State Federal Award, Tour of Algeria
1999 Finalist Australian National Jazz Awards
1995 Finalist Tremplin Jazz Val d’Oise
1989 Best Jazz Composition, Australian Jazz Action Society
1989 Jack Chrotowsky Prize for Jazz Piano
1979 Finalist, Roger Woodward Classical Piano Scholarship
SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY :
Chris Cody Octet: Astrolabe, CCM
Chris Cody, Not My Lover, Wave Music
Jon Handelsman, Spirit House
– Bremner Duthrie: Kabarett 33 (pianist, arranger, producer)
– Paddy Sherlock, Electric Chop Shop (pianist, arranger)
– Tuesday Warren Luminescence Quartet: One Drop of Water
– Tuesday Warren Luminescence Quartet: Si Seulement
– Jocelyn Moen, La Rouge Qui Bouge, (pianist, arranger, producer),(Roadsign)
– Wendy Lee Taylor, Compilation, Jewel, (Smoove Records, Japan)
– Chris Cody Coalition, Conscript (CHC001, Nocturne, France)
– Wendy Taylor: Lets Do It , pianist, arranger (Crystal CDM 16)
– Freyja: This Girl (pianist, arranger, producer), FR626
– Chris Cody Coalition with Glenn Ferris: Midnight Tide (Cristal/Harmonia Mundi)
– On The Corner: Four (Amrap)
– Chris Cody Coalition: Music for Don Juan (STC 501)
– Elisabeth Green, Biodiversity, (UWS BD02)
– Chris Cody Coalition: Oasis (Naxos 86018-2)
(APRA nomination for best jazz album 1998)
– The Many Faces of Naxos Jazz (Naxos 86040)
– Chris Cody Coalition (Quoi de Neuf Docteur 032)
– Skander Guetari : Alwan (Bynzart, SG06131928)
– Gervais Koffe: The African Diaspora (Forest)
– Caroline Lynn: The Shaman’s Kiss (Newmarket 3113.2)
– Paddy Sherlock and the Jump Jive Five: The Louis Jordan Show
– Paddy Sherlock and the Swingin Lovers
– Jeff Hoffman: Good Thing (MDM 101)
– Beigel Daisy Toasts (Virgin France)
– Stefan Hugye: Sympathisers (Xopf 020)
Concerts
with Carla Bruni, Michel Jonasz, Tina Arena, Roy Hargrove, Antonio Hart, Rick Margitza, Rhoda Scott, Herb Geller, Glenn Ferris, Stephano di Battista, Yves Robert, Sonny Murray, Jason Marsalis, Marcel Azzola, Enrico Macias, Stéphane Belmondo, James Morrison, Barry Altschul, Frank Lacy, Annie Whitehead, Ari Brown, Graham Haynes, Sarah Lazarus, Steve Lehman, Dave O’Higgins, Joe Lee Wilson, Daniel Yvinec, François Théberge, Paris Jazz Orchestra, Lisa Simone, Caneiro Edmundo, Alfredo Rodriguez, Brice Wassy, Rasul Siddik, Wayne Dockery, George Brown, Fabio Morgera, Sangoma Everett, Peter Gritz, Prakash Sharwal, Amar Sundy, Carl Schlosser, Larry Gillespie, Jean-Loup Lognon, Jean-Jacques Avenel, Vic Pitts, Gordon Brisker, Don Burrows, Sandy Evans, Adrian Mears, Tim Hopkins, Miroslav Bukovsky, James Greening, Phil Slater, Julien Wilson etc.
Selected Festivals
Festivals of London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Marciac, Derry, Dars Es Salaam, Festival de Francophonie, Stockholm, Europe Youth Festival, Antwerp,, Marseille, Fête de la Fraternité, Les Rendez-Vous de L’Erdre, Ascona, Nantes, Le Havre, Quartiers d’Ete, Musiques à Bagatelle, Jazz Balade, L’Art 2000 Paris, Xopf New Music Basle, St. Tropez, Mégeves, Viasse, Man Ray Festival, Deauville, Martin Luther King, UNESCO Charlie Parker, Marcoussis, St. Cergues, St. Gilles Croix de Vie, Pau, New Music Festival Paris, Arts et Mouvants, France, Sydney Festival, Wangaratta, Newcastle, Manly, South American Music Festival of Sydney, Australian Music Festival, Australian Music Convention, Bach and Beyond, Australian International Music Show, etc.
MFO was formed late in 2005 by band-leader and composer Mace Francis to experiment with composition, in the style of the great modern big bands lead by Bob Brookmeyer, Thad Jones, Bill Holman and Maria Schneider. The result has been the coming together of 14 of Perth’s finest emerging young musician’s and composers to create exciting new music for big band.
Over the last 6 years MFO has developed an individual and original sound through regular performances, tours and special projects commissioning of over 40 new works from Australian and International composers.
Highlights for the band so far have been; 4 national tours (2006, 2008, 2010 & 2011), performances with international jazz artists, Jim Pugh (USA), Jon Gordon (NY), John Hollenbeck (Berlin), Theo Bleckmann (NY) and Satoko Fujii (Japan), 6 CD recordings and being invited to be part of the American ArtistShare website for the Chinese Whispers collaborative composition project.
In 2009 MFO released their fifth recording, titled Neverever… Well, Maybe Someday launched at the Perth Jazz Society.
“These layered compositions and scoring convey colour, atmosphere and movement far more effectively and with greater interest than the stock standard arrangements often heard from big bands. Francis, understandably, has attracted international interest with his outstanding orchestra and compelling compositions.”
John McBeath – The Weekend Australian Newspaper
Mike Nock’s career has spanned a broad range of contemporary musical styles and he is widely recognised as an important voice in Australian modern music.
Based in Sydney since 1986, he previously spent 25 years in the USA, working with many of the world’s top jazz artists.
His compositions include orchestral music, woodwind / percussion ensembles, electronic / choral works etc., and have been recorded and performed by a range of jazz & non-jazz performers.
Attracting many awards and honours over his lengthy career in 2014 he was awarded the Don Banks Music Award, the most valuable individual music award in Australia.
In 2009 he was inducted into the Bell Awards Australian Jazz Hall of Fame and in 2003 presented with the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM).
In 2010 a biography of Mike’s life and career was published: Serious Fun: The Life and Music of Mike Nock
. (Norman Meehan, Victoria University Press) As music director of Naxos Jazz from 1996 to 2002 he oversaw the production of more than 60 internationally released CDs.
“Nock’s ringing iconoclasm pervades all his music, taps a deep well of melody that transcends jazz and informs and ignites his every encounter.” - Fred Bouchard, Downbeat (USA)
Barney is a special piano player with that certain heart and touch, so he has great possibilities.
He’s a genuine musician, not just a skilled artist. There’s a certain touch that I’m talking about.
It’s hard to explain, but he has that
-BILLY HARPER
Pianist, keyboardist, composer and arranger Barney McAll moved to New York City in 1997 after being invited to join the Gary Bartz Quartet . He continues to tour internationally with Bartz as well as with Fred Wesley and The JB’s, Josh Roseman, The Groove Collective and recently vocalists Daniel Merriweather and Sia Furler.
Barney leads numerous ensembles including; Sylent Running and M.O.D.A.S and his new ensemble Graft which features 16 piece Invenio Choir, two pianos , Vibraphone and laptop.
Barney has scored some award winning films including ;
Pushing The Elephant (PBS) Liberia: An Uncivil War (DISCOVERY/ NY TIMES) Motherland Afghanistan (PBS)
We All Fall Down: The American Mortgage Crisis (PBS)
He was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 and also awarded the prestigious fellowship from the Australian Council for the Arts for 2007-2008 . He has performed or toured with ; Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dewey Redman, Maceo Parker, Doug Devries, Vince Jones, Kenny Garrett, Vernel Fornier, Badal Roy, Stefon Harris, Jimmy Cobb, Eddie Henderson, Gary Costello, Ben Monder, Mark Turner, Peter Apfelbaum, Bernie Worrell, Alan Browne, Billy Harper, Jim Black, Steve Turre and Roy Ayers.
COMPOSING AND ARRANGING
-Gospel Choir piece “Vanishing Point” collaboration with video artist Janet Biggs for Claire Oliver Gallery NYC
-New compostions for Guitar, Vibraphone and Piano and Voice premiered at The Stone NYC June 2008
-Sturgio Leone for Three Trombones and piano / Josh Roseman’s Water Surgeons
-New Works for Tabla, Cello and Kaval “Motherland Afghanistan”
-Various arrangements for The CNR Gospel Choir
-Overture for the Opera; ‘Two Lives In Flux and Vice Versa’ with Slave Pianos Collective
-Vincent Herring’s “Lady Liberty Big Band” performance Carnegie Hall
Featuring; Seamus Blake, Tom Harrell, Richie Goods, Steve Turre, Greg Hutcherson, Pamela Luss
-Renee Geyer and Octet Melbourne International Festival
-Slave Piano Collaboration with artists Danius Kesminas and Michael Stevenson for Lombard Freid Gallery Soho New York
Here are some excerpts from a great review on of The
Necks’ double album “Mosquito/See Through”:
_”here’s some more writing on the wall for short attention span/instant
gratification culture, as the Time Lords from Oz touch down with an even
more uncompromising release. This double CD features two supra-minimalist, breathtakingly audacious, hour-long sound and texture nano explorations, each of them hugely compelling and therapeutic listening…it’s like some giant MRI scanner has sliced a nanosecond of time and space and placed it under a molecular microscope for The Necks to investigate and fine
tune…It’s awesome, if awesome can be applied to something so miniature and
so finely calibrated…Totally immersive and astonishing music which will take you out of yourself, and bring you back one or two hours later
refreshed and re-energised.”_
Matt McMahon is a pianist/keyboardist /composer based in Australia. He leads his own groups and co-leads “Band of Five Names” with Phil Slater and Simon Barker. Matt won the national Jazz award in 1999, and the Freedman Jazz Fellowship for 2005. He has played/recorded with Dale Barlow, Greg Osby, Phil Slater, Joe Tawadros, Katie Noonan, Vince Jones, Bobby Previte, Dave Panichi, Steve Hunter, Jazzfolk, Guy Strazz etc, and played concerts and festivals throughout Australia and Asia.
Matt will be releasing his first solo album in 2015. He will also be presenting Part II of the Paths & Streams project, for which he was awarded the Freedman Jazz Fellowship.
H released his second album, Ellipsis, with his trio – Jonathan Brown on the bass and Simon Barker on the drums, playing mostly his pieces. The Sydney Morning Herald said “after about 15 years on the scenehe released his first solo album, “Paths and Streams”, .It was one of the half-dozen best releases of 2006. Now “Ellipsis, the first release by his long term trio finally emerges and it is stunning… the music is as good as any current piano-trio jazz.” John Shand
