The short list for the 2007 MCA/Freedman Jazz Fellowship have been announced.
The following details have been provided by the Music Council of Australia and Freedman Foundation.
The finalists are:
KRISTIN BERADI (voice, Sydney)
In 2006 Kristin won the Shure Montreux Jazz International Voice Competition held at the 40th Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and has been involved in many professional productions, including “Women in Voice 13” (as a featured soloist alongside pop legend Chrissy Amphlett). She has performed extensively at jazz festivals and jazz clubs throughout Australia and overseas.
As a recording artist Kristin has worked in New York with American jazz piano legend Kenny Werner and trombonist Jim Pugh, and in Australia with James Sherlock, Mike Nock, James Muller, Kate Miller-Heidke, and groups The West End Composers Collective and pty ltd. Kristin lectures in jazz voice at the Australian National University in Canberra and has held the position of guest lecturer in jazz studies at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Mackay for the past three years.
MARC HANNAFORD (piano, Melbourne)
Marc began performing professionally in 2001 and has since amassed an impressive list of performance, composition and education credentials. In 2006 he was awarded the 2nd prize at the National Jazz Awards in Wangaratta and his composition ‘Out and Out’ was nominated as a semi-finalist in the jazz category of the 2006 International Song Contest. He regularly composes for Melbourne’s premier large ensemble devoted to original music, The Bennett’s Lane Big Band. Marc has performed with such well-known musicians as saxophonists Dale Barlow, Jamie Oehlers and Julien Wilson, trumpeters Miroslav Bukovsky, Scott Tinkler and Eugene Ball. He has studied in New York with pianists Jason Moran and Andy Milne and saxophonist Greg Osby.
MATT KEEGAN (tenor saxophone, Sydney)
Between 1998 and 2003 Matt was a member of the Los Angeles based band Pseudopod (Interscope Records). He was awarded an artist’s visa and toured throughout the USA performing and recording. Matt also worked with many other US groups including Maroon 5, O.A.R, and Marc Broussard. In 2000 Matt studied composition at the Malmoe Music School in Sweden performing with local bands in Sweden and Denmark. He has also performed in Asia and Europe and had two successful tours across Australia.
He has performed, recorded and toured with local groups, including Jackie Orszaczky, Declan Kelly, Chris Cody, The Beautiful Girls, and Ends & Means. Matt Keegan is currently one of the artistic directors of the Jazzgroove Association.
CARL MACKEY (tenor saxophone, Perth)
Carl took up the saxophone at age 14 and by 15 he was playing regularly around Perth including a stint with the state jazz orchestra, WAYJO. He and his band, the Carl Mackey Quintet have won numerous awards including the 2004 Perth Jazz Society’s Most Outstanding Jazz Group. Among others, Carl has performed with James Morrison, Don Burrows and Barney McAll and has jammed with Ellis Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, The Waifs, Thirsty Merc, Beck and The Beastie Boys.
Between 1993 and 2000 he continued to perform and study in both New York and London whilst touring to India, Cambodia and the USA (Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Orleans). He has supported Tom Jones, Harry Connick Jr, Ray Charles, James Brown and Kiri Te Kanawa to name a few. As a member of Speedball and Salamander he performed at the Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival in Italy in 2006. Carl tours regularly and extensively throughout Australia.
The winner of the Jazz Fellowship will be announced following a public concert, Freedman Jazz, to be performed in The Studio of the Sydney Opera House at 7.30pm on Monday 18 June, featuring the four finalists and their bands.
The judges for 2007 are three of Australia’s most respected jazz musicians; Mark Isaacs, Kerrie Biddell and James Greening.
The prize money for the Fellowship, now in its seventh year, is $20,000. The award comprises $15,000 cash, promotional materials up to $5,000, and consultations to assist with non-musical aspects of career-building, as well as active support from Music Council Australia personnel during the Fellowship period.
Photo: Matt Keegan
