Three-time Grammy-winning jazz superstar Cécile McLorin Salvant (USA) headlines SIMA’s Sydney Int’l Women’s Jazz Festival! Hear the future of jazz across 18 ear-opening concerts 25 October – 5 November, 2023 Visit sima.org.au/siwjf/ For 12 years, SIMA’s Sydney Int’l Women’s Jazz Festival has championed groundbreaking artistic innovation, diversity and leading women in jazz. The Headliner Cécile McLorin Salvant, a three-time Grammy winner and the nonpareil master of jazz singing, takes her artform to new heights. In the pin-drop atmosphere of the City Recital Hall on Tuesday October 31, s ..read more

The prestigious 2023 Freedman Jazz Fellowship, along with its esteemed $21,000 prize, was awarded to Sydney-based multi-instrumentalist, clarinet-specialist, and composer Phillippa Murphy-Haste in a thrilling playoff at Pier 2/3, ACO on Saturday, September 2nd. This award marks a significant milestone in her promising career, recognizing her exceptional talent and innovative approach to jazz. The competition featured three outstanding finalists, Theo Carbo, Sam Gill, and Phillippa Murphy-Haste, who each delivered distinctive and creative performances that left the audience in awe ..read more

The prestigious 2023 Freedman Jazz Fellowship, along with its esteemed $21,000 prize, was awarded to Sydney-based multi-instrumentalist, clarinet-specialist, and composer Phillippa Murphy-Haste in a thrilling playoff at Pier 2/3, ACO on Saturday, September 2nd. This award marks a significant milestone in her promising career, recognizing her exceptional talent and innovative approach to jazz. The competition featured three outstanding finalists, Theo Carbo, Sam Gill, and Phillippa Murphy-Haste, who each delivered distinctive and creative performances that left the audience in awe ..read more

Wominjeka/Welcome Listening. A key skill for all jazz musicians is to be able to listen. Taking in sounds, melodic shapes, harmonic colours, rhythmic patterns, nuance and expression. Listening to the offerings given up by fellow musicians, processing their intent and invitation, in order to respond in kind, contributing to the development of the music, conversation, dialogue. Of course, a magazine about music will mention listening, but there are some particular moments that resonate for me in this edition. For instance, Hayley Egan shares a powerful and personal moment of listening to the ..read more

This article was first published in Dingo Issue 2, October 2021. Toshi Clinch Co-Founder & Managing Director of Jazz Melbourne Directing a big band can be an intimidating task for many and is potentially hard to navigate due to the ability of the ensemble or personal musical background. However, many musical characteristics cross genre and style, and can give us an advantage when rehearsing a large jazz ensemble. Out of all the characteristics, tone plays a pivotal role in shaping a band, where it can set the foundation for all other components. But what is tone? What is a favourable ton ..read more

This Article was first published in Dingo Issue 2, October 2021. Toshi Clinch Co-Founder & Managing Director of Jazz Melbourne Directing a big band can be an intimidating task for many and is potentially hard to navigate due to the ability of the ensemble or personal musical background. However, many musical characteristics cross genre and style, and can give us an advantage when rehearsing a large jazz ensemble. Out of all the characteristics, tone plays a pivotal role in shaping a band, where it can set the foundation for all other components. But what is tone? What is a favourable t ..read more

One of Australia’s much loved regional music events, the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues has been presenting an annual Festival since 1990 and after more than 30 years, the volunteer Board of the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz Inc has taken the difficult decision to wind up its operations after presenting a final reduced event in November. Whilst 2022 lead the Festival to return a positive balance sheet, this decision is seen as prudent and fiscally responsible on the basis of continuing financial constraints, and a shifting and uncertain outlook for music festivals generally across Au ..read more

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Grammy-nominated Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana and her Quartet will open SIMA’s 2022 Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival on October 27th at the Seymour Centre. WORDS: Jacob Stone
 Melissa Aldana is a New York-based, third generation saxophonist from Santiago, Chile whose father Marcos and grandfather Enrique ‘Kiko’ Aldana were both masters of the instrument. Aldana’s evocative tone and compositional talent as a recording artist for Blue Note Records mark her out as a must-see artist on this year’s Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival bill. The thirty-three-year-old has esta ..read more

SIMA’s Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival presents the greatest female-led music from home and abroad! Words Jacob Stone For over thirty years SIMA has staged fresh, exciting jazz concerts throughout NSW, but its influence extends beyond the shows to the community of players populating its stages. More than just a non-profit arts organisation, SIMA has become a vibrant cultural hub, moving with the shifting cast and evolving style of Sydney’s jazz community. They’ve supported players like saxophonist Matt Keegan, Middle Eastern string player Hamed Sadeghi, and Freedman Fellow ..read more