A Jazz Hour in Conversation

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.

 Chris McNulty has created a significant body of work as a performer, composer, recording artist and educator, and has produced or co-produced all of her recordings, including her latest album Soul Journey, her 8th album and her first release recorded in Australia featuring Australian, American and expatriate European jazz musicians. 

Paul Derricott is a Sydney-based drummer/composer/bandleader dedicated to exploring and creating improvised thematic music with his band COAST.

Novak Manojlovic is the Artistic Director of the Sydney Improvised Music Association, and on this episode, he outlines his plans and vision for the 2026 programme.

A jazz-orientated recording artist and singer/song-writer, Bonnie J  Jensen possesses an uplifting repertoire and a voice that segues effortlessly from soulful interpretations of classy jazz standards and poetic originals through adventurous arrangements of contemporary songs.

Playing in a variety of line-ups that showcase the pride of Australian jazz talent, whether out front with her Quintet or at the piano solo or with bass, Bonnie’s live performances display her warmth and a sheer love of good music. But she also has a passion for creating wonderful recordings and she already has several. 

But it’s her latest recordings with the Dan Barnett Big Band that we’ll be talking about when she joins me as my special studio guest on this edition of A Jazz Hour in Conversation.

Matthew Thomson is an award-winning pianist, composer and educator based in Sydney, Australia. 

Having won the prestigious National Jazz Awards in 2021, Matthew continues to build a profile as one of Australia’s prominent Jazz pianists.

 In 2016, Matthew completed his Bachelor's degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with 1st Class Honours, and soon afterwards was granted a scholarship to complete his Master's of Music at the New England Conservatory in Boston, studying under the American jazz pianist, composer and educator Jason Moran.

During his time in America, Matthew performed alongside musical luminaries including Dave Holland, Miguel Zenon, Freddy Cole and  Dave Douglas.

In 2023, Thomson released his own album with co-leader drummer Alex Hirlian under the band name “Tourismo” on ABC Jazz.

Dr. Sandy Evans is an Australian jazz composer, saxophonist, and bandleader with a career spanning four decades.

Recognition of her work[3] has included receiving an Order of Australia Medal in 2010 for services to music,  and in  2014 she was  awarded a PhD from Macquarie University and the Vic Chancellors Commendation for Academic Excellence, for her thesis on practice-based research into Carnatic Jazz Intercultural music.

In the same year she  also received a Churchill Fellowship to visit India,and in 2019  she was inducted into Australian Jazz Bell Awards,  Hall of Fame.

As a performer, she is a member of the bands Mara!, The catholics, the Australian Art Orchestra, Ten Part Invention,[14] and austraLYSIS, among many other ensembles, and she has performed on more than thirty albums.

She leads the Sandy Evans Trio (with Brett Hirst (double bass) and Toby Hall (drums) who have just released their new album The Running Tide.

An interview with the pianist Simon Tedeschi.

Trumpeter Lee McIver has travelled the world performing, composing and producing. He worked as a freelance trumpet player for many years touring and recording with many of Australia’s leading pop, jazz and world music artists but has always had a strong focus on performing and producing art music of an improvised nature,

 He has worked as a composer for theatre, dance, multi-disciplined arts, television and film,  and pure music ensembles. 

His latest album, Tokyo Dawn, Is an international horn of mystery. A multi-talented free spirit, genre-jumping love child of jazz and cool electro, making music for all times.