Pianist Tim Stevens visited the Bent Notes studio to chat about two new album releases that he has curated from recordings he made of the Browne-Haywood-Stevens trio in 1999/2000 when they were coming to the close of a long-standing residency on the stage at The Bennett’s Lane Jazz Club.   Tim used his DAT recorder and a single microphone on stage to record 25 gigs and has recently listened to each of them and selected a number of the pieces to feature on these two new digital albums – Enchanted Ground vol. 1: Standards, and Enchanted Ground vol. 2: Originals. The albums also feature some of Allan Browne’s unique “talks” to the audience.

Tim recalls some of his early piano learnings and teachers, his move from Classical to Jazz piano, and the way the trio worked so well together as a single entity to produce their music.

Tim found the name for the albums in a poem from Emily Dickinson, a favourist of Allan Browne – and read the poem in memory of Allan.

Exhilaration is the Breeze

Returns us not, but after time

Checkout the details of the two new albums on Tim’s Bandcamp page.

Tim Stevens was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday May 3, 2026

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Trombone player and leader of the Mosaic Jazz Ensemble Lee Orszaczky spoke about the stories and experiences that encouraged his taking up Jazz and a sense of being ‘thrown’ into the school Jazz Orchestra in Year 7.  The school Jazz Orchestra was led by Pianist David Allen (now touring with Tones and I) for which Lee can appreciate the enormous amount of practical experience this band gave him. Lee says that the biggest learning experience he has recieved is to trust in your elders and listen to every word they say.   

Lee recalls enjoying a gig where he met Herbie Hancock, and the many moments of pure joy putting together this 2nd album from Mosaic – Rinse and Repeat

Mosaic are touring to launch the album:

May 28, 2026 – Album Launch Tour commencement – Lazybones Lounge – Marrickville NSW

May 23, 2026 – Smiths Alternative – Canberra ACT

May 25, 2026 – The Jazzlab – Brunswick VIC

July 3, 2026 – Launch Tour Finale – Church Street Studios Camperdown NSW

Lee Orszaczky was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday May 17, 2026

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Huich Goh and Paul Whitword from Sahul Sakti, spoke about their ensemble’s music which integrates Martial Arts with Music, and Merinda Dias-Jayasinha spoke about her multi-disciplined career to date, when they were guests of Bent Notes. 

Huich and Paul are artists performing, in their ensemble Sahul Sakti, in the Half Bent Music Festival occurring over the last weekend in May, 2026 in Merribek – Merinda is both performing and a member of the organising committee, who spoke about the varied performances scheduled across the weekend – presented by Small Space Music.

Hear Huich describe the manner in which Martial Arts and music work together, and how Merinda sees the great outcomes from collaborations between artists who may not have worked together before.

Huich Goh, Paul Whitword and Merinda Dias-Jayasinha were guests of Bent Notes on Sunday May 10, 2026

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Chris McNulty visited the Bent Notes studio and chatted about the skill of singing with excellent diction, discussed whether lived experience is the only path to imparting the emotion and meaning of a song to the audience, and described some of the Journey of her latest project – Soul Journey. 

As an independant artist Chris has composed and arranged music, written lyrics, recorded with musicians locally and remotely from overseas, and arranged the catering for a face to face launch party in Ballarat!

Hear what Chris had to say in this podcast from Bent Notes on JOY 94.9.

Checkout the album on Chris’ website

Chris McNulty was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday April 19, 2026

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What does a Publicist and International Music Consultant do?

Find out in this Podcast from JOY 94.9 where Jenny Sparks visited the Bent Notes studio to chat about her life as a Publicist and International Music Consultant in the music and entertainment industry.

Jenny was a vocalist, growing up in regional Victoria in a musical family, before her career steered her to managing and mentoring commercial artists across a range of music genres – including Jazz.

Hear Jenny chat about her working for vocalist Tina May in England and Aussie pianist John Foreman in America, with so many great memories of people and events over the years.

Jenny Sparks was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday March 29, 2026

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Jazz singer, cabaret artiste & gender transcendent diva Mama Alto, visited the Bent Notes studio and spoke about using Strength in Softness and Power in Vulnerability in her songs and other presentations; and her love of the music of Billie Holiday – one of Mama’s Idols of song who had a great ability to use Strength in Softness and Power in Vulnerabilty.  Mama notes that the power of subtlety, and subtle choices are such a core element of a Jazz Singer’s art.

Hear Mama also chat about Salted Caramels!

Mama first perfomed her Billie Holiday songbook in 2015, on the 100th anniversary of Billie’s birth, and has chosen to perform that show again in the David Li Sound Gallery at the Monash University Big Jazz Day Out on Saturday March 21, 2026 – remembering Billie after 110 years.

Hear what Mama had to say in this podcast from Bent Notes on JOY 94.9.

Mama Alto was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday March 15, 2026

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Alma Zygier was a Music Video Star before she was born – and continues to make fabulous music.

Hear Alma chat about that the pre-birth creativity; her music and getting into a song and singing with feeling so that the audience feels the emotion of the story.

Alma is performing with her band on the Bandwagon at the Monash University Big Jazz Day Out on Saturday March 21, 2026.

Alma Zygier was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday March 15, 2026

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The post Alma Zygier – Music from Ultrasound to Bandwagon appeared first on Bent Notes.

Freya Schack-Arnott spoke about her music playing the cello and the Nyckelharpa, and the music of The Cloudmaker ensemble.  Their music celebrates goddesses from each of the five band members cultures, sharing thier folkloric stories and interweaving their story strands in their new music. The groups genesis occurred when Te Kahureremoa Taumata, Sunny Kim and Aviva Endean met on a residency at The Banff Centre in Canada in 2019.

The Cloudmaker consists of Aviva Endean (bass clarinet, harmonic flutes and electronics), Te Kahureremoa Taumata (voice/Taonga Pūoro – Māori singing treasures), Freya Schack-Arnott (cello/nyckelharpa – Nordic fiddle), Maria Moles (drums) and Sunny Kim (voice).

The Cloudmaker relased their self-titled album in 2025.

The Cloumaker will be performing in the David Li Sound Gallery at the Monash University Big Jazz Day Out on Saturday March 21, 2026.

Freya Schack-Arnott was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday March 8, 2026

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Monique DiMattina spoke about the learnings that take place on the bandstand and the joy of watching younger musicians grow in their skills and confidence on the bandstand as they perfom.

Monique also chatted about performing at this year’s Big Jazz Day Out at Monash University on Saturday March 21, 2026, where she will be performing with guitarist and vocalist Matt Kirsch in the Alexander Theatre Foyer Bar enhancing the party atmosphere of the venue during the day, with their choice of music coming from the New Orleans songbook.

Monique also confirmed the upcoming Theatrical production of Stella (also at the Alexander Theatre) – a musical Monique has composed about Australian author Miles Franklin.   Monique will return to Bent Notes with more on Stella.

Catch all the details and choose the acts you are going to enjoy at the Monash University Big Jazz Day Out.

Monique DiMattina was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday March 8, 2026

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Chelsea Wilson, Senior Producer, Contemporary Music at Monash University Performing Arts, spoke with David Moyle on Bent Notes about Gender Inclusivity in Jazz and Australian Music; and producing this year’s Big Jazz Day Out at the Clayton campus of Monash University.

Hear Chelsea’s perspective on progress being made with Inclusivity in the music industry in this Podcast from JOY 94.9.

Chelsea also chats about the roster of artists at the Big Jazz Day Out, performing in Jazz and Jazz-adjacent stylings across five stages from 2pm on Saturday March 21, 2026 at the Monash University Performings Arts centre at the Clayton Campus.  More than 100 musicians will be performing including Vince Jones, Mama Alto, Yunior Terry, Alma Zygier, Aaron Choulai. Mordialloc Jazz Orchestra, Mildlife and more!

Checkout all the details at the Monash Uni website.

Chelsea WIlson was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday February 22, 2026

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