$20.00 – $30.00

Based in Glasgow, Raymond MacDonald is a saxophonist, composer, and academic whose work explores the boundaries and ambiguities between what is conventionally seen as improvisation and composition. With a recorded output of over 60 releases on international labels, MacDonald has toured and broadcast worldwide. In 2010, his ambitious International Big Band released Buddy, named among the top CDs of the year by Wire Magazine, Jazzwise, and All About Jazz.

His new work Beyond Me, commissioned and performed by the award-winning Monash Art Ensemble (MAE), tears down the myth of individuality and reimagines composition as collective action. Blurring the lines between composer, performer, and conductor, the piece is built from fragments of graphic scores, notations, loose structures, and is brought to life through the Ensemble’s dynamic rehearsal process and improvisational sensibility.

The result is a bold, playful work that fuses spontaneous creativity with intentional design. Beyond Me is accessible, anarchic, and radically human. A celebration of what’s possible when creative voices collide and communities co-create. It’s music as conversation, not command. Authorship becomes shared. Meaning becomes mutual.

“One of the best large improvising ensembles in the world” – BBC Jazz

Visit https://www.raymondmacdonald.co.uk/

Presented by the Melbourne Jazz Co-operative, with funding assistance from Creative Australia and Music Australia.

$20.00 – $30.00

Acclaimed expatriate Turkish musician Onur Puza is a Melbourne-based guitarist and composer who has been collaborating with the outstanding and highly experienced rhythm team of bassist Philip Rex and drummer Felix Bloxsom for over two years. This performance marks the first time that outstanding trumpeter Mat Jordell joins the group, adding a fresh dynamic to Onur’s distinctive and contemporary compositions (several of which are groove-based tunes). The band will also debut some brand-new tunes in preparation for the forthcoming recording of their debut album.

Visit www.onurpuza.com

Presented by the Melbourne Jazz Co-operative, with funding assistance from Creative Australia and Music Australia.