The Art and Beauty of Deep Listening at The Central Club Hotel

These three highly respected Melbourne-based jazz musicians have been developing this project since 2008, creating a folio of small-ensemble compositions grounded in a process described as ‘deep listening’.

This is an Aboriginal concept that describes a deep contemplative process of listening to one another in reciprocal relationships. In the context of musical creation, it allows the musician to respond to his or her immediate environment and other artistic input without distraction.

It is a concept that Steve, Ron and Michael have investigated through collaborations with Indigenous musicians and visual artists, both in Australia and internationally.

There is a natural synergy between this aspect of Indigenous culture and Steve and Michael’s backgrounds as jazz improvisers. This concept has been performed at many major festivals since 2014. They include; Castlemaine State Festival, Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues, Shearwater Festival and White Night (closing ceremony).

Featuring:

Steve Sedergreen

A talented and highly charismatic jazz pianist and teacher/author, Steve Sedergreen has made a vital and indelible imprint on the Australian jazz scene over the past 25 years. He possesses an exceptional improvisational sensibility that is true to the spirit of jazz.

Steve has worked as a professional musician since his teenage years, performing with both Australian and internationally renowned artists as well as leading his own bands. He formed Mistaken Identity in 1985 and has led it through various incarnations and five recordings, with performances over the years at festivals including the Fringe Festival and the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. He was also director and curator of Dizzy’s Jazz Club between 1999 and 2006.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is a soulful and powerful drummer who can adapt to any musical situation and play what it demands with passion. He is noted for his imaginative and pioneering work in melodic drumming and is currently completing a PhD on the subject. Michael has been a major part of Australia’s jazz scene for the last 20 years, performing regularly at festivals, on radio and in television and film. He is one of the most sought-after musicians in Melbourne’s vibrant jazz community, playing with Paul Williamson, Ross Hannaford, Ross Wilson, Kate Cerbrano, Joe Chindamo, Paul Grabowski and Wilbur Wilde. He has also performed with international musicians including George Cables, Sheila Jordan, Joanne Brackem, Ben Sidrin, Mark Murphy, Tony Manarco. Michael has supported Dr. John, Ray Charles, B.B. King and the Phillip Morris Big Band.

Ron Murray

Ron Murray is a Wamba Wamba man (Swan Hill area) living at Yapeen, near Castlemaine, in central Victoria on Jaara country. Yapeen in the local Jaara language means ‘corroborree ground’. Ron is a cultural educator, storyteller, musician, didgeridoo maker and wood sculptor. He has made beautiful art pieces for Muhammad Ali, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Sir Bob Geldof, American composer Philip Glass, Cathy Freeman and the Harlem Dance Company, to name a few. Ron has an international reputation as a didgeridoo soloist, having performed widely in Australia, as well as New York, Jordon, Canada and New Zealand, and has been described as “one of Victoria’s most respected players”. (The Age, Larry Schwartz, October 2nd 2008, “Didgeridoo Dreaming”, page 15).