The Sydney Improvised Music Association (SIMA) has launched a new digital program Jazz:NOW Wired which will air bi-weekly from Saturday, June 6 with tickets at $12 and $8 for SIMA members. It has been designed to keep industry employed and audiences engaged as venues gradually reopen.
High quality camera footage and audio captures the intimacy, diversity and immediacy of Australian jazz today in this seven-part season. Each performance has been paired with bonus vintage footage of iconic Australian artists including The Necks, Darren Percival, Alister Spence, Barney McAll, Scott Tinkler, Band of Five Names and Joe Chindamo captured as part of the 2001 Australian jazz documentary, The Pulse.
From middle eastern percussion to pedal steel guitar, Jazz:NOW Wired kicks off with National Jazz Award winning bassist and Thirsty Merc rocker Phil Stack in duo mode with songstress Virna Sanzone, followed by bonus archival performances of Bernie McGann Quartet feat. Sandy Evans and James Greening and Mike Nock’s Big Small Band.
2020 has brought unimaginable circumstances for artists. Overnight, the Australia’s live performance industry was annihilated by coronavirus. Reading the writing on the wall SIMA jumped into a Sydney studio in mid-March to record a two-day jazz session curated by SIMA’s Artistic Director, bassist and Music Director for Australia’s Women in Music Awards Zoe Hauptmann.
“We could see things coming to a stand-still so we booked in a huge two days involving more than 25 musicians, carefully timed for distancing measures”.
Understanding that live music had been transformed for 2020 and perhaps longer, SIMA made a major investment in Sydney’s creative sector to produce the series, ensuring employment for musicians, curators, sound and technical engineers, video producers, designers, arts workers and publicists.
“Jazz is a genre that is built on innovation and embraces risk. We knew that we could use our agility as a smaller producer to continue to present work through COVID and provide an outlet for the industry at a time when it was most needed”.
In a normal year, many arts organisations would now be in planning mode preparing for the September flurry of annual subscription launches. SIMA is ahead of the curve pioneering a new virtual season for online audiences who have tuned in from as far as South Africa, Malaysia and Italy.
Hauptmann agrees there is a place for free content, but audiences need to recognise what goes into producing quality arts content and put a value on it, “the digital platform is here to stay, so the industry must collectively get in at ground level and build the right culture around developing this audience. We should not be giving it all away for free”.
For SIMA’s new season, this means online audiences will be greeted by a soft paywall. If you can’t contribute the suggested cost of the ticket, then you can choose what you pay, appropriate to what you can afford.
SIMA.ORG.AU
Jazz:NOW Wired FULL PROGRAM
SATURDAY 6 JUNE, 8PM
Virna Sanzone and Phil Stack
BONUS FOOTAGE: Mike Nock Big Small Band + Bernie McGann Quartet with Sandy Evans and James Greening
SATURDAY 20 JUNE, 8PM
Matt Keegan and Miles Thomas: K2
BONUS FOOTAGE: Theak-Tet + Band of Five Names
SATURDAY 4 JULY, 8PM
Delay 45
BONUS FOOTAGE: Barney McAll Unit + The Necks
SATURDAY 18 JULY, 8PM
The Fabulous Botting Flower
BONUS FOOTAGE: Lily Dior Quintet, Darren Percival with Paul Macnamra, and Kristin Cornwell Quintet
SATURDAY 1 AUGUST, 8PM
Lisathe
BONUS FOOTAGE: Joe Chindamo Trio, Jex Saarelaht Trio + Sam Keevers Trio
SATURDAY 15 AUGUST, 8PM
Underwards (Kirkwood/Geddes)
BONUS FOOTAGE: F.A.T.S, Elliot Dalgleish Trio, Dalgleish/Tinkler Quartet, Aron Ottignon Quartet
SATURDAY 29 AUGUST, 8PM
Zela Margossian Trio
BONUS FOOTAGE: Mark Isaacs Trio, Alister Spence Trio and Cathy Harley Trio
Season Subscription : $70/$50, Single tickets- $12/$8
Featured image : Virna Sanzone and Phil Stack
Sydney Arts Guide has two online subscriptions to give away to this innovative jazz program. Email editor.sydneyartsguide@gmail.com with JAZZ : Now Wired program in the subject heading. Please put your postal address in the body of your email. Winners will be advised by email.