Saxophonist/composer Phillip Johnston splits his time between large-scale projects (the upcoming Wordless! With Art Spiegelman in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House) and jazz groups in a variety of formations (SNAP with Sandy Evans, Tight Corners with Jex Saarelaht).

The Coolerators, a quartet with some of his long-time Sydney collaborators (Alister Spence on organ and piano, Lloyd Swanton on bass and Nic Cecire on drums), focuses on a joyful expression of the jazz tradition, from early jazz masterpieces to cutting edge originals.

The New Yorker has called Phillip Johnston “a world-class instrumentalist” and Downbeat has called his music “seminal, brilliant post-modern jazz.”