The Umbrellas - CD Launch Lounge Suite Tango
Foundry 616
Saturday 11 April 2015

Peter Dasent - piano, organ, accordion
James Greening - trombone, pocket trumpet
Andrew Robson - alto and baritone saxophones
Andrew Wilkie - vibes, marimba
Zoe Hauptmann - double bass
Toby Hall - drums, percussion

The Umbrellas are delighted to be bringing their eclectic, absurd and beautiful music to Foundry 616 to launch their first album of original music in over 20 years.

“Lounge Suite Tango”, the first release on the new Armchair Records label, features eight Peter Dasent compositions splendidly performed by the cast of great musicians, all of whom are well known to Sydney audiences.

The Umbrellas began life in 1985 as a chamber ensemble featuring piano, oboe, bassoon, vibes and double bass, with occasional wild saxophone from the legendary Mark Simmonds. Their first record, still available, was recorded live at their first concert, and over the next twenty odd years they released three more albums, toured extensively for Musica Viva, and performed “Bravo Nino Rota”, a theatre show featuring Peter Dasent’s arrangements of Nino Rota’s Fellini film scores.

Reviewing a performance in March 2012, Sydney Morning Herald reviewer John Shand noted that “all the old charm and magic was there” and also commented that “Dasent's composing bears occasional parallels to the work of Frank Zappa, Thelonious Monk and Nino Rota, with Rota's Fellini film music celebrated on one Umbrellas album. But all influences are warped through the prism of Dasent's sense of aesthetics and humour, and all improvising is subservient to the needs of the compositions”

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE