Jazz Is Dead... Long live Jazz! The Sydney Improvised Music Association (SIMA) presents Jazz is Dead band nights to bring together projects from the fringes of jazz. Expressing current trends, different forms and musics from other worlds, Jazz is Dead will be a night of fresh and diverse sound to rattle your bones.

8pm
Matilda Abraham is a young woman who is carving something out. She performs her original music both solo and in various lineups that include laptop, guitar, piano, synth and drums. Matilda’s singing brings a bright and vibrant sound to her diverse material. Her approach is honest, combining a rich musicality with stark vulnerability and warmth. It is this common element that runs through each song. From feminist dance numbers to intricate and layered arrangements it is this element that makes Matilda’s music unique to her.

MATILDA ABRAHAM vocals, keyboards, laptop

9pm
Coast draws inspiration from Sydney coastline, the thin line between bobbing up and down our heads above the water and the unrelenting energy of the ocean that surrounds. Bubbling and swirling with improvisational energy the expansive melodies throwing forward are under pinned by driving rhythms. This intensity is at times juxtaposed with more introverted and meditative pulses a calm and peace. The ensemble has a muscular approach but is accurate and deliberate, the saxophones cutting quicksilver lines are followed by delay drenched synths and angular guitars. This is music of a changing time and an evolving place. 

PAUL DERRICOTT drums PETER KOOPMAN guitar
SHANNON STITT keyboards MICHAEL AVGENICOS saxophone

10pm

HIT!
This Sydney organ trio capture the swinging sound of the '60s in a modern setting, featuring all-original tunes from their debut record, The Dicky Donkey and Other Modern Classics. Influenced by soul, jazz and bossa nova, this is music that will make you wind the window down and put your elbow out.

STU HUNTER organ MATT KEEGAN tenor saxophone EVAN MANNELL drumset