places + spaces present Sandy Evans and Tony Gorman
for Cockatoo Calling on Cockatoo Island

Performance on Saturday 3 September, 2011 as part of Cockatoo Calling - from 4-6pm - BOOK NOW
Image courtesy Matt Sutton
Join us for this rare opportunity to hear Sandy Evans and Tony Gorman play together and talk about their musical experiences, inspirations and about what influences their music.  Part performance and part talk, this will be an intimate afternoon of insights into two of Australia's most significant jazz musicians.



Sandy and Tony are internationally renowned improvisers (saxophone, clarinet) and composers with a passion for improvisation and new music. Much of their work combines jazz concepts with ideas from other areas of music.

One day late in 1996 Tony woke up numb from the waist down.  The diagnosis was Multiple Sclerosis.

Sandy writes
“Tony and I met 10 years earlier at a jazz festival in Nürnberg.  We sat through an afternoon  of teeming rain in a ruined cloister waiting for an outdoor concert by a band we both loved: The Dave Holland Quintet.  Finally the band started. It was worth the wait. After the first number, Tony turned to me (at that time a complete stranger!) and asked me how they’d managed to start without a count-in or visible cue of any sort. I don’t remember what my reply was, although he maintains I said “Practice”!

Less than a year later we were married in Glasgow. As well as our personal connection, Tony and I formed a very close musical bond. We loved playing together and were fortunate to travel the world with Clarion Fracture Zone, the group we led with pianist Alister Spence, and other groups like MARA! and the Australian Art Orchestra.”

Their collaborative work this century has included the groundbreaking ensembles GEST8 and Citizens of Earth.

Sandy and Tony love the magical process of bringing sound to life  through the expressive power of the breath when playing  a wind instrument.  They have both been drawn to playing music over a drone to explore this power and the deep feelings it accesses. Tony has developed a unique approach to this style using three Shruti boxes which he tunes like a gently modulating orchestra. Sandy has been studying alapana, an improvisational practice that is central to Indian music involving performing improvisations over a drone.

‘…Listening to Bhairavi Tillana at Bennetts Lane…I found myself entering a kind of trance and feeling as if I could listen for hours and be absolutely absorbed by the intricate rhythmic and melodic patterns.’ Roger Mitchell http://ausjazz.net/2010/06/08/sandy-evans-trio-at-bennetts-lane

In this fascinating discussion and concert, Tony and Sandy will explore these different approaches and the meeting points between them. Audiences will be familiar with Tony’s meditative clarinet performances in this vein with tabla player Bobby Singh, and on his solo CD Songs of Hope.

“- this is sparse, dreamy, immaculate, drifting music with great power. “
John Shand, Limelight Magazine

The soundscapes of the harbour and Cockatoo Island will be the perfect backdrop to these improvisations. Tony grew up in Greenock, Scotland, and is inspired by the resonances of the ship building history of Cockatoo Island with those of his hometown.

Tony has won many awards for his work including three ARIA awards.

 He currently leads the improvising group The Monday Club. He played with the AAO, The Original Otto  Orchestra , MARA! and Chelate Compound.

Sandy leads the Sandy Evans Trio and performs with Ten Part Invention, austraLYSIS, The Australian Art Orchestra, The catholics, Kim Sanders and Friends, SNAP, Waratah and MARA!. Sandy has a growing interest in Indian classical music, inspired by tours to India with a group from the Australian Art Orchestra led by Adrian Sherriff, collaborating with South Indian drum maestro Guru Karaikudi Mani.

Sandy has won many awards including the Inaugural Bell Award For Australian Jazz Musician of The Year 2003, a Young Australian Creative Fellowship, APRA Award for Jazz Composition of the Year, 2 Mo Awards and three ARIA Awards. 

Sandy has written music for dance, theatre and film. Major works include Testimony about the life and music of Charlie Parker with poetry by the Pulitzer prize winning American poet Yusef Komunyakaa and The Beatitudes, set on Cockatoo Island for Children’s Choir, and a 25 piece ensemble of young musicians. 

Sandy is a dedicated teacher and founded SIMA’s Jazz Improvisation Workshops For Young Women.




Entry $10 or $5 concession.  Performance 4 - 6pm

There are no food or drink outlets on the upper island.

Sydney Ferries has services from Circular Quay on the Woolwich ferry line and also on the Parramatta Rivercat.
Please check directly with Sydney Ferries for timetables.
Service and jetty departures vary on the weekends, so please DOUBLE CHECK with staff on the day. 

Water taxis are also available and a marina for private boats

Warehouse 15 is located on the Upper island and you can reach this   it is also known as the Electrical Shop.  A map is available on the Cockatoo Island visitor website.

There are many different ways to access this venue, and it is possible to reach this venue without using stairs if you follow the road that runs along the inside of the camping ground.

http://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/pubs/see-visitorguide.pdf

For more information on artists who have performed for places + spaces please click here