How did you get into jazz? Somehow my parent’s car had Harry Connick Jr’s It Had To Be You on cassette tape playing. We weren’t a ‘jazz family’ at the time, so I’m not sure how Harry ended up in the tape deck. At the same time, my high school jazz band introduced me to Miles, Jaco, and The Meters. Then my teacher got me on to Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans and Brad Mehldau, all of whom helped me appreciate and then love this amazing music.
What has been your career highlight thus far? I’d have to say the whole process of my debut jazz record, Two Cities, released in 2016. I wrote a large part of it while travelling through the USA in 2012. It lay dormant for a few years, and then I finally finished it, released it, toured it, and was absolutely honoured to have the album nominated for Best Jazz Album in the 2016 The Age Music Victoria Awards.
Who’s on the top of your playlist at the moment? I just bought Tamil Rogeon’s new record, 24 Hours In Lapa, which is incredible. Plus Mehldau’s Highway Rider, Richie Beirach’s Hubris, Thundercat’s Drunk, John Mayer’s new record, The Search For Everything.
Who are you most looking forward to checking out at this year’s festival? There are so many amazing artists. I’m really looking forward to Tigran Hamasyan at The Jazzlab. His composition and playing is so beautiful, and I’m sure that will be a special gig.
