How did you get into jazz? It started when I was in high school. I’d be learning classical piano for a while, and my Dad would play Errol Garner, Oscar Peterson and Dave Grusin albums around the house.
Who are your biggest influences? Such a tricky question, but I suppose as a pianist – John Taylor, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Errol Garner. As a composer Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk. Then I think it’s the vast number of Australian musicians that I’ve listened to. I really think that I’ve been strongly influenced by so many great Australian artists, and also the musicians I work with.
How did the BFK collaboration come about? We had a show in Brisbane a couple of years ago (Rafael, Kristin and myself), something at an art gallery as part of a jazz/classical series. We’d performed with each other before in various situations, but never as a trio. It was just one of those things where we thought, ‘Hmm… This is cool,’ so we started working on material to play together. After our debut album, Hope in My Pocket, we talked about the idea of collaborating with a musician. Pascal is an artist we all admire as a player and composer, so he was the perfect choice.
Who’s on the top of your playlist at the moment? The Brad Mehldau/Chris Thile duo album. Magic.
What’s something we may not know about you? I quite enjoy a game of golf, and used to be decent. Although I don’t play anywhere near enough.
