Let There Be Drums

Let There be Drums is a Four Concert series presented by Small Space Music and The Melbourne Jazz Co-op.  Showcasing the music of ten Melbourne drummers in solo, duo and small ensemble settings. 

Utilising four different performance spaces to suit each act, these concerts will be a celebration of multi directional drumming, thinking and listening.     

May 26th LongPlay St Georges Rd Northcote 5.30-7.30pm
Spartacus Collective + Nat grant Dave Brown Duo

July 21st Brunswick Bar 303 (back room) 303 High St Northcote 7pm
Maddison Carter/Julia Bebenek /Sam Price/James McLean   solo drums

September 29th  Brunswick Green 7pm
Phil Collings  and The Red Triangle

November 17th  Cross Street Music Hall 8pm
Drumbling
Myka Wallace solo
Drumbling + 2

Detailed Info

May 26th LongPlay St Georges Rd Northcote 5.30-7.30pm
Spartacus Collective
Ronny Ferella drums
Gideon Brazil//Sean Rammers woodwinds

Spartacus Collective is a platform to explore the drumset as solo instrument with accompaniment.  A combination of written notation and improvised material is utilised.  One of the aims of the group is to highlight the drumet as a tonal instrument that can adapt to the requirements of the music on hand.   

Nat Grant/Dave Brown

David Brown (guitar) melds conventional electroacoustic methods with noise and rock and also the development of a vocabulary of tiny acoustic sounds enlarged outside their normal context. Nat Grant (drums) produces performances and recorded works that focus on stillness, the slow revelation of small changes in sonic landscapes, and a reflective listening to everyday sounds in different contexts. They are long time bandmates in Adam Simmons’ Creative Music Ensemble, and new collaborators in this duo, with a focus on texture rather than time, on timbre more than tonality. 

July 21st Brunswick Bar 303 (back room) 303 High St Northcote 7pm
Maddison Carter/Julia Bebenek /Sam Price/James McLean   solo drums

Maddison Carter is a Melbourne-based drummer and composer, quickly making a name for his vast textural palette, versatility and extended rhythmic vocabulary as an improviser. Maddison is a member and co-leader of bands the Maddison Carter Quintet, ISM, Carbo Carter Gunnoo, Freudian Sleep, and the Bean Project. Maddison performs regularly with leading Australian jazz musicians, and has performed with the likes of Andrea Keller, Eugene Ball, Tamara Murphy, Ren Walters, Miroslav Bukovsky, James Sherlock, the Allan Browne Quintet, Julien Wilson, Phil Noy, and James Macaulay. 

Julia Bebenek is a Melbourne-based drummer, composer, and vocalist. Her unique playing style draws on a number of influences that she has acquired through her studies, including Jazz, South Indian Carnatic music, rock, and improvised music.

Her new debut drum kit solo project will comprise of works that have been heavily influenced from her studies in South Indian rhythm.This performance with feature multi layered circular rhythms and a wide palette of textures that have been developed under her studies from teacher Adam King, as well as drawing inspiration from artists such as Simon Barker and Will Guthrie

Sam Price-info coming

James McLean is a drummer from Melbourne, who works equally as a solo artist, bandleader, and ensemble member.  He is fast establishing himself as a leading voice in Australian jazz and improvised music, as recognised by being awarded the 2016 Freedman Jazz Fellowship - becoming the first drummer to receive the award.
In early 2018, James completed his PhD research at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studying the application of embodied cognition to the development of solo drumset repertoire.  In addition to an academic thesis, this research has produced two solo drumset recordings: Counter Clockwork (2015), and Oscillator (2018).   

September 29th  Brunswick Green 7pm
Phil Collings  and The Red Triangle with Cheryl Durongpisitkul Alto Sax
Stephen Hornby Double Bass
Performing  pieces comp[osed by Phil as a suite inspired by the Harmolodic
compositions of Ornette Coleman that, until now, have not been played together.
There are also some larger through composed pieces that explore the use of
layered groupings and meters, nested rhythms and poly-rhythms.
Another premier work is adapted from a piece written for 3 drummers, piano
and strings, which utilises a time-code score and rhythmic/melodic cells. The
principal idea being to share a supported, improvised platform between the voices in the ensemble within an extended time line.
The Red Triangle is an ensemble that embraces communication and
expression and as such is pretty much as much fun as you want to have!

Adam King solo drums
“Flying Time: New Music for Solo Drumset” Instrumentation: minimalist drumset and Balinese gongs

Early in his career, Adam found inspiration in the traditional and classical music of Bali and South India. In these traditions Adam has performed and collaborated with leading musicians, and it these experiences which have profoundly informed his development as a creative artist. In addition to composing solo drumset music, Adam’s current performance projects include Tripataka – a trio exploring the improvisational possibilities of South Indian rhythm, and Kewti – a trio whose compositions feature microtonal tunings.

This performance will feature a suite of original improvised compositions for solo drumset, each characterised by a distinct sonic realm. The music has emerged in pursuit of the development of a personalised drumset vocabulary which combines layered symmetrical hand patterning, dynamic rotations and extended technique inspired by pindekan (Balinese propellers), equally paired with aesthetic and philosophical concepts associated with Balinese solo drumming. The outcome is intriguing, often cryptic, meditative and chant-like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPTXNsm1HJg

 November 17th  Cross Street Music Hall 8pm
16-22 Cross Street East Brunswick

Drumbling
Niko Schauble-Ronny Ferella

Niko and Ronny perform in a duo format exploring the tonal and rhythmic possibilities of the drumset.  They have developed a system of rhythmic interference, where melodies and rhythms are created and manipulated via the two drummers playing “almost together”

Myka Wallace solo drums
Myka has played drums for many years, for many people, in many places. People include Moreton/Georgia Potter, Emma Louise, Hannah Macklin/MKO Sun, Thundamentals, Holy Holy, Birdz, Allysha Joy, Adrien Eagle, Fred Leone, Superfeather, Robbie Miller, Abbey Howlett, Inigo, Laneous & The Family Yah, Vulture St. Tape Gang, Texas Tea and Banawurun. Places include Sydney Opera House, Falls Festival, Byron Bay Blues & Roots Festival, Big Day Out, The Palais Theatre, Barunga Festival, Binic Festival (FR), CMJ Music Marathon (NYC), Melbourne Recital Hall and a festival called PANAMA. 

Drumbling +2 
Niko Schauble, Ronny Ferella drumset
Mirko Guerini Tony Hicks woodwind

Drumbling +2 will feature a new work for the quartet conceived and composed by the drummers in the band.