Alister Spence Trio & Laura Altman
Ms Kitteridge & Bok Choy by The Living Room Theatre is a series for jazz and experimental musicians to strut their stuff in a new affordable jazz venue. The ambition is to build on the legacy and vibe of SIMA at the Strawberry Hills Hotel back in the 90’s and add to the music scene of Dulwich Hill with a theatrical touch.
Launching the series is Laura Altman and the Alister Spence Trio
Laura Altman is a clarinetist, composer and improviser based in Sydney. While mostly partaking in collaborative music-making, Laura has ventured into solo improvising in recent years. These performances involve a personalised and intuitive approach to the clarinet, including explorations of how the instrument interplays and coexists with ‘environments’ of feedback, cassette tapes, tins and small objects, as well the greater ‘environments’ of a given performance.
An important voice in the Sydney improvised and exploratory music scene, Laura is a long-standing member of Splinter Orchestra, Prophets and internationally acclaimed trio Great Waitress. Other projects include duos with the likes of Monica Brooks, Low Flung (Couch), Melanie Herbert and Nick Ashwood, as well as ARIA-nominated band Chaika and art-folk project Bud Petal.
Laura has been very active organising exploratory music events in Sydney over a decade. She co-hosts a radio show Listening Space on Eastside FM with MP Hopkins and Alexandra Spence, and co-founded the Sydney exploratory music calendar www.emus.space.
‘The music they create may be built on Spence’s masterful compositions, but it’s driven by a collective energy that gives every phrase – and each musical interaction – a marvellously organic feel.’ (Jessica Nicholas, the Age April 24 2022)
Alister Spence – piano, samples
Lloyd Swanton – double bass
Toby Hall – drums, glockenspiel
It would be no exaggeration to describe this band as one of the most captivating groups in contemporary jazz music today. Formed in Sydney more than twenty years ago this trio bring together three of the most exciting, innovative and experienced musicians in Australia with a strong national and international reputation. The group has long been recognised for its engaging, distinctive, original compositions and for the high level of energy and interplay demonstrated in their performances. Spellbinding!
The trio’s recordings have twice been nominated for an ARIA Award: ‘Best Jazz Album,’ 2004 and 2007 for Flux and Mercury.
fit was voted in the 15 top international jazz/improv releases by the WIRE Magazine (UK, 2009).
Not Everything But Enough, the trio’s latest release was voted in the top ten jazz albums for 2017 by Music Magazine, Japan, and nominated for an APRA/AMCOS Art Music Award in 2018 for
‘Excellence in Jazz.’
Their latest release, Asteroid Ekosystem (2020) features Ed Kuepper on guitar (4 1/2 Stars, Dan McClenaghan, AllAboutJazz.com, US).
Find out more and listen here:
Alister Spence bandcamp
Alister Spence Youtube
Thank you to our generous partners: The Gladstone Hotel & Kawai.
Wednesday 19 July 2023 | 7.00PM
The Gladstone Hotel | 572 Marrickville Rd, Dulwich Hill
