“Johnston’s music embodies all that’s good about jazz. It’s honest, original, and inspired, above and beyond the typical. It’s also some of the very smartest and best-humoured music to have found a home under the jazz banner.” — Chris Kelsey, Jazziz

Date:Saturday, 8 November 2025
Time:
Doors: 7:30 pm
Music: 8:00 pm
Address:277-279 Broadway, Glebe

Peter Dasent - Piano
Phillip Johnston - Alto Saxophone

Playing With Monk is a unique piano/saxophone duo, whose repertoire traverses the music of jazz icon Thelonious Monk, the film composers Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, early jazz and blues classics, and their own compositions for film and jazz.

You may know New Zealand émigré Peter Dasent from his film music compositions (including Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures and Meet The Feebles), his long tenure as music director/pianist for ABC’s long-running ‘Play School’, his Eastside Radio show ‘One Size Fits All’, or his recordings of the music of Nino Rota or with his longstanding band The Umbrellas.

You may know native New Yorker Phillip Johnston from his film scoring career (Paul Mazursky’s Faithful, Henry Bean’s Noise, Philip Haas’s The Music of Chance), his numerous festival appearances (Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne Festival, MONA FOMA, Sydney Vivid), his silent film scores, his 25 recordings as a leader, or his local bands The Coolerators, or Saxophone Special, and The Greasy Chicken Orchestra.