The People’s Republic ushers in Spring with a very special Monday night performance, the debut of a new improvisational trio bringing together three true icons of new music in Australia, with a very special guest...
PAD
Jim Denley [alto sax/flutes]
Chris Abrahams [piano/synthesiser]
Daryl Pratt [extended vibraphone]
with
James Greening [trombone etc]
MONDAY September 8th at 7 p.m. [doors at 6.30]
PAD is three of Australia’s foremost improvisers, Jim Denley on alto sax/flutes, Chris Abrahams on piano and synthesizer and Daryl Pratt on extended vibraphone. Jim and Chris have been musicking together since the early 1980s, but never in an ongoing formal group. In late 2024 Daryl approached Jim after seeing him play and shortly after they began regularly jamming, instantly creating music that excited them both. In 2025 Chris joined them to form PAD. The music they create is a sonic kaleidoscope of the unexpected - swirling tones, rhythms, colours, textures, structures, references, and energies.
This event at the Red House is their first public performance.
For this concert they are thrilled and honoured to be joined by the esteemed multi-instrumentalist James Greening.
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Jim Denley has been active with experimental and improvised musicking since the 1970s. He often records around the coves and beaches of Sydney Harbour, where for thousands of years the Dharug people have played ngaramang (music). He's also interested in what his music instinct might learn from language and from 1989 to 2009 he worked with the text/music group Machine for Making Sense, (Amanda Stewart, Stevie Wishart, Rik Rue and Chris Mann). He's been a consistent member of the radically inclusive Splinter Orchestra since 2001. He’s been deeply engaged with music-making in the Budawang Mountains south of Sydney for over 20 years. His collaborations and album releases are too numerous to list, but you can find out more and listen HERE
Chris Abrahams is a New Zealand-born, Australian-based musician. He is a founding mainstay member of experimental jazz trio The Necks (1987–present), collaborated with Melanie Oxley as a soul pop duo (1989–2003), and has released ten solo albums. Abrahams has also been a member of the Benders, the Laughing Clowns, The Sparklers, has collaborated with a who’s who of Australian and international musicians, and been a session musician on albums for artists such as The Church, The Whitlams, Midnight Oil, Wendy Matthews, Skunkhour and Silverchair. Hear some of Chris' latest work HERE
Daryl Pratt is a percussionist/composer/conductor with a background in contemporary classical music and jazz. He has performed, recorded and toured with Pipeline [with Simone de Haan], The Australian Art Orchestra, AtmaSphere and the Chad Wackerman Group. He founded the jazz quartet Sonic Fiction and current projects include Pratt Price, Pratt McMahon Hirst & Gander and PAD. He's performed and recorded with the San Diego Symphony, Sydney Symphony and Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Synergy, The Australia Ensemble and The Australian Chamber Orchestra. Daryl also has an extemsive discography of solo, chamber and orchestral recordings and he was Head of Percussion at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (1991-2020) and director/conductor of The Modern Music Ensemble (2005-2020). Listen and read more HERE
James Greening has been a leading voice in the music scene in Australia for more than 40 years, playing trombone, pocket trumpet, slide trumpet, tuba, sousaphone and diddly bow bass as a founding member of seminal Australian bands such as Ten Part Invention, Wanderlust, the Catholics, the Umbrellas and the Australian Art Orchestra. He was a close collaborator with Jackie Orszaczky and has played with the Mingus Big Band, Martha Wainwright, Lou Reed and Brian Wilson, among many others.
PLEASE REPLY TO THIS EMAIL FOR NEW ADDRESS AND FURTHER DETAILS AND TO CONFIRM YOUR ATTENDANCE
THERE IS NO ADMISSION CHARGE FOR PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC EVENTS - PLEASE DONATE GENEROUSLY ON THE NIGHT KNOWING THAT EVERY CENT GOES TO THE ARTISTS
NOTE THAT THIS IS STILL A CASH-ONLY EVENT SO PLEASE BRING ALONG A FULL WALLET
OUR EVENTS ARE B.Y.O. please bring along any beverages you wish but no food is allowed