This gig features a mighty ten – member version of the Coltrane Project to play John Coltrane’s rarely performed magnum opus Ascension. The original recording from 1965 lasts 40 minutes and is a work of intense energy. The Coltrane Project last played Ascension at the Side On Café in 2004 and was recorded by the ABC for Live on Stage. This version of the Coltrane Project band will include 2 basses and a talented array of improvisers with different approaches. Ascension features each soloist in turn alternating with barrages of horns and drums as the whole ensemble reaches for the stars!

The first half of the concert will feature arrangements of our favourite pieces from earlier periods in Coltrane’s development.

The Band is: Andrew Robson, Peter Farrar (alto saxophones), Paul Cutlan, Sandy Evans (tenor saxophones) Simon Ferenci, Tom Avgenicos (trumpets), Alister Spence (piano) Lloyd Swanton, Jess Dunn (basses) Toby Hall (drums).

John Coltrane’s Ascension (1965) was to jazz what Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was to art: not just a shake-up but a shock. About four decades later Wynton Marsalis was still claiming that Coltrane’s late-period output was not even jazz, proving the shock didn’t dissipate with time. Saxophonist Paul Cutlan’s Coltrane Project has been revisiting the master’s music for years, and this is their second shot at chiselling into Ascension’s granite density. To give a snapshot of the quality of Cutlan’s 10-piece band, the other saxophonists are Sandy Evans, Andrew Robson and Peter Farrar. Not for the faint-hearted.

SMH May 31, 2019

 Tickets:

General – $29.00 incl booking fee
Concession – $24.00 incl booking fee
Dinner & Show – $62.00 incl booking fee
Premium Dinner & Show – $77.00 incl booking fee
Drinks & Show – $49.00 incl booking fee

Source: https://foundry616.com.au/product/06-july-paul-cutlan/