"Jazz and something else"
9.5 stars
If only for its illustrious ranks of musicians, this orchestra is pre-eminent. But that alone does not account for its significance. The music they have produced across several intercultural projects is some of the most creative and exciting this country has on offer. This time esteemed pianist/composer Paul Grabowsky has collaborated with theatre dirctor Nigel Jamieson and lauded Balinese musician I Wayan Gde Yudane on the project which we saw last year at venues including the Sydney Opera House, called "The Theft of Sita". Even without the delicious western/Asian cultural encounters and synthesis as depicted by media such as traditional shadow play and innovative stage and lighting techniques, much of the drama's unique flavour and daring can be heard in this score. It cleverly uses a combination of Indonesian and western ensembles to evoke traditional and contemporary forms, making something new out of the synthesis. Bursts of free jazz, for example, ride on Asian rhythms. Western instruments are tuned to Asian scales and the music uses the pelog and slendro scales in parts. One of the key features of this music is its rowdy energy, so evocative of Balinese music with its percussive pots'n pans clangour and bustling rhythms. The purity of Shelly Scown's voice is the perfect vehicle for the stately, elevated Sita's Song, while elsewhere the cultural poles shift toward and away from each other. Yudane uses traditional forms but he is interested in pushing those forms to their boundaries. Where he leaves off, Grabowsky can pick up. So, typically of the Art Orchestra, this is jazz and something else at the same time. Art is the best description. Those interested in contemporary creative music should seek out the Art Orchestra's albums – each different in flavour entirely, yet the same in cultural miscegenation and ingenuity. They hold a special place in the Australian musical canon.
- Financial Review, March 29 2003
