"Out of This World Music"

Bringing together the ancient improvisatory art of south India and the modern Western art of jazz is a bold idea fraught with dangers.

Carnatic music is among the oldest and most subtle forms of music on the planet. Jazz has flirted with Indian music at least since John Coltrane's 'Love Supreme' but fundamental differences of structure and content often have resulted in artistic disasters that do a disservice to both cultures.

'Into the Fire' must rank among the most successful efforts at this kind of cross-cultural fusion, thanks to an extremely talented group of young musicians who make up the Australian Art Orchestra and to the marvellous players of Sruthi Laya.

Among the orchestra members are players with a genuine feeling for Indian music, backed up by considerable knowledge, as in the case of Adrian Sherriff, whose arrangement of the Carnatic Vasantha Pravaham formed a brilliant conclusion to this concert.

Superb solos from Sandy Evans, John Rodgers and Sherriff himself, following a monumental improvisation from Sruthi Laya, made this a real treat.

Earlier in the evening we had the premiere of 'Moras', a lengthy and powerful work by John Rodgers.

The integration of jazz and Indian elements here was more successful than in Niko Schäuble's 'The Ferryman' which, in spite of much interesting material, didn't quite bring it all together.

'Moras' certainly rocked once it got going but, for sheer exuberance, it could not match Scott Tinkler's 'Stitching Leonardo', which made an almighty and exhilarating din.