CyberHalides Jazz » 2018 » WANG - Adam Simmons Creative Music Ensemble - 3 Nov 2018

This work by Adam Simmons and his team of collaborators - his Creative Music Ensemble, the Afrolankan Drumming System, Vikram Iyengar's dance and Jean Poole's visuals - was nothing short of breathtaking.  This is a large-scale, complex work that was well-conceived and well-executed. Inspired by sounds and experiences from Simmons’ first-time visit to Sri Lanka in 2016, this fourth work in his five-part Usefulness of Art series with the Creative Music Ensemble (and distinct from an Origami CD of the same name) gave the listener a taste of what Adam's journey of self-discovering into his mother's homeland must have been like, in an engrossing and uplifting spectacle.
 
The Adam Simmons Creative Music Ensemble with Afrolankan Drumming System & Vikram Iyengar (Adam Simmons - soprano sax; Cara Taber - soprano/tenor sax; Paul Simmons - alto/soprano sax; Sam Boon - alto/soprano sax; Gemma Horbury - trumpet; Gavin Cornish - trumpet; Bryn Hills - trombone; Pete Lawler - space drum; Nat Grant - vibraphone; Carmen Chan - xylophone; Hugh Harvey - drums; Niko Schauble - drums; Howard Cairns - bass; Miranda Hill - bass; David Brown - guitar; Christine Crawshaw - costumier; Vikram Iyengar - movement/choreographer; Ray Pereira & Kanchana Karunaratna - Afrolankan Drumming System; Sally Blackwood - dramaturg; Jean Poole - visual projection) performing "The Calling" in the WPAC Theatre at the 2018 Wangaratta Jazz Festival