About the Group

The jazz collective is my working group. It’s a chance for me to play charts of songs that I enjoy, and that I think work well in a live setting. The group is typically a quintet including trumpet, tenor/alto, piano, bass and drums. Lately I’ve been focusing on writing charts for more groove oriented tunes, as I find myself longing to hear more soulful instrumental music these days, and I feel there is a market here in Melbourne for this type of approach. The players tend to change based on who is available when a gig is booked, but the Collective is usually fronted by Christophe Genoux or Ron Romero playing saxophones and Brae Grimes on trumpet. Other members of the group include Kim May on bass, David Dower on piano. Kim Kelaart appears playing organ on “More Today Than Yesterday” as a tribute to my mom Mary, who encouraged my brother and I in music, and who played her Hammond organ for many family sing alongs.

Playtime

I brought a group into the studio in May 2010 to record what I thought would be a few tunes for the purpose of making a demo recording to secure club work. After listening to a few of the recordings I felt that we had the beginnings of an actual recording. A few sessions later we had the songs recorded and mixed. Newmarket records here in Melbourne liked the record and offered distribution support, so here we are. Have a listen, and if you like what you hear please come see the band and help support independent artists by purchasing a copy at one of the retailers to the right. Thanks for listening!

Playtime Song Samples

(click song title or the arrow on the bottom left of the page to play)

Spring Sprung In (Brian Dickinson)
The Organ Grinder (Woody Shaw)
Mr. Cool Breeze (Donald Harrison)
Mount Harissa (Duke Ellington)
More Today Than Yesterday (Pat Upton)
Martians Go Home (Shorty Rogers)
In God We Trust (Winard Harper)
How Could I Have Known (James Osborne)
Helen’s Song (George Cables)
Alter Ego (James Williams)