Paul Furniss
Clarinet and alto saxophone colour the nonsense and the swing in Paul Furniss's playing: traditional jazz lines that break into the texture, nimble enough for Sangster's Edward Lear settings and sure enough for the polyphony of the bandstand.
He works in the traditional jazz and swing idioms, the kind of reed playing that can drive a small orchestra or slip a break between the poetry and the vibes. On Sangster's Uttered Nonsense the music is provocative, silly and jolly by design; Furniss is among the players who keep that tightrope upright, with alto and clarinet cutting through New Orleans polyphony, breezy funk and swing. A concerto written for his soprano saxophone left room for improvisation. When the band needed flute or even tin whistle as well, the interpolations landed.
Paul Furniss appears on
Jazz Music Series, Vol. 5: Ripper
The fifth and final volume in John Sangster’s jazz series of suites, written for a lively little orchestra that gathers some of Australia’s finest jazz musicians around his vibraphone writing.
Jazz Music Series, Vol. 4: Take That
Volume four of John Sangster’s Jazz Music Series finds his “lively little orchestra” of leading Australian jazz players in a ten-movement suite of wit, swing and colour.
Jazz Music Series, Vol. 3: Steady Lads
Third in John Sangster’s series of suites for a lively little orchestra of some of Australia’s finest jazz musicians: ten pieces of small big-band writing with Sangster on vibraphone.
Jazz Music Series, Vol. 2: Requiem (for a loved one)
Volume 2 of five suites by John Sangster, played by his fine small orchestra of leading Australian jazz musicians. A 1980 requiem for Janice Patricia Byrnes, nicknamed Bo Diddley.
Jazz Music Series, Vol. 1: Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Doo-wup
As John Sangster put it, "Here is the first in a series of Suites written for this lively little orchestra, a gathering that includes some of Australia's finest jazz musicians."
Uttered Nonsense (The Owl and the Pussycat)
Uttered Nonsense (The Owl and the Pussycat) sets eight Edward Lear poems, spoken with grave poise by Ivan Smith, among fourteen instrumental jazz pieces drawn from the Nonsense Books. Sangster’s large Australian ensemble answers the verse with playful colour.