Dr Sandy Evans

Dr Sandy Evans

Lecturer

PhD

Arts,Design & Architecture
School of the Arts and Media

Sandy is a saxophonist, composer, educator and music researcher with a passion for improvisation and new music.

She has played with and written for some of the most important groups in Australian jazz since the early 1980s, toured extensively in Australia, Europe, Canada and Asia, and been featured on over 40 albums. She leads the Sandy Evans Trio and Sextet, and co-leads Clarion Fracture Zone and GEST8. She is a member of Mara!, The catholics, the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO), Ten Part Invention, austraLYSIS, Friends of Kim Sanders, Atma Blu, Waratah, Andrew Robson’s Tallis project, Ben Walsh’s Orkestra of the Underground and SNAP. Sandy recently led her own group at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, toured Europe with Mara!, was a featured soloist in Lloyd Swanton’s widely acclaimed Ambon project, and performed with Alon Ilsar.

Sandy has an extensive composition portfolio and has received many commissions from leading jazz, improvising and new music ensembles. Recent commissions include a suite in honour of legendary Australian saxophonist the late Bernie McGann, and a suite Rockpool Mirror based on photographs by Tall Poppies’ Belinda Webster. Wesleyan University Press released Sandy’s composition Testimony, a major work about the life and music of Charlie Parker with poetry by the Pulitzer Prize winning American poet Yusef Komunyakaa, in the US in 2013. Sandy composed Kali and The Time of Change, the title track of The Sirens debut CD.

Sandy has a keen interest in Indian classical music. She collaborates regularly with Sydney-based Indian musicians Sarangan Sriranganathan and Bobby Singh and recently released the CD Kapture, a tribute to South African freedom fighter Ahmed Kathrada. ‘…a masterfully performed fusion of jazz and Indian classical musics… the improvisations exemplify the virtuosic energy that is a key resonance between jazz and Indian classical music.’ Cummins 1/6/15 www.musictrust.com.au

Her CD Cosmic Waves, featuring South Indian mridangam virtuoso Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani and Sruthi Laya, is released in India on Underscore Records. She began collaborating with Aneesh Pradhan and Shubha Mudgal during a Churchill Fellowship visit to India in 2014 and is currently co-composing ‘Bridge of Dreams’ with them for Sirens Big Band.

She has played with and written for Great White Noise, The Bruce Cale Orchestra, the KMA Orchestra, Kristen Cornwell Quintet, the Bernie McGann Trio, Judy Bailey, the Gai Bryant Quartet and Jeremy Sawkins. Her group Women and Children First was a ground-breaking ensemble during the 1980s, undertaking an epic seven month tour by bus around the whole of Australia. While living in Scotland in 1987, she played with the saxophone quartet SAXTC and the rhythm and blues band Tam White and The Dexters.

She has toured extensively in Australia, Europe, Canada and Asia. Some highlights have been the Chicago Jazz festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, WOMAD, the Brecon Festival, the Outside In festival, the Edinburgh Festival, Montreal and Vancouver Jazz festivals, the Knitting Factory (NY) the Wangaratta Jazz Festival, the Manly Jazz Festival, Sydney and Melbourne Jazz Festivals, the Brisbane Biennial, the Adelaide Festival, Jazz Yatra (India), the Sidmouth Folk Festival and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. She has toured Russia, China, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Germany, Finland, Singapore, Taiwan, India, Fiji, Western Samoa, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Hong Kong. She has been featured in several television programs for the ABC and Scottish television as well as radio broadcasts on the ABC, BBC and WDR (Germany). She appears in the Australian jazz documentaries 'Beyond el Rocco' and 'Dr Jazz'.

Book Chapters, Journal Articles and Academic Papers 

2016

  • Book chapter: ‘Expressive Identity in the Voices of Three Australian Saxophonists: McGann, Sanders and Gorman’ in: Antipodean Riffs, Essays on Australasian Jazz, Johnson, Bruce. Sheffield, South Yorkshire: Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2016.

 

2015

  • Journal article: Expressive Identity in the Voices of Three Australian Saxophonists: McGann, Sanders and Gorman, Jazz Research Journal www.equinoxpub.com/Jazz

 

2013

  • Book chapter in Testimony: A Tribute to Charlie Parker: with new and selected jazz poems, Komunyakaa, Yusef. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press; 2013.
  • Presented a paper Is it Jazz, or is it Indian and Wrong? at the Ownership and Creative Practice in World Music Colloquium, Macquarie University
  • Co-presented a paper Testimony: A Tribute to Charlie Parker with Yusef Komunyakaa at Wesleyan University Music Colloquium, US
  • Presented a paper Meetings At The Table of Time: An Australian Saxophonist and Carnatic Improvisers in Dialogue at Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium, University of Guelph, Canada
  • Presented a paper Identity and the Performance of Carnatic Jazz Intercultural Music at Macquarie University, MMCCS

2011

  • Panel discussion at the Macquarie University India Research Centre symposium on the performing arts in India

2010

  • Presented a paper Carnatic Jazz Intercultural Music at HDR conference at Macquarie University, MMCCS

Featured Articles, Addresses and Interviews

2008

  • ‘Celebrating Humanity Through The Creative Process’, Peggy Glanville Hicks Address written and presented by Sandy Evans for The New Music Network; broadcast on ABC Fora TV; published on the New Music Network website
  • ‘In Conversation with Michael Webb’, in Extempore Journal
  • Featured in a book chapter authored by Louise Denson about Jane Bunnett and Sandy Evans, ‘One World, Worlds Apart’, in Post-colonial Distances: The Study of Popular Music in Canada and Australia. B. Dimond, D. Crowdy & D. Downes (Eds.) Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press. 2008

2004

  • ‘The 21st Century Performer’, Sandy Evans, Daryl Pratt & Margery Smith interviewed by James Nightingale. Published in Sounds Australian

 

1995

  • Interview with Geoff Page for the National Library of Australia, Oral History and Folklore collection

The following books have references to Sandy Evans’ work:

         Shand, John. Jazz: The Australian Accent. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. 2009.

         Clare, John. Bodgie Dada and the Cult of Cool: Jazz in Australia since the 1940s. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. 1995.

         Sharpe, John. I Wanted to Be a Jazz Musician. Canberra: National Film and Sound Archive. 2008.

         Johnson, Bruce. The Oxford Companion to Australian Jazz. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 1987

Composition Portfolio

 

* indicates a commissioned work

 

For the Australian Art Orchestra

Instrumentation: 5 Saxophones (doubling woodwinds), 3 Trumpets, Trombone, Bass Trombone, Tuba, Violin, Bass, Drums, 2 Percussion, Piano, Keyboards, Guitar

 

  • Feast and Lament For the Warrior Queen *

 

  • Testimony: The Legend of Charlie Parker * Collaboration with Yusef Komunyakaa featuring 11 Vocalists, Narrator and Big Band (as above)

   

     Overture

     Boxcars

     Purple Dress

     Deep South

     A Day like Today

     Abel and Cain

     Black Cockatoo

     Camarillo Part 1

     Camarillo Part 2

     Addie’s Boy

     Pree’s Funeral Song

     Barrow Street

     A Soft Touch For Strings

     Baroness Pannonica

     Finale and Coda

 

  • The Beatitudes* Extended work (70 minutes) with libretto by Nigel Jamieson

 

Instrumentation: Children’s Choir, 8 vocal soloists and large ensemble – String Orchestra, Flute and Piccolo, Bb Clarinet/Bb Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone/Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Bb Trumpet, Tenor Trombone, Tuba/Euphonium, Didjeridu in D and Eb, Harp, Piano, Keyboard, Organ, Computer, Electric and Acoustic Guitar, Oud, Acoustic and Electric Bass, 5 Percussionists

 

For Ten Part Invention

Instrumentation: 4 Saxophones, 2 Trumpets, Trombone, Piano, Bass, Drums

  • Unidentified Spaces *

Mvt 1: Fortea Two

Mvt 2: The Heart

Mvt 3: North Pole

Mvt 4: Queensland

 

  • Tall Stories *
  • Long Shadows*
  • Wind Over The Lake*
  • Modern Companion*
  • Bittersweet and Cry*
  • The Invisible Man*
  • Program For Ten*

 

For The Sandy Evans Trio

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Bass, Drums

  • Not in the Mood
  • Pole Position
  • Hungry Head Shuffle
  • Reflections on Saraswati
  • Gentle Love
  • Mountview
  • Saha
  • Skedaddleology
  • Tom The Leprechaun and His Idiotical Frequencies
  • Triumphal Arch
  • Sunlight On Tears
  • Last Dance
  • One For Harry
  • Elvinesque
  • Jabiru
  • Och Aye The Groove
  • Neither This Nor That
  • Beehive Heaven
  • The Secret Garden
  • Circumbendibus Rapt (Co-composed with Brett Hirst)
  • Snake Gully
  • Venus and The Dog Star
  • Come On Mama
  • Like Wine
  • Morning Prayer
  • Kaleyard Blues

 

For Bernie McGann Quartet

Instrumentation: 2 Saxophones, Bass, Drums

  • Eulogy For a Friend
  • Snap
  • Which Way Up
  • One For the Road

 

For Celebrating Bernie McGann Quintet

Instrumentation: 2 Saxophones, Trumpet, Bass, Drums

  • Interstellar Conversations*
  • Tales of the Incredible Antarctic Sax Explorer and his Conniving Manager*
  • For Addie*
  • Addison Road Jive*

   

For the Sandy Evans Sextet

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, Piano, Bass, Drums

  • When The Sky Cries Rainbows*
  • Spectre*
  • Chromatic Dispersion*
  • Heedrum-Hodrum Headbanging*
  • Violet*
  • Alexander’s Dark Band*
  • Spectre of the Broken*
  • Indra Slays the Demon Serpent*
  • Broken*
  • Indigo Hues*
  • 40 Degrees*
  • Hand in Hand*
  • With the Sun Behind Me*
  • Siva’s Wide Sky (co-composed with Guru Karaaikkudi Mani)

 

For Clarion Fracture Zone

Instrumentation: 2 Saxophones (one doubling clarinet), Piano and sampler, Bass, Drums

  • Blue Shift
  • Feather Star
  • The Wild Uproar
  • Lest We Forget
  • Marine Graves
  • Nudibranch
  • Boogie At The Red Sofas Bar
  • Lilac Embers
  • Your Touch on My Skin
  • Jacaranda
  • What This Love Can Do (60 minute suite in 5 movements)

 

For Clarion Fracture Zone with the Martenitsa Choir

(Female Bulgarian choir)

  • Kogoto Obitcha Dushata Mi Part 1 and 2
  • Stirring the Waters (co-composed with Alister Spence)

 

For Saxophone Quartet

  • Five Portraits of Bellingen *

Dawn Over Gumbangyir Country                                               

Urungutang                                                 

The Beautiful Bellinger                               

Boggy Creek Bop                                         

Street Party

  • The Rose of Sharon

 

For GEST8

Instrumentation: 2 Saxophones (one doubling Clarinet), Trumpet, Koto, Computer, Guitar, Bass, Drums

  • Winter Flight*
  • The March of Captain Vanstone*
  • A Shower of Sunbeams*
  • Inner Space*
  • School’s Out*
  • Autobus

 

For The catholics

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Trombone/Pocket Trumpet, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Slide Guitar or Piano Accordion

  • DPM *
  • Margarita Thing
  • Floating On An Emerald Green Sea
  • And She Walked into the Field Where the Man Slept Wearing First Orange and Then Blue*
  • Clouds Form Shapes of Eagles’ Wings*
  • Afternoon Haze*
  • Easy Walk

 

For Waratah

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Koto/Bass Koto, Percussion

  • The Bali Boys
  • Prayer for East Timor
  • A Bend In The River
  • Dancing On Rainbows (Co-composed with Satsuki Odamura and Tony Lewis)
  • Time Never Sleeps (Co-composed with Satsuki Odamura and Tony Lewis)

 

For Bulgarian Women’s Choir

  • Peperuda*

 

For Bulgarian Women’s Choir and MARA!

Instrumentation: 2 Saxophones, Voice/Tapan, Bouzouki, Bass

  • El Selzata Na Klouna*
  • Evkeliptov San*
  • Povik Ot Iuk Daletchen

 

Compositions for Indian jazz intercultural ensembles

Instrumentation: 2 Saxophones, Trumpet, Bass Trombone, Piano, Bass, Drums, Bamboo Flute, Electric Mandolin, Mridangam, Ghatam

  • Sacred Cow’s Tail

 

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Trumpet, Bass Trombone, Drums, Bamboo Flute, Electric Mandolin, Mridangam, Ghatam

  • Meetings at the Table of Time: *

Anbe Sivam (Co-composed with Guru Karaaikkudi Mani)

An Indian in Paris

Drums Across the Ganges

 

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Piano, Bamboo Flute, Electric Mandolin, Mridangam, Ghatam

  • Big Swell
  • Big Swell Reprise
  • Eagle Landing at Cape Leveque
  • Clouds At Dawn

 

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Bamboo Flute, Electric Mandolin, Mridangam, Ghatam

  • Cosmic Waves At West Beach

 

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Sousaphone, Bamboo Flute, Electric Mandolin, Mridangam, Ghatam

  • The Agile Wallaby

 

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Electric Bass, Bamboo Flute, Electric Mandolin, Mridangam, Ghatam

  • Floating On An Emerald Green Sea

 

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Bass, Tabla, Sitar/Carnatic Male Voice, Drums

  • Robben Island*
  • The Censors*
  • A Free Mind*
  • Lokasvatanatrataa*
  • Freedom, Priceless Above Rubies*
  • Passive Resistance, No Regrets*
  • No Children Here*
  • Explosion of Memory*

 

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Bass, Sitar/Carnatic Male Voice

  • Seven Stories of Dreams Extended Work (60 minutes)

One Dream 

One Planet 

One Justice 

One Prayer 

One Breath 

One Hope

Peace

 

For Rockpool Mirror (collaboration with photographer Belinda Webster)

Instrumentation: Saxophone duets with Koto, Tabla, Bass, Bass Trombone, Drums, AirSticks

  • Morning Mist
  • Rock Warrior 1
  • Rock Warrior 2
  • Gum Tree
  • Blue Gorge
  • Curved Tree
  • Rock Water Temple
  • Tree Tangle
  • Lake Yarrunga
  • Lake Yarrunga Colours
  • Rock Face
  • Cliff Edge
  • Dasavatara

 

For Sirens Big Band

Instrumentation: 5 Saxophones (doubling woodwinds), 4 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Bass Trombone, Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, Rapper

  • Kali and The Time of Change (Rap by Harri Harding) *

 

Text-sound collaboration

  • Black Desert (Co-composed with Hazel Smith) *

 

For The String Contingent

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Violin, Guitar, Double Bass

  • Sahayog (Co-composed with Holly Downes)

 

For Soprano Saxophone, Trombone and Contrabass Clarinet

  • Transcendent Arc

 

For Alto and Baritone voices, Tenor Saxophone, Bass, Piano, Drums

  • Blood Red Moon (Text by Ngareta Rossell)

 

For The Seymour Group

Instrumentation: Flute/Alto Flute/Piccolo, Clarinet/Soprano Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Horn, 3 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Bass Trombone, Didjeridu, Violin, Double Bass, Prepared Piano, Drum Kit

  • Unit 2, Cloud 9*

 

For Dance

  • Yellow Dog* (Co-composed with Peter Kennard)
  • Kapture* (Co-composed with Bobby Singh)

 

For Theatre

  • In Our Name* (Co-composed with Sumawi Hussain)

 

Film Soundtrack

  • Hatred*

 

Music for advertising  

Clients include:

  • Oz Lotto
  • Commonwealth Bank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CDs featuring Sandy Evans’ compositions and/or improvisations

 

  

Sandy Evans Trio with Bobby Singh and Sarangan Sriranganathan

  • Kapture (Rufus Records) 2015

Sandy Evans and Yusef Komunyakaa

  • Testimony: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Wesleyan University Press) 2013

 

Sandy Evans Sextet

  • When the Sky Cries Rainbows (SET) 2011

 

Sandy Evans Trio

  • The Edge of Pleasure (SET) 2009
  • Not in the Mood (Newmarket) 2002

 

With Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani and Sruthi Laya

  • Cosmic Waves (Underscore Records) 2012

 

GEST8

  • Kaleidoscope (Tall Poppies) 2008

 

SNAP

  • Boggy Creek Bop (Rufus) 2010

 

Clarion Fracture Zone

  • Canticle (Rufus) 2002 (with the Martenitsa Choir)
  • Less Stable Elements (Rufus) 1996
  • What This Love Can Do (Rufus) 1994
  • Zones on Parade (Rufus) 1993
  • Blue Shift (Rufus) 1990-1991

 

Ten Part Invention

  • Live at Wangaratta (ABC) 2005
  • Unidentified Spaces (Rufus) 2000
  • Tall Stories (Rufus) 1994

 

The catholics

  • Yonder (Bugle) 2013
  • Inter Vivos - Live in Concert (Bugle) 2009
  • Village (Bugle) 2007
  • Gondola (Bugle) 2006
  • Choice (Bugle) 2000
  • Barefoot (Bugle) 1999
  • Life On Earth (Rufus) 1997
  • Simple (Rufus) 1994
  • The catholics (Rufus) 1992

MARA!

  • Tra Parole E Silenzio (Mara Music) 2012 (with the Martenitsa Choir)
  •  Sezoni (Real World) 1997 (with the Martenitsa Choir)
  • Ruino Vino (Rufus) 1995
  • Don’t Even Think (Sandstock) 1990

 

The Australian Art Orchestra

  •    Kindness/Udarta (Compilation, The Australia India Council) 2012
  •    The Chennai Sessions (AAO) 2008
    • Ruby (AAO) 2005
    • The Theft of Sita (Newmarket) 2000
    • Into The Fire (AAO) 1999
    • Passion (ABC) 1999

 

The String Contingent

  • Facets (TSC) 2015

 

The Bernie McGann Trio

  • Playground (Rufus) 1997

 

The Gai Bryant Quartet

  • Music (GB) 2002
  • High Jinx (Rufus) 1998

 

Women and Children First

  • Missin’ (self released cassette) 1985
  • Women and Children First (Shock Records) 1984

 

Great White Noise

  • Sedition JJJ 1983

 

Atma Blu

  • Atma Blu (Chris Fields) 2016

 

austraLYSIS

  • History Goes Everywhere (Tall Poppies) 2015
  • Lysis Lives (Tall Poppies) 2002
  • Present Tense (Tall Poppies) 1997
  • The Next Room (Tall Poppies) 1994
  • Moving the Landscapes (Tall Poppies) 1992

Hazel Smith with austraLYSIS

  • Poet Without Language (Rufus Records) 1994

 

Lloyd Swanton

  • Ambon (Bugle Records) 2015

                                                                                                                     

Andrew Robson

  • Songbook (Lamplight) 2013
  • Bearing The Bell (ABC) 2008

 

Kim Sanders and Friends

  • Bent Grooves (MMKS) 2007

 

Kristen Cornwell Quintet

  • Sea Journey (2000)
  • Spiral (2004)

 

Mohsen Soltany Sand

  • Australian Dream 2002

 

Paul McNamara

  • Duo Logic (Rufus) 1999

 

Jeremy Sawkins

  • Toys (Rufus Records) 1994

 

Judy Bailey and Friends

  • Sundial (ABC) 1993

 

Jamie Fielding

  • Notes From The Underground (Australian Independent Jazz Artists) 1983

 

Sirens Big Band

  • Kali and The Time of Change 2012

 

Compass Quartet

  • Ode To An Autorickshaw (Earshift) 2011

 

 

 

Location
Robert Webster

Australia Council Fellowship, Music, 2017-2018

APRA AMCOS Art Music Award to compose ‘Bridge of Dreams’, 2016

Vice Chancellor’s Commendation for Academic Excellence, PhD Macquarie University, Sydney, 2014

Churchill Fellowship, 2014

Performance of the Year, Art Music Awards, for The Australian Art Orchestra and Sruthi Laya, 2013

Best Independent Jazz CD, AIR Award for When the Sky Cries Rainbows, 2011

Order of Australia Medal for contribution to Australian music, 2010

Australian Jazz Musician of The Year, Inaugural Bell Award, 2003

APRA Award for Most Performed Jazz Composition, 2003

Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Award for Best Australian Jazz Recording for Playground, 1997

Young Australian Creative Fellowship, 1996

ARIA Award for Ruino Vino, 1996

Jazz Performer of the Year, Mo Award, 1996

APRA Award for Jazz Composition of the Year, 1995

Deutsche Schallplattenkritik Award nomination, Germany, for The catholics CD Simple, 1995

Jazz Times Critics’ Pick in the top 10 annual releases: The catholics CD Simple, 1995

Best Jazz Group, Mo Award for The catholics, 1995

5 star rating, DownBeat Magazine (US) for Clarion Fracture Zone CD Zones On Parade, 1994

Mo Award, Female Jazz Performer of the Year, 1993

ARIA Award, Best Australian Jazz Recording for Blue Shift by Clarion Fracture Zone, 1990

5 star rating, Jazzthetik Magazine (Germany) for Blue Shift, 1990

Jazz Times Critics’ Pick in the top 10 annual releases: Blue Shift, 1990

Coda magazine (Canada) critic’s pick in the top 10 annual releases: Blue Shift, 1990

Australian Music Centre: Represented composer

APRA AMCOS: Member

Sydney improvised Music Association: Member

Selected performances featuring Sandy Evans’ compositions and/or improvisations

 

 

2016

  • Foundry 616, Jamie Oehlers/Sandy Evans Quintet, SMH Spectrum Now Festival, Ultimo, NSW
  • Sound Lounge, Ten Part Invention, Sydney Improvised Music Association, Sydney, NSW
  • Brazilian Tour, Australia Now Festival:

‘The Arrival’ with Ben Walsh’s Orchestra of the Underground,

Guest soloist with The Black Arm Band,

Collaboration with Brazilian percussionist Vitor da Trindade

  • Twilight Tunes, Io Myers Studio, UNSW, Featured soloist with tabla player Maharshi Raval and pianist Alister Spence

 

2015

  • Live At The Village, premiere of Lloyd Swanton’s ‘Ambon’ Springwood, NSW
  • Bali Arts Festival with UNSW Balinese Gamelan, including John Peterson’s ‘Shadow Dances’, Denpasar, Indonesia
  • Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, Sandy Evans/Brodie Jarvie Quartet, Scotland, UK
  • European tour with Mara!, including Tuscia Opera Festival, Infrusoni Festival and Tempietto Concert Series, Italy and Sidmouth Folk Festival, UK
  • Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall, TedX, premiere of ‘Transcendent Arc’ by Sandy Evans
  • Sound Lounge, premiere of ‘Celebrating Bernie McGann’ for Sydney Improvised Music Association, Sydney, NSW
  • Camelot Lounge, premiere and CD launch of Kapture, Marrickville, NSW
  • St Luke’s Hall, premiere of 6 hour improvising event ‘Play For A Day’, Enmore, NSW
  • Glebe Justice Centre, premiere of new works for 3 saxophone improvisers with Jeremy Rose and Tim Clarkson, Glebe, NSW
  • Foundry 616, premiere of new works by Sandy Evans Quartet and Ten Part Invention, Ultimo, NSW
  • The Gods, premiere of new works by Sandy Evans Trio with Bobby Singh, ANU, Canberra, ACT
  • Camelot Lounge, guest soloist with Sirens Big Band, Marrickville, NSW
  • Sandgate Town Hall, Music By The Sea Festival, Sandgate, Qld
  • Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Centenary Jazz Alumni Concert, Sandy Evans Trio
  • Sydney Conservatorium of Music, austraLYSIS concert for New Music Network
  • Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival, premiere of Ellen Kirkwood’s Mieville Project, Ultimo, NSW
  • Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival, premiere of new work for Alon Ilsar/Sandy Evans Duo, Ultimo, NSW
  • Glebe Town Hall, Koto Evolution, featured soloist with Satsuki Odamura’s koto ensemble and international guest Kazue Sawai, Glebe Town Hall, NSW

 

2014

  • Chennai December Music Season, Live broadcast for Jaya TV with Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani and Shanmuga, India
  • Melbourne Recital Centre, AAO 20th anniversary concert, Melbourne, Vic
  • Bennett’s Lane, Coltrane tribute concert and book launch by Andy Sugg, Melbourne, Vic

 

2013

  • Guelph Jazz Festival, Canada
  • Encounters India, Griffith University, Qld
  • WOMADelaide, SA

 

2012

  • Hindu Friday Review November Fest, India
  • OzAsia Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre, SA
  • Parramasala Festival, NSW
  • Melbourne International Jazz Festival, with Lloyd Swanton and Toby Hall
  • New Delhi, India: A celebration of 20 years of Australia India cross-cultural exchanges in collaboration with the Australia-India Council and RMIT
  • National Tour with Sandy Evans Indian Project for SIMA and Sound Travellers
  • Capital Jazz Festival, Canberra, ACT
  • Newcastle Jazz Festival, NSW

 

2011

  • Wangaratta Jazz Festival
  • Manly Jazz Festival

 

2010

  • Sandy Evans Trio National Tour for Sound Travellers
  • ‘Five Elements’ tour from Darwin through the Kimberley and Dampier Peninsula to Perth, WA for Tura New Music; performance at Australian High Commission, New Delhi for the launch of Parramasala Festival
  •    Macquarie University, opening of The India Research Centre, NSW
  •    Jazz Visions Festival, SIMA, Sandy Evans Trio with Sarangan Sriranganathan and Bobby Singh
  •    Manly Jazz Festival

 

2009

  •  The Street Theatre, ‘Big Voice’ (theatre production) by Moya Simpson, Canberra, ACT

 

2008

  • The Factory, live broadcast by the band Citizens of Earth for ABC Radio National’s Music Deli, Marrickville, NSW

 

2006

  • University of New England, Artists in Residence: Sandy Evans Trio, Armidale, NSW

 

2005

  • Nagoya Expo, Waratah, Japan

 

2004

  • Canadian tour by Sandy Evans Trio including Vancouver Jazz Festival, Winnipeg, Toronto, Festival International de Jazz, Montreal,

Atlantic Jazz Festival, Halifax

  • European tour by Sandy Evans Trio including Pori Jazz Festival, Finland;

Edinburgh, UK; collaboration with Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, UK

  • Berlin, performances with Christof Griese and leading European jazz musicians, Germany
  •    Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Vic
  •    ‘Ruby's Story’, collaboration between Ruby Hunter, Archie Roach, Paul Grabowsky and the Australian Art Orchestra
  •    Sydney Opera House, GEST8 (co-led with Tony Gorman) open the inaugural Jazz Now Festival, NSW

 

2003

  •   Sydney Opera House, ‘Sweet Freedom’, a concert of spirituals and liberation songs featuring Tina Harrod and Jackie Orszaczky, NSW
  •    The Kowmung Music Festival, Sandy Evans Trio with Alister Spence, NSW
  • Festival Theatre, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, ‘Testimony’, Adelaide, SA
    • Sydney Opera House, collaboration with astronomer David Malin for the opening ceremony of the International Astronomical Union’s XXVth General Assembly, NSW

 

2002

  • Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall, Sydney Festival, ‘Testimony’, NSW
  • Melbourne Concert Hall, Melbourne International Arts Festival, ‘Testimony’, Vic
    • European tour by Sandy Evans Trio including Berlin Jazz Festival; Stadtgarten, Cologne; Unterfahrt, Munich; Bimhuis, Amsterdam; Jazzclub Neue Tonne, Dresden
    •    Sydney Opera House, ‘In Four Four’, directed by Gretchen Miller for the Sydney Writer’s Festival, with authors Barbara Blackman, Brian Castro, Gretchen Miller and Gerry Turcotte, NSW

 

2001- 2002

  • Saxophonist in ‘The Theft of Sita’, a collaboration between Balinese and Australian musicians and puppeteers; performed at the Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, London, Ireland, Switzerland, Rotterdam, Denmark

 

2001-2004

  • Bronson, Evans, Robson Quintet: first performance in February 2001 for SIMA at The Side On Café, Sydney; broadcast for ABC Radio’s Live On Stage; performance at The Sydney University Jazz Festival

 

2000

  • The Australian Jazz Festival, Sandy Evans Trio, Canberra, ACT
  • Opening ceremony of the Paralympics with Waratah, Sydney, NSW
  • Performed Ross Edward's ‘Dawn Mantras’ on the roof of the Sydney Opera House at the dawn of the new millennium to a worldwide television audience

 

1999

  • Wangaratta Jazz Festival, duo concert with Dutch percussionist Han Bennink, Vic

 

1997-2000

Gai Bryant Quartet

  •   Featured soloist touring Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

 

1996

  • Soloist in the premiere of Colin Bright's ‘The Wild Boys’ for quartertone saxophone quartet and percussion quartet (Synergy)

  

1988 (to present)

  • Formed Clarion Fracture Zone (Co-leader with Tony Gorman and Alister Spence)

 

  • Australian performances for SIMA, the Melbourne Jazz co-Operative and the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Festival, Manly Jazz Festival, Tasmanian Jazz Action Society, Perth Jazz Society, Craigmoor Jazz at the Winery Festival, Victorian Arts Centre, Brisbane Biennial

 

International highlights:

1996 tour of Europe, US and Canada including Leverkusener Jazztage (Germany), West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, Vancouver Jazz Festival, (Canada), the Knitting Factory (New York)

 

          1994, tour of Europe including live broadcast for Radio Bremen (WDR    Germany)

 

1992, Jazz Yatra Festival, India, tour of Europe including Morecambe WOMAD   Festival, Bath International Festival, Jazz Café, London, Jazz in Duketown Festival, Holland and clubs in Bristol, Manchester, Munich and Berne

 

1991, tour of Europe including the Brecon International Jazz Festival, Outside In Festival, Crawley, the Jazz Café, London, the Edinburgh Festival, BBC live to air broadcast

 

1990, tour of Hong Kong, Europe, Russia, Estonia and Lithuania including the      North Sea Jazz Festival, Holland, the Bimhuis Club, Amsterdam, the Montmartre Club, Copenhagen, the Hong Kong Jazz Club and clubs in Estonia, Lithuania and Russia

 

1991 (to present)

The catholics

  •   Founding member of Lloyd Swanton’s ensemble The catholics
  •   Numerous tours of Australia, Canada and Europe, regular appearances at Australia’s leading jazz venues and festivals

 

1995 (to present)

 austraLYSIS

  •    Founding member of Roger Dean’s austraLYSIS Electroband
  •    Regular performances in Australia, including for SIMA and the New Music Network
  •    1996 UK tour including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and BBC Radio 3 live broadcast

 

1994-2004

Kristen Cornwell Quintet

 

1988 (to present)

 MARA!

  • 1988, joined Bulgarian folk jazz fusion group Mara! (Left the band in 1996 and rejoined in 2006)  
  • Performance highlights: Touring Cambridge, Belfast, Sidmouth, Trowbridge and Pontardawe Folk Festivals; arts festivals in Newbury, Penzance, the Barbican Centre, South Bank Centre and the Half Moon, London Germany: Flensburg, Stuttgart, WDR Radio Halls in Koln and Bielefeld, Tours in Belgium, Italy, France, Holland, Canada and Luxembourg, and visits to Switzerland. Vredenberg Centrum (Utrecht), Piazza Dei Signori (Padova), Olympic Plaza (Calgary), The Old Port (Brest), Gemeinschaftzentrum (Zurich) and Festivals such as Edmonton and Vancouver (Canada), Dranouter and Ghent (Belgium), Folkest Udine Casale (Italy), Lorient Interceltique (France)

 

1988

  •    Sandy Evans Quartet performed for Beyond El Rocco (Documentary about Australian Jazz)

 

1987

  •   Co-leader (with Tony Gorman) of saxophone duo and quintet, regular performances in UK
  •    Saxophonist in Rhythm and Blues band Tam White and The Dexters, regular performances in Edinburgh and Glasgow, tours of UK and Ireland
  •    Session work for BBC and ITV in Scotland including the television series, ‘The Terry Neason Show’
  •    Co-leader of saxophone quartet SAXTC (UK), regular performances in the UK, including the Edinburgh Festival

 

 

1986 (to present)

Ten Part Invention

  • Founding member and co-musical director Ten Part Invention: inaugural performances at the Adelaide Festival; regular performances for major jazz clubs and festivals in Australia; tour of the USA in 2004, including The Chicago Jazz Festival and The J. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC; tour of China, Philippines, Taiwan and Singapore in 1998

 

1986

  •   Australia Council study grant to study in Europe (Hungary, Germany, UK) and US (New York)
  •    Flautist/saxophonist in musical theatre orchestra for Cats

 

1985-86

  •    Leader of Sandy Evans Trio, performances for States of the Art, Sydney Festival and the Esso Australian Jazz Summit

 

1983-85

  •    Formed Women and Children First: regular performances for SIMA in Sydney; organised and led the ensemble on a seven month tour of Australia performing in all mainland capital cities and many remote regional centres

1984

  •    Featured soloist with Mara! at Port Fairy Folk Festival

 

1983-84

  •  Warren Daly Big Band

 

1982-84

  •  Bruce Cale’s Orchestra and Quartet
    •  Keys Music Association (KMA) Sax Quartet and Orchestra, regular performances at the Global Cultural Centre, Sydney, NSW
    • Great White Noise, regular performances for KMA; Trade Union Club; JJJ live radio broadcasts including Sedition; tour of Eastern Australia

 

1981-83

  •    Co-leader of Jazz Alive Quartet with Jeremy Sawkins, Sydney, NSW

 

1976-78

  •    Jazz duo hotel residencies with guitarist Shakieb al-Johary (Malaysia), Singapore

 

1976-78

  •    Principal flute, Singapore Philharmonic Orchestra

 

Sandy has also appeared as a soloist with Western classical music ensembles including The Australian Chamber Orchestra, The Seymour Group and Synergy.

 

Sandy founded the Jann Rutherford Memorial Award (JRMA) in 2005 and is the president of the JRMA committee. The Award, named in honour of the late jazz pianist Jann Rutherford, supports young female jazz musicians at the beginning of their professional careers. The Award is supported by organisations including partnerships with the Mietta Foundation, Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival (MWIJF), Sydney Improvised Music Association (SIMA), Jazz Queensland ABC Jazz, ABC Radio National and private philanthropy.

My Teaching

Feb 2013 – present

Founding Director

Jazz Orchestra, University of New South Wales

Director (from 2014) Intermediate Jazz Ensemble, University of New South Wales

 

July 2013 – 2016

Composition Tutor

Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney

 2014 –2016

Jazz Tutor

Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney

 

2016

Adjunct Lecturer

Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney

 

2015

Faculty member

Australian Art Orchestra Creative Music Intensive, Tarraleah, Tasmania

 

2010 – 2012

Lecturer and Tutor

Masters of Contemporary Improvisation (Coursework Masters),

Department of Media, Music, Communication, and Cultural Studies, Macquarie University. Subjects taught: Improvisation Theory, Musicianship, Improvisation Around the Globe, Rhythm Studies, Modal Studies

 

2004 – 2009

Composition, saxophone and ensemble teacher

Sydney Grammar School

 

2002 – 2009

Course Director

Founding Director (2002)

Young Women’s Jazz Workshops, Sydney Improvised Music Association

 

1976 – present

Private composition, improvisation and saxophone tuition

 

1989 – present

Improvisation and composition lectures, workshops and masterclasses

Canberra School of Music (Australian National University), Victorian College of the Arts, West Australian Performing Arts Academy, University of New England, Southern Cross University, University of Western Sydney, Queensland Conservatorium of Music (Griffith University), Elder Conservatorium, Adelaide, Hobart Conservatorium, CQ University (Mackay), Charles Sturt University (Darwin)

 

1989 – 2014

Saxophonist, presenter

Musica Viva In Schools Program with Mara!, The World According to James and The Umbrellas

 

2009

Artist in Residence

Waratah, Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University, Queensland

 

2010

Artist in Residence

Sandy Evans Trio, Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University, Queensland

 

2009

Guest saxophone teacher

Jazz Department, Australian National University, ACT

 

2007

Directed a pilot program for improvisation for music education students

Sydney Conservatorium of Music (under the direction of Michael Webb)

 

2004

Masterclasses in composition and improvisation

The University of Iowa, US

Sommerakademie Jazzworkshop, Berlin, Germany

 

1999

Artist in residence

Jazz department, University of Western Australia

 

1999

Jazz improvisation workshops

South Australian jazz co-ordination program