The Umbrellas are an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

ensemble formed in 1985 to play

Peter Dasent Peter Dasent is a New Zealand born composer, pianist and songwriter who has lived and worked in Sydney, Australia since 1981. He played keyboards in the bands Spats, and The Crocodiles. He leads the chamber-jazz group the Umbrellas, is writing ...

's compositions. The group has published five full-length albums. All are still available, the first four as rereleases.

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

based, the group's style has been described as unpredictable, quirky, surreal, and influenced by Italian film music. The band members improvise in order to flesh out the characters in each composition's "play". The Italian connection is reinforced by the ''Bravo Nino Rota'' tribute album and by founder Dasent himself. As he states in a Jazz Australia interview, "In 1976 my local cinema, in a moment of inspired programming unusual in Wellington, New Zealand, at the time, took to screening Fellini films on Sunday nights. I would watch these amazing creations, and then find myself singing the theme music all the way home. When I moved to Sydney in 1981 I heard Hal Wilner’s wonderful tribute album Amarcord Nino Rota, with the sublime piano solos by Jaki Byard, Bill Frisell’s interpretation of “Juliet Of The Spirits” (actually his first recordings) and of course Carla Bley’s arrangement of 8 1/2. By then I’d realised I was listening to music that I would live with for the rest of my life."

Instruments

*James Greening, trombone *Andrew Robson, saxophone *Zoe Hauptmann, bassist *Toby Hall, drummer and vibes *Ian Wilkie, marimba

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, ''Bravo Nino Rota'' , Best Jazz Album , , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umbrellas, The Australian jazz ensembles 1985 establishments in Australia