Personnel
Tony Gorman composer, leader
Sandy Evans composer, leader, saxophones
Paul Cutlan saxophone, bass clarinet
Phil Slater trumpet
Satsuki Odamura koto
Greg White computers, electronics
Carl Dewhurst guitar
Steve Elphick bass
Simon Barker drums
"Gorman and Evans have something very special here. I rate it as Evans’s best band ever, and she has had some cracking ones.”
GEST8 (Gorman Evans Sandy Tony!) is an improvising ensemble comprising 8 of Sydneyˆs leading improvisers under the direction of Sandy Evans and Tony Gorman.
The band made its debut performance in 2004 at The Studio at The Sydney Opera House for the JazzNow festival and followed up with concerts at the Side On Café, the Sound Lounge and the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues.
“The smaller combinations derived from within the ensemble provided their own joys”
The music was developed with the assistance of a Creative Development Grant from the Australia Council.
Each of the players is a virtuoso on their instrument with a strong original sound, renowned for outstanding creative ideas and conceptual breadth and imagination.
Their album Kaleidoscope was released by Tall Poppies in 2007. It stands as a groundbreaking work in contemporary Australian improvised music. It is now available on Bandcamp and on streaming platforms.
The band explored the interface between improvisation and composition in new ways; using unusual instrumental combinations to develop an original musical language informed by the collective expertise of the players. This includes jazz, free improvised music, traditional Japanese and Korean music, computer music, funk, rock, contemporary classical music, circus music and various forms of folk.
