Five Australian bands revolutionising jazz, according to disco party-starters First Beige
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16.10.2019

Five Australian bands revolutionising jazz, according to disco party-starters First Beige

The rising band give us the lowdown on who’s doing great stuff to the storied genre.

For First Beige frontman David Versace, jazz is a heterogeneous beast.

“For me, jazz has no real defined sound,” Versace says. “I listen to a lot of the old stuff and the new stuff but have had a deep love for how broad jazz can be, it’s about expression and feeling. My knowledge of jazz theory is very limited but I have always loved incorporating elements of it when writing music for First Beige.

“It brings such a character and mood to the timbre of the music which I think is so cool that we are living in a time where the genre is constantly reinventing itself, it’s such a broad style of music that has endless possibilities with creativity.”

On who is currently changing the jazz game, try these visionaries:

Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange

Big fan of ZFEX for a long time, I feel like they are really good at reinventing dance music and keeping it constantly creative. The way they experiment with tension and release in the live band is incredible, they really know how to get a crowd moving.

HRBRT

Brizzy legends! I’ve always thought HRBRT are so good at holding down grooves that constantly stay interesting, the sections are always so sure of themselves and everything always just feels like it has its place.

Horatio Luna

Horatio Luna brings the heavy-hitting stuff into this nu-jazz thing, such a fan of the way Henry [Hicks] grooves on the bass – I’ve never heard anyone play quite like him. I love the way he gives you a taste of some insane bass shredding but knows the exact amount to play before he goes back into the main groove. It really leaves the listener wanting more.

Godtet

These guys are absolutely insane; when they play, they catapult you into the stratosphere and beyond. They are so good at creating a sparkling introspective ambience but holding a groove underneath to give it that drive.

Jordan Rakei

Just love this guy’s music so much, he’s an insane composer and I love the way he has really shined a light on jazz elements within pop music. I think that is a really hard thing to do these days, it’s always so creative and I think it shows great musicianship when a very skilled artist knows how to hold back musically and give the song what it needs rather than just going all in.

Find out more about First Beige at their Facebook page.

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