MADE NOW MUSIC is delighted to be launching the 3rd album of the Brisbane juggernaut Ensemble Sooon - “Septet for the End of Messiaen” which is a brilliant new collection of works from the pen of of Martin Kay and the collective mind of Ensemble Sooon. Supported by the enigmatic Brandon Mamata on solo guitar and hosted by the lovely crew at Vacant Assembly (as a part of their open weekend programming) - let’s warm up the warehouse.
Once Upon a Time, Brentley Frazer wrote a poem based on Olivier Messiaen’s famous work Quartet for the End of Time, though in a most oblique and localised way. A father escapes the city on a road trip, rescuing his daughter from the 'suburban bardo' Danielle Bentley narrates the entire poem at structural nexuses, emerging from landscapes connecting cities. Kayleigh Pincott sings flotillas of poetic flotsam and jetsam, spontaneous, drifting countermelodies. The music is joyful, raucous, and complex, melding treacherous notations with improvised mirages. In such a project, visions are interwoven. Performers bring their unique voice, feel, and creativity. Ensemble Sooon features Danielle Bentley, on cello and vocals, Nozomi Omote on drums, and myself on saxophone, plus Carl Harvoe on trumpet, Brodie McAllister on trombone, Kayleigh Pincott on vocals, and Annie Silva-McKnight on double bass. Zac Sakrewski will be playing double bass for the launch.
ENSEMBLE SOOON
Ensemble Sooon situate themselves at the porous boundaries of improvisation and Indie-classical experimentation, straddling open-form compositions and third-stream structures, using notation as a springboard and as a canvas to explore contemporary notions of individual and collective action through a swirling sonic palette.
Martin Kay is a saxophonist and composer with an array of releases from large ensemble Forage, trio Song Fwaa, and his solo tenor sax album chronicling fantastical tardigrade migration patterns. Danielle Bentley is a versatile cellist with an uncanny talent for improvisation and a classical technique to bring the sounds. Nozomi Omote has an astonishing imagination bringing a percussion palette from the everyday object.
BRANDON MAMATA
Brandon Mamata, on a scale of 3 to 70, is a golden section when it comes to support acts and breaking audiences. His guitar playing is sublime and his programming non pareils. Fresh from playing a series of 20 concerts at the world expo in Japan, we have the honour of hearing him precede what will come. He will not only establish for a while, what is in the present moment, but also hark forward to what will soon be gone. As far as solo acts go, he is the best.
MNM acknowledges that we are located on the traditional lands of the Turrbal and Jagera nations. We extend our respects to their ancestors and elders past and present and emerging.
—Artwork Chloe McAllister—