The Gravity Project - The Gravity Project (November 2018)

The Gravity Project, led by Paul Grabowsky, (+ Rob Burke) is a nine-piece ensemble presenting a contemporary cultural prism of musical experimentation in composition and improvisation. Artistically, the overarching aim for the Gravity Project is to create a transcultural musical dialogue through a carefully structured collaboration of Japanese musicians (who are leaders in the performance of traditional Japanese music and a rapper), performing with Australian improvising and electronic focused musicians playing original music of the now.

Growing from concerts in both Australia and Japan, the Gravity Project was developed in 2017, firstly in composition by Paul Grabowsky and then documented in a recording session in Tokyo. The recording was further developed through the addition of hip-hop beats, and a detailed re-structure and deconstruction through editing and mixing (Aaron Choulai and Joe Talia). The CD has been released in Japan through the prestigious label: Apollo Sounds (September 2018) 

The foundation of the performances (compositions) is informed by the performance of the Shakuhachi and Koto through the Fuke tradition of Zen music and the gestural influence in Noh Theatre. At the heart of the music making is experimentation and the exploration of potential possibilities through the creation of a sonic ecology: elite performers from diverse backgrounds, improvising, interacting, and discovering sounds both inside and outside their area of expertise and cultural habitat. 

With the freedom to question their respective musical identities within a structured and artistically sophisticated framework, the musicians produce a combination of musical styles and sounds which creates a unique musical experience for the listener, contributing to the development of an Australian and Japanese musical identity in the 21st century. 

Paul Grabowsky: piano, melodica

Robert Burke: tenor sax, soprano sax, alto clarinet

Aaron Choulai: Sp 404r

Joe Talia: drums and electronics

Narin Dasika: trumpet

Sam Anning: bass

Masaki Nakamura: shakuhachi

Kuniko Obina: koto

1. Tokyo Overpass 13:49

2. Beat Hayashi 12:07

3. Plum Rain 07:58

4. Now Breathe In 04:54

5. Vinegar 08:15

6. Psalm 08:38

Paul Grabowsky (feat. Scott Tinkler, Erkki Veltheim, Peter Knight, Philip Rex & Dave Beck) - Moons of Jupiter (2018)

What an incredible band to be part of. The album is out and gigs have been amazing. Check it out here

Hailed as “a monumental work by musicians of great stature” (AusJazz), this project heralds a new direction and new music from Paul Grabowsky, and a renewal of one of the most important relationships in his musical career, with the astounding trumpeter Scott Tinkler plus Erkki Veltheim violin, Dave Beck drums, Phil Rex bass, Peter Knight electronics. 

Experimenting with tempo and metre, Moons of Jupiter explores the frontiers of contemporary art music, jazz and experimental rock.

1. Amalthea 14:41

2. Thebe 12:08

3. Europa 07:18

4. Io 08:11

5. Callisto 12:47

6. PasiphaeI 13:16

7. Ganymede 09:54

Rob Burke / George Lewis / Paul Grabowsky / Mark Helisa - Shift (2017)

Released June 20, 2017 

The music on this CD is the result of four musicians with a background in jazz coming together to experiment and create music without the need for critical approval either from institutional oversight or industry-enforced norms and prerequisites. And because each is free to express himself as a collaborating individual without genre-based limitation, the music they create is ‘free’ music. As well as the analogue instruments, the music has input from the shapeshifted voice of the Ableton controller, a machine operated by George Lewis that records phrases and snippets of music in situ, digitally alters them and feeds them back into the music-making process, providing the musicians with another cue to which they can react.

The music, as all music does, starts with an idea and the enthusiasm of the players to chase it, to play with it as well as to play it, to use their expertise and experience to de- and re-construct it, to improvise around it and eventually to reconcile it in a synthesis that satisfies them and gives the willing listener a new and exciting aural experience. This is music that liberates. -Andrys Onsman

01. Shift 5:54 Quartet 

02. Move 8:16 Quartet 

03. Carry 6:19 RB, GL, 

04. Transfer 6:11 GL, MH 

05. Transport 5:10 RB, GL, PG 

06. Convey 6:01 RB, GL, PG 

07. Relocate 9:01 GL, PG 

08. Displace 4:15 RB, MH 

09. Rearrange 4:30 Quartet 

10. Reposition 5:15 Quartet 

11. Modify 5:57 PG, MH 

Rob Burke – Tenor and Soprano Saxophone 

George Lewis – Trombone and Electronics 

Paul Grabowsky – Piano and Snare Drum 

Mark Helias – Acoustic Bass 

Recorded 26th July 2014 

Eastside Sound Recording Studio – Lower Eastside – New York USA

Engineered: Marc Urselli 

Mixed: April 14 2016, Mastered: Dec 2016 by Andrea Benassai 

Sonoria Recording Plant, Prato Italy. 

Produced by Robert Burke 

Art work by Atia Cader 

Special Thanks to: the musicians, Atia Cader, Yasmin Burke, Hanna Burke, Amali Burke – for inspiration and patience. To Monash University and the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music for the ‘research support’, Andrea Benassai for his tireless work and to Andrys Onsman for the wonderful discussions about what this all means. 

©Robert Burke 2017