Ade Ishs Trio Live at The Coolroom

Ade Ishs Trio - Red Door 
Ade Ishs- piano, David Galea-acoustic bass, Adam Donaldson- drums

Saturday 22 June at 7.30pm

With over ten albums/EPs bearing his name, Indonesia-born ade ishs celebrates stylistic diversity as reflected in his eclectic repertoire. His music has been described as “strong … and beautiful” (Ivan Lloyd, ABC Jazz, November 2013), “very uplifting” (Jazzwise, UK, March 2015), and “incredibly evocative” (Loudmouth, Australia, May 2021). More recently, “the pianist radiates as he stretches along the harmonic progressions” (Jazz and Beyond, Australia, July 2021) and “ishs’s compositions stand out as well-constructed and tuneful” (Dingo Australian Jazz Journal, October 2021).

After living his formative years in Indonesia, ade migrated to Melbourne, Australia. He has performed with Dung Nguyen (Way Out West — Australia), Geoff Kluke (Australia), Daigo Nakai (Germany), Benny Likumahuwa (Indonesia), Candra Malik (Indonesia), Reyharp (Britain), Zamil Idris (Malaysia), and many other musicians in Australia and Indonesia of various genres.

He has been invited to play at such prestigious festivals as Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Ubud Village Jazz Festival, Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues, and St Kilda Festival. 

He also served as the musical director of Celebration of Indonesia 2017, a musical depicting various Eastern Indonesian cultures in the forms of music, dance, and drama showcased to a packed crowd at the Melbourne Town Hall. From  2017–2021, Melbourne’s Radio 3ZZZ Indonesian program had him as a regular guest music expert.

Since mid-2021, ade has lived in the Australian island state of Tasmania’s north-western rural area.

‘… I have become a great admirer of his approach and desire to succeed as a contemporary jazz pianist.’
— Steve Sedergreen

‘ade ishs is one of the most engaging live jazz performers I have encountered. There is no distance between ade and his audience. Everyone is invited in and embraced by the charm of his personality, the accessibility and richness of his music and the fluidity of his improvisation which seems to respond not only to what is happening in ade’s mind and heart but to what is happening in the audience’s heart.’
— Simon Williams, Inner FM Melbourne

‘One of ishs’s greatest strengths is his ability to improvise his way around the kind of harmonic intricacies …’
— Mandy Stefanakis, Loud Mouth

‘The smile that is across his solos, the sometimes pugilistic attack, the open-heartedness, never afraid to play pretty but also never afraid to drop a dissonance, sweet-and-sour ….’

— John Hardaker, Australian Jazz.net

Band

David Galea - acoustic bass, 
"Dave is a versatile and deep musician . His professionalism and preparation is thorough. His bass playing is deeply in the groove, with beautiful rich sound and a keen ear for creating foundation as well as texture. an excellent reader and also fluent improviser, Dave is an asset to any band or project. The aspect I very much appreciate about Dave is that he is humble with a thirst to learn new things and to continue his development as a musician and human being. The two things are inseparable of course and he realises that. Dave is a gentleman and a generous soul. Smiles from David.” - David Jones: Master Drummer, Honorary senior Fellow VCA/MCM Melb Uni since 2014.

Adam Donaldson - drums
Adam is a busy 'go to' drummer sought out and used by number of Melbourne's best know jazz outfits. He performs with Ade Ishs Trio, The Hubtones, David Galea Quartet, Daimon Brunton Quintet amongst others. Daimon says 'He is the finest drummer I have ever played with and as such is a part of all of my projects.'

RED DOOR
It’s a truly terrific collection of tunes played by this wonderful trio. This album also features some superb original compositions. An exploration of different feels, tempos, dynamics and moods. Loose rolling feels, along with ballads, loping blues feels, and plenty of room for each player to stretch out and express themselves to the very best of their abilities.’ — Geoff Kluke.

Red Door is a project that was designed by Melbourne’s RMIT University to provide creative outlets for their sound and live production students in response to the COVID-19 restrictions. There are four extended tracks on the album, three composed by pianist, Ade Ishs and the fourth by bass player, David Galea. There is a warmth throughout, a musical embracing that takes up the space that can’t be filled through actual human physical contact in a lockdown. Whether this is one of the album’s purposes is difficult to know, but the cover image of an opening door by Ishs’ daughter, also portrays a sense of welcoming. This connecting through sound is quite unique to music and the trio here encompasses its myriad possibilities.

Repeated engagement with this album constantly reveals new sound relationships, new sound awakenings. There is never harshness. In this strange, uncharted time that has us all so off balance, this album is a place of refuge offering sustenance for our souls – as music should.

Siam Valley from Album RED DOOR