Eric Dunan Quintet featuring Jayden Clark, Jodie Michael, Abel Cross, and Michael Dominis at Austinmer SLSC

The Eric Dunan Quintet pays homage to the Classic Hard Bop Quintets of the 60's. Piano, bass and drums are the engine of this ensemble. The foreground features the classic team of trumpet and tenor saxophone. Heavily influenced by the music of Horace Silver, Thelonius Monk, and The Jazz Messengers, expect bluesy soulful grooves mixed in with hard swinging solos by all members of the band with a line-up of some of Australia’s leading jazz artist featuring Eric Dunan on trumpet, Jayden Clark on tenor sax, Michael Dominis on piano, Abel Cross on bass, and Jodie Michael on drums.

The Musiciains:

Jayden Clark - Saxophone is praised by San Francisco’s “Classical Voice” for his well-crafted soloing, and possessing a thick, burnished tone on the tenor saxophone. Jayden strives to be spontaneous in his improvisational and compositional styles. He sources from the early swing and bebop era as well as modern Australian and American composers and musicians. Jayden aims to be both interesting and accessible to the common ear and unites the most advanced listener with the most unfamiliar.

Jayden’s performances include those with renowned Australian musicians such as Barney Mcall as well as invitations to play with Vincent Gardner and Reggie Thomas after taking part in the 'Essentially Ellington Competition'. In June 2016, Jayden took part in the 'Dave Brubeck Institute’s Summer Jazz Colony' in California. Here he had the opportunity to learn from and perform alongside members of the current San Francisco Jazz Collective as well as numerous other world-renowned jazz musicians/educators and students.

Michael Dominis - PIano is in his final -year student completing a Bachelor of Jazz Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He has also been a student of the Wollongong Conservatorium and has toured in America under Eric Dunan's big band. He frequently performs around the Illawarra. He is known for his incredible improvisational skills giving his playing a fluid yet spontaneous feel.

Abel Cross - Bass has worked as a professional musician, composer, and teacher since graduating the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2007. He is a dedicated ‘genre-hopper’, writing and performing with his own original contemporary music projects, and as sideman with a diverse range of musical luminaries from Australia and abroad. In recent years, Abel has grown to take a keen interest in new media project development and performance, which he continues to pursue.

Abel has worked with Dave Ades, Warwick Alder, Eddie Bronson, Cannibal Spiders, Paul Cutlan, Andy Fiddes, Matt Keegan, Bernie McGann, Nadine Pita, Jeremy Rose, Royal Headache, Phil Slater, Holly Throsby, Scott Tinkler, Han Bennink, Peter Brotzmann, Shoji Hano, Tony Malaby.

Jodie Michael - Drums started her music career in high school, she attended the Wollongong Conservatorium Of Music (WCOM) until 2007, where she was able to gain valuable experience playing in different ensembles including a big band.

She has had the privilege of playing with the following world-class Australian musicians: James Muller, James Morrison, Dale Barlow, Bobby Gebert, Katie Noonan, Carl Dewhurst, Craig Scott, Sandy Evans, Matt McMahon, Mimi Jones (USA), Camille Thurman (USA), Ingrid Jensen, Will Vinson (USA) and more.

Jodie has obtained a Bachelor of Music (Jazz Perf.) from the Sydney Conservatorium Of Music. In 2011, she traveled to New York, to study with world-class international drummers, including Michael Carvin.

Jodie was the recipient of the 2013 Jann Rutherford Memorial Award. The Award is named in honour of the late jazz pianist Jann Rutherford.

Eric Dunan - Trumpet Eric Dunan is the former Director of the Jazz Studies Program and Conductor in the Schools Band Program at the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music. He established both of these programs in 2001 and continued his work and helped build them until April 2024. After finishing a performance degree at California State University, Eric worked as a freelance trumpet player in San Francisco from 1989-2001, performing with numerous jazz, blues, and funk bands.

During the 1990’s he toured with Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, a soul-rock-jazz band. They regularly played legendary San Francisco clubs such The Fillmore as well as major festivals throughout America, where they shared billing with such bands as Tower of Power and Credence Clearwater Revival. In Australia, Eric leads his own Quintet, and has played with John Morrison, Jacki Cooper, and Fabien Hevia.