The fifth Jazz:NOW event - CURRENT[s] - continues at the Red Rattler Theatre in Marrickville with an evening which showcases the firebrands of our scene whose curiosity and iconoclasm are reshaping the definition of jazz and improvised music in 2025.

Theo Carbo and Hilary Geddes are two of the most distinctive Australian guitar voices working in Melbourne and Sydney respectively. Between them, they have collaborated with Mike Nock, Barney McAll, Andrea Keller, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Speak Percussion and more while accruing a slew of accolades including Freedman Fellowships and AIR Award nominations. In this special SIMA commission, they will collaborate in duo format for the first time to interrogate the intersections of their own individual practices by channelling swathes of soundscapes, swooping melodies and keen interplay.

Jacques Emery is a name that is ubiquitous in the Australian new music scene. As a composer, improvisor and multi-instrumentalist he has worked across a span of genres with such luminaries as Australian Art Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Chris Abrahams, Marcus Whale and more. His classical and percussion background as well as his vast experience in the jazz community informs his highly individualistic and celebrated approach to the double bass, which has garnered widespread recognition. In a rare performance from his large ensemble project The Wellspring - which debuted at Phoenix Central Park’s Strata II festival in 2023 - he invites a group of pre-eminent creative voices from Sydney and Melbourne - many who are credited with driving the current renaissance in Australian creative music-making and beyond - to interrogate this diverse suite of original music born out of music heard in dreams and the ecstasy of group rituals.

Says Artistic Director Novak Manojlovic; “In my eyes, Hilary and Theo have been artistically orbiting around each other for a long time - each engaging the guitar with their own highly personal and deeply exciting approach, though never meeting in such an intimate context. I can’t wait to hear what they conjure up with their sympathetic ears and minds. These musicians will then join Jacques Emery for his large ensemble The Wellspring - a project that I knew I wanted to program as soon as I had the opportunity. I had the pleasure of hearing this music at Strata II from the inside and found it to be unique, cathartic and full of life in a way that is representative of our artistic community and of contemporary music at its zenith. I look forward now to engaging with it as an audience member. This music is the high bar, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to allow it be heard.”

Theo Carbo; guitar, Hilary Geddes; guitar

THE WELLSPRING - Jacques Emery; bass, guitar, percussion, fx, Thomas Avgenicos; Trumpet, FX, Imogen Cygler; Violin, Voice, Roshan Kumarage; Accordion, Hilary Geddes; Acoustic and electric guitars, FX, Theo Carbo; Acoustic and electric guitars, FX, Chloe Kim; Percussion