THE FRET BENDERS: LIVE AT THE VILLAGE [2026 CONCERT SERIES] // Springwood Presbyterian Church Hall, Springwood.

The Fret Benders bring together four of Australia's most distinctive guitar voices.

Guy Strazz, Ben Hauptmann, Aaron Flower, and Jess Green come together in an electrifying instrumental quartet unlike anything you've heard before.

Expect shimmering harmonies layered with fluid improvisation, rhythms that shift from meditative to fiery, and a palette that spans jazz, world, and contemporary textures. Their interplay is conversational and deeply responsive — weaving delicate acoustic lines with electrified intensity — creating music that feels both expansive and intimate, rooted in virtuosity but alive with spontaneity.

Strazz's lyrical global influences meet Hauptmann's fluid virtuosity; Flower's fearless improvisation collides with Green's bold rhythmic invention. Together they create a dynamic conversation of strings — intricate, grooving, and deeply expressive.

This is guitar music reimagined. Fiery, intimate, and unmistakably Australian.

THE FRET BENDERS feat. GUY STRAZZ, BEN HAUPTMANN, AARON FLOWER & JESS GREEN: LIVE AT THE VILLAGE [2026 CONCERT SERIES] // Saturday, 17 October 2026 // Doors 7:30 pm; Show 8:00 pm // Individual Tickets: $40/35 or Season Pass: $120

Location: Springwood Presbyterian Church Hall. 160 Macquarie Rd, Springwood NSW.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/ THE FRET BENDERS /

Four of Australia’s most distinctive guitar voices unite in an electrifying new instrumental quartet featuring Guy Strazz, Ben Hauptmann, Aaron Flower, and Jess Green. Together they weave a rich sonic tapestry that spans jazz, world, and contemporary sounds — blending Strazz’s lyrical global influences, Hauptmann’s fluid virtuosity, Flower’s fearless improvisation, and Green’s bold rhythmic invention. The result is a dynamic conversation of strings: intricate, grooving, and deeply expressive. This is guitar music reimagined — fiery, intimate, and unmistakably Australian.

/ GUY STRAZZ /

Guy Strazzz is a master guitarist and composer who has performed internationally in Australia, Europe, Africa, India, Indonesia and Japan at festivals such as Jazz Yatra (India), Jakarta Jazz, Perth and Adelaide Arts Festivals, Clusone Jazz Festival (Italy), Japan World Expo, the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne and Wangaratta Jazz Festivals, and the Adelaide International Guitar Festival. His music is deeply connected to jazz, Afro-Brazilian music, and Indian classical music. Guy has worked with diverse artists such as Dale Barlow, Matt McMahon, Don Burrows, Roger Frampton, Casey Bennetto, Bruce Cale, Sandy Evans, Greg Shehan, Ashok Roy, Krakatau, and Sandip Chatterjee. He has crossed paths and played with international guitarists such as Martin Taylor, Mike Stern, V. M. Bhatt, Slava Grigoryan, Mark Johns, George Golla, Tommy Emmanuel, and the late jazz legend Pat Martino. 

"Guy is an amazing player and a great composer."

— Mike Stern (ABC Jazztrack)


"Guy Strazz is one of my favourite Indo jazz guitarists."

— Niranjan Javeri (Downbeat)

/ BEN HAUPTMANN /

Ben Hauptmann is a prestigious touring and session guitarist based on the Central Coast, North of Sydney, Australia. Winner of the 2010 Freedman Jazz Fellowship and 2nd place winner in the National Jazz Awards at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz 2007. Ben has shared the stage with a diverse range of artists, including Mavis Staples, Joss Stone, Gurrumul Yunupingu, Paul Kelly, Neil Finn, Justine Clarke, Donny Benet, Bandaluzia Flamenco, Katie Noonan, Bertie Blackman, Jack Ladder, Lior, Bluejuice, Micheline Van Hautem, James Morrison and Tal Wilkenfeld. He is currently touring, recording and performing with Justine Clarke, Katie Noonan, Martha Marlow and Vika & Linda Bull.

"Benjamin Hauptmann is a performer who quietly, but forcefully, demands an audience's attention through his masterful solos and lush atmospheric textures. His voice is always one to be heard and his total command over his guitar sounds is a thing to be revered."

— Megaphone Oz (Review of Lekker Album Launch)

"Ben Hauptmann's solo was the kind of exhilarating exhibition that made even young jazz players point at him and shake their heads in incredulity... as if the whole universe was rushing past you."

— John Clare, AustralianJazz.net (Review of Jazzgroove Summer Fiesta) Source

/ AARON FLOWER /

Aaron Flower (also known as Baz) is one of Australia’s most versatile musicians. Winner of the 2007 National Jazz Award and finalist for the 2013 Freedman Jazz Fellowship. Aaron has performed with Vince Jones, ‘Danaïdes’ (FKA The Alcohotlicks), Kate Wadey, Elana Stone, Luke Escombe And The Corporation, The Cope Street Parade, The Swinging Blades, The OB3, and most notably his critically acclaimed solo project, AKA BAZ. Based on the Central Coast of NSW, Aaron works as a session guitarist and as a composer, arranger, and producer. 

“Aaron Flower, one of Sydney’s most versatile musicians”

— John Shand (Sydney Morning Herald)

“Flower’s compositions are as masterful as his playing”

— Jessica Nicolas (The Age)

/ JESS GREEN /

Jess Green (AKA Pheno) is an Australian guitarist and vocalist. In her twenty-year career, she has established herself as a genre-defying performer and composer. She has performed with jazz & blues luminaries including The catholics, The Vampires, Sandy Evans, Jim Conway and Renee Geyer, as well as contemporary artists including Laura Jean, Katie Noonan and Georgia Mooney. She has recorded two instrumental jazz albums, ‘The Singing Fish’ and ‘Tinkly Tinkly’, and released art-pop music under the pseudonym Pheno. Recent projects include Strange Attractors, a duo with drummer Dylan van der Schyff, and an Indian/Jazz fusion project, Shakti Spirit, with Sandy Evans. Jess composes for theatre, visual arts and dance. Recent commissions include The Australian Art Orchestra, renowned visual artist Patricia Piccinini and Luminescence Chamber Singers.

"....it all hangs beautifully together in a deceptively simple manner, but you are always aware there is a shrewd compositional mind behind it."

— Jazz Australia

“Green’s virtuosity bears comparison with the work of Mary Halvorson; but most of all Strange Attractors conjures the spirit of experimental guitarist Derek Bailey”

— Rhythms Magazine

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/ LIVE AT THE VILLAGE /
Live at the Village has been presenting music concerts in the iconic Blue Mountains since 2009. We are dedicated to presenting the best Australian contemporary composers and musicians in an eclectic range of music styles, including world, jazz, soul, folk, and all improvised music genres. Performances occur at Springwood in the lower Blue Mountains, just over an hour west of the centre of Sydney. Live at the Village members are professional musicians of national standing and music lovers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/ THE SCHEDULE /

Date: Saturday, 17 October 2026.
Venue: Springwood Presbyterian Church Hall. 160 Macquarie Rd, Springwood NSW.

Doors Open: 7:30 pm
First Set: 8:00-8:45 pm
Second Set: 9:15-10:00 pm

Tickets: General Admission $40 or Concessions $35; Or included as part of a Season Pass: $120

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------