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Johannes Luebbers Dectet
Sunday, 24th October @5:30 PM

“A superb dectet with entrancing and original compositions” Roger Mitchell, Melbourne Herald Sun & Ausjazz.net

“I don't lightly say that Johannes Luebbers is a remarkable talent... rewarding, beautiful, real music” Doug Spencer, Radio National Weekend Planet.

What is it about Perth that breeds cool, young composers like Johannes Luebbers? The prolific and talented 25-year-old WAAPA graduate recently arranged for Sinead O Connor, Dan Sultan and The Black Arm Band, The WA Symphony and The Panics and already has a swag of awards. He doesn’t shy away from the big challenges like composing for 10 musicians, getting them all onto a stage (if you’re lucky enough to be in Perth) or into the recording studio as he has done with his utterly unique hometown project, the Johannes Luebbers Dectet.

Fusing elements of classical, jazz and pop music into an engaging and accessible hybrid, the Johannes Luebbers Dectet continues to push the boundaries of large ensemble composition and playing in Australia.

“Flexibility is important to me. I love jazz, but I grew up playing classical music, listening to orchestral music, pop, rock and r'n'b. All of these sounds form part of my musical identity,” says Johannes “The instrumentation of the ensemble is pretty unique, combining standard 'jazz' instruments with those usually found in a classical setting.  By incorporating instruments like oboe, flute and french horn I can achieve an almost orchestral sound, as well as a more conventional 'jazz' texture.”

With their aptly titled album “The Exquisite Corpse of Beethoven” the JLD elegantly embraces a myriad of influences from the gorgeously textured title track to the Olivier Messiaen inspired ‘Rumour Has It’ or the post-rock flavoured cover of Cohen’s classic ‘Hallelujah’ (featuring the guitar work of WA based virtuoso Simon Jeans and vocals by Aaron Malone who fronts popular Perth rock outfit ‘Village Kid’).

“With this album I wanted to document this great group of people, but I also wanted to explore some electronic elements that are difficult to achieve live. I really enjoy the idea of using the recording studio as a creative element,” says Johannes “ We recorded it more like a rock/pop album and that brought another dimension to composition. It also gave me the opportunity to further explore working with engineer and programmer Stuart James whose skillful touch is particularly apparent on tracks ‘Ashes to Ashes’ and ‘Rumour Has It (Introduction)’”

“Since Make Some Noise (our 2008 debut) both the writing and the playing have evolved and I think we've started to develop our own sound here - there really aren't any other ensembles in Australia that sound like us.”

This album and the Johannes Luebbers Dectet herald an exciting new era in Australian contemporary music. Finally poor old Beethoven can quit rolling over and let his exquisite body of work nourish a new crop of talent on our western shores.

The Johannes Luebbers Dectet is Emily Thomas: Flute, Steph Nicholls: Oboe & Cor Anglais, Ben Collins: Alto sax and Clarinet, Sean Little: Tenor Sax, Callum G'Froerer: Trumpet, Dorée Dixon: French horn, Tilman Robinson: Trombone, Chris Foster: Piano, Nick Abbey: Bass, Ben Falle: Drums