Past Projects
Denson | Baartz Quartet
Denson | Baartz Quartet is a collaborative project between Louise and saxophonist/composer Martha Baartz (NSW), with the exceptionally musical bassist, Helen Russell, and up and coming Brisbane drummer, Aaron Jansz, completing the rhythm section. Denson | Baartz was featured on the opening night of the Brisbane International Jazz Festival (2017) with a beautiful and stylistically diverse program of originals. The compositions are based on universal, inspirational stories and range in style from tango, bolero and ballad, to fast swing and samba. The BIJF performance was recorded and was issued as Dark Sky in 2018. The title track (Baartz) won the 2019 North Coast Entertainment Industry Dolphin Award for best jazz composition.
Martha and Louise are well matched musically. They are committed to old-fashioned musical notions such as melody and harmony, and they both love a good groove. Both women are experienced and acclaimed performers and composers with many credits to their names. Martha has performed at national and international festivals, including the world famous Glastonbury Festival, Edinburgh Festival and Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival, as well as renowned Australian jazz venues. She possesses a tremendous depth of talent for writing, with her compositions being central to her successful past ensembles, the Baartz Freeman Sextet and Baartzy’s Brew. She has recorded three well-reviewed albums under her own name, and her music is often played on Radio National, Jazz Track.
Wild Silk Strings Project
WSSP is a cross-genre project that grew out of the long-standing musical collaboration between vocalist Ingrid James and Louise. The ensemble comprises jazz rhythm section and vocals, trumpet, saxophone and string trio. The repertoire includes Denson and Denson/James originals and classical and popular music. The arrangements exploit the wide range of timbres and textures available in such a sizable group, leaving room for personal expression in the form of solos. They incorporate changing meters, different time feels, altered melodic phrasing and re-harmonization to give these classic songs a new character and meaning.
Grants from Arts Queensland and the Queensland Conservatorium supported the WSSP recording December 2017, including collaboraton with drummer/percussionist Todd Harrison, a much sought after player from Baltimore, USA, whose vast knowledge of the rhythms of Central and South American music added depth and excitement to the tracks. The CD was co-produced with trumpeter Paul Armstrong, who also mixed the tracks. It was launched in April 2018 and received many favorable reviews.
Brisbane Contemporary Jazz Orchestra
BCJO (now BJO) was started in 2004 by saxophonist David Humphreys. Having recently settled in Brisbane, David was perplexed to find that there was no ensemble specializing in contemporary big band music, a repertoire he had grown up with and that he felt should be kept in the public ear. He set about recruiting professional players, both established and emerging, and set up a regular year long rehearsal schedule that the group maintains to this day. Louise joined early on, retired temporarily while she completed her Doctoral thesis, and re-joined in 2014 when the piano chair was again vacant.
BCJO features a number of Brisbane's most well respected musicians and performs a wide range of modern big band music including latin, funk, swing and gospel. The repertoire focuses on jazz music from the last 40 years and includes compositions and arrangements by Jaco Pastorius, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Pat Metheny (Bob Curnow), Mike Stern, Michel Camilo, Arturo Sandoval, Bob Mintzer, Matt Harris, Gordon Goodwin and many others. But the band is equally interested in Sammy Nestico, Bill Holman, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton and Woody Herman…. and increasingly, charts by local composers and arrangers. Louise now has seven charts in the band’s book, and works by Tim Davies, Wade Gregory, Brad Esbensen, Andrew Garton and Alan Slater have all been featured over the years. Another key contributor is Dave Cushman (San Gabriel 7), who has penned many solid charts featuring vocalist Ingrid James, who has been singing with the band since 2014.
BCJO has performed regularly at the Brisbane Jazz Club since its inception, including annually at the Big Band Festival. It has also appeared at the Valley Jazz Festival, Brisbane Festival (Spiegeltent) and Ambiwerra Festival. Performance highlights include backing virtuoso clarinettist Andy Firth (2017) and performing with L.A. based jazz group San Gabriel 7 (2013).
Hot Mambo
Hot Mambo was a salsa band co-directed by Louise and vocalist Wendy Murray. With a four rhythm, two horn line-up, it had a successful run for more than ten years. Although personnel chopped and changed a bit, core group members, in addition to Wendy and Louise, were Clint Allen (trumpet), Yenny Barnes (percussion), Jeremy O’Connor and Pat Farrell (bass), the late John Stefulj and the late Scott Griffiths (winds), and Sacha Kloostra (drums). They played some great charts – from Irakere, Los Van Van, Ruben Blades, Celia Cruz, Juan-Luis Guerra, Eddie Palmieri, Kirsty MacColl and many others, covering salsa, guaguancó, chachacha, bolero, merengue, bachata and even latin funk. Louise contributed several originals to the repertoire, such as ‘Hot Mambo descarga’, ‘Brillante esta la luna’, ‘Si te quiero’ and ‘¿Como escondir mi pena?’
Highlights of their years together were a 4-year residency at the Treasury Casino Brisbane, and performing at the Brisbane Festival (Spiegeltent), the Valley Jazz Festival, the Radio NAG Valentine’s Day Fundraising Costume Ball at Yeppoon (three or four times), and the Mackay Jazz Festival.
Barbod Valadi Quartet
Barbod Valadi is a guitarist/composer who migrated to Brisbane from Iran in 2011, currently living and working in Melbourne. Barbod Valadi Quintet performed Barbod’s compositions which show a unique approach to combining elements of Persian modality and rhythms with harmonic and rhythmic concepts from western jazz. The musical language draws heavily on bebop, with Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk the primary influences. And yet, the indicated mode is not Dorian or altered scale – it might be Esfahan or Chaharga, and the musicians are asked to try to imitate its micro-tonality (much easier on saxophone than on piano!) The other personnel were the late John Stefulj (winds), Steve Fischer (drums) and Eden Armstrong (bass).
Barbod Valadi Quintet performed at the Brisbane International Jazz Festival (2016), and several times at the Brisbane Jazz Club before Barbod moved to Melbourne.
