Keep it on the down-low, bro, but internationally acclaimed saxophonist and educator Paul ‘Pax’Andrews is possibly Perth’s best-kept jazz secret.
Keep it on the down-low, bro, but internationally acclaimed saxophonist and educator Paul 'Pax' Andrews is possibly Perth's best-kept jazz secret. The NSW-born artist performed with the Australian Saxophone Quartet, has recorded for RCA and the ABC with a host of international jazz greats, and is a member of the multi-disciplinary artistic collective Masonik. At home in Melville, Pax coaches promising kids who are WAAPA-bound, and his trio 2Out performs locally at the Midnight Fox.
Latest career highlights? There have been so many great times, from meeting Dizzy Gillespie at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2014, to receiving an artist development grant with Masonik from the Department of Culture and the Arts to go to Greece and research Rebetika, the 'Greek blues', to writing and performing the score for Solomon's Shadow, a live cinema event for Fringe World 2015.
Personal jazz god? Thelonious Monk has amazed me for my whole listening life, and still I listen as though for the first time. Monk: genius composer, band leader, pianist… Timeless!
Fantasy funeral playlist? Lush Life by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman; East St Louis Toodle-Oo by Duke Ellington; I'll Be Around by Billie Holliday.
Perth's jazz forecast? Perth is a great place for the young player to study, and the Institution (WAAPA) has now become the jam session, replacing clubs, bars and late-night dives. World-class players abound here, and with a tweak to the venue thing – more small bars and late-night venues, and less formal – we will have a thriving scene.
Jazz Music