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Jim Denley
J I M D E N L E Y wind instruments
born Bulli, Australia 22/1/57
Gail Priest writing in Real Times said of his 2003 Now Now performance. "The festival opened with an undisputed master of Australian improvisation, Jim Denley. Starting with his bass flute in pieces, he gently ground the bits together, sometimes blowing into the mouth piece. He moved through woodwind instruments filling the transitions with mouthmusic, creating an imitation of digital decimation so faithful that I looked for the hidden computer. Even the squeaky floorboard was integrated. Denley is at the point where he barely needs his tools: alone he is a finely tuned instrument, a kind of sonic chameleon. Drawing all the pieces together (both compositionally and of his bass flute), he concludes with a haunting suite of dual tones and whispers that are so engaging even the traffic racing up Cleveland Street stops to listen.
He studied flute at the NSW Conservatorium with Peter Richardson who introduced him to the works of Varese, Fukushima, Messiaen and Berio. He was also influenced by improvisers such as Coltrane, Dolphy, Braxton, Derek Bailey, and David Ahern?s Sydney groups Teletopa and AZ Music.
In late 1970?s with Peter Ready (percussion). he constructed New Music Constructions from salvaged industrial materials for installations and performances.
In 1983 he studied in Tokyo with shakuhachi master Yamaguchi Goro.
Improvisation, with its emphasis on spontaneity, site-specific work and collaboration has been central to his work. He sees no clear distinctions between his roles as instrumentalist, improviser and composer.
In the 1980's he played in and co-ordinated the Relative Band with string player Jon Rose.
Between 1982 and 1985 the band included national and international guests, such as Simone de Haan, Greg Kingston, Roger Turner and Maggie Nicols from the UK, Luc Houtcamp and Marcel Cuypers from Holland, and Greg Goodman, David Moss, Eugene Chadbourne and Henry Kaiser from the USA.
He co founded Mind Body Split with Rik Rue, Sherre DeLys, Jamie Fielding and Kimmo Vennonen with whom Jim also worked in a duo. They produced performances in Sydney and Melbourne and recordings for radio and LP. Their ABC radio special Honey I?m Home became Australia?s entry to the Prix Italia.
R a d i o
Collaborations, his radio feature for the ABC won the Prix Italia in 1989. His interest in radio continued with his ABC feature Feedback Loops, a program about improvisation and recording, and Nobody Understands It Yet compiled from a concert tour to Ukraine.
With Stevie Wishart he made West of West based on their recordings and experience of Tibooburra in the Far West of NSW. A CD was of this work was released in 2000.
In August 1998 he performed live to air on the Listening Room a work called Its Hear. Subsequently he has produced a remixed version of this and a newer work A Guy in the Middle. His 2001 work, First Contact explores the sounds of the instruments resonating within his body. This trilogy explores innovative uses of microphones. In 2002 he has completed Wongaburra Birds a work for 3 elderly womens voices and bass flute and Alone at Undara. He has recently composed the music to Granados a radio poem by Martin Harrison. He has just completed SungSongSingSong a piece for 5 voices and bass flute.
G r o u p s
With the Chris Burn Ensemble, he has performed in Canada, Germany, the UK and Austria recording for BBC Radio 3 Germany's WDR and producing three CDs. He played with Chris in Brussels in late November 2001 at the Museum of Musical Instruments.
In 1986 Denley co-formed Embers with John Butcher, Chris Burn and Marcio Mattos. They toured in the UK and in Europe in the 80?s.
In 1990 he was a member of Derek Bailey?s Company for a week of concerts at The Place London. Derek also included a paragraph of Jim?s writing about solo playing in his classic text Improvisation published by the British Library. He also appeared in Derek?s film for BBC channel 4 on Improvisation.
He has played throughout Australia, Europe and the US with musicians and dancers such as Tess DeQuincy, Ross Bolleter, Chris Abrahams, Keith Rowe, Jo Truman, Fred Frith, Steve Noble, Phil Durrant, Phil Niblock, Trey Spruance, Annick Nozarti, Barry Guy, Satsuki Odamura, Tony Buck, Martin Klapper, Ikue Mori, Annette Krebs, Jacques Foshcia and Shelley Hirsch.
Adelaide Festival 2000 saw him involved with Improvising the Future with Otomo Yoshide and others.
Two Sydney musicians Robbie Avenaim and Oren Ambarchi have become important influences in his work. He has also made concerts with other young Australians notably the Bassist Clayton Thomas, percussionist Will Guthrie, electonics Matt Earl, guitarist Adam Sussman and the harpist Clare Cooper.
With Lines, (Axel Doerner, Martin Blume, Marcio Mattos, and Phil Wachsmann) he performed at numerous festivals and concerts in Austria, Germany, Australia, Belgium and France over the last 6 years. The British label Emanem has just released "Lines in Australia", a CD of material recorded on their 2000 tour.
In October 2002 he performed at Densit?s festival in France with Axel Doerner and concerts with Catherine Jauniaux (voice) and Carole Rieussec (electro).
With the turntable, computer artist Martin Ng, he performed in 1999 at the Sydney Opera House, at the What is Music? Festival in 2000 and in 2001 with Hiaz Gmachi (member of Austrian electronic quartet Farmer?s Manual) and at Waveform at UWS July 2001, they also performed at the A2D Adelaide festival 2002. http://www.churchofgrob.com/
M a c h i n e
Since 1989 he has been working with the text/music group Machine for Making Sense. (Amanda Stewart, Stevie Wishart, Rik Rue and from 89-96 Chris Mann.) http: laudanum.net/ut/biog/grounds.shtml. In 2000 they completed a 15-concert tour of Europe and North America. In March 2002 they performed "The C20th Never Happened" at the Sydney Opera House.