Peter Farrar's High 5

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

Peter started playing saxophone at age 10 and has since studied at the Sydney Conservatorium. While at the Conservatorium he studied with Dale Barlow, Bill Motzing and Mike Nock. He has performed with a broad cross section of leading artists and groups including Mike Nock, Jim Denley, Rod Cooper, Kris Wanders, Dave Panichi, Clayton Thomas, the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, the Splinter Orchestra, and the African group Usutu. Peter is also a member of the quartet Farfinkel Pugowski that focuses on finding new ways of improvising and composing. As a saxophonist, Peter is working to develop a personal sound logic to be used for improvising. You can read a review of Peter’s performance with the Dave Panichi Septet on this website.

1. CAPTAIN BABY AND THE ANZAC BIZKIDS - Wangarratta 2006

Jeff Henderson is an improvising multi-instrumentalist, predominantly a saxophonist from Wellington, New Zealand. This performance at Wangarratta was a very special occasion, mostly because of the musicians who were recruited specifically for the gig. On drums was Darren Moore, who was living in Singapore at the time. On bass was Brett Hirst, originally from NZ but lives in Sydney. James Wilkinson on trombone who is an exceptional musician from Melbourne, and finally Gerard Crewdson on trombones and cornet, another New Zealander who lives in poverty on a farm in Port Kembla (south of Wollongong). It was a particular act of generosity from Jeff to have Gerard in the group. As far as I know, none of the musicians had played with each other apart from Jeff who had played with each of them. They played a two hour set and Jeff had structured the whole thing the night before, the music moving from dense sound blocks, to an intense drum solo to a beautiful Chinese melody, to a whimsical Ayler-esque fanfare. It was clear that the musicians had full respect for each other and the music, and there was a sense of selflessness in everyone’s playing. This was a one-off performance which I am glad to have witnessed.

2. SACHIKO M – The Studio Sydney Opera House 2002

Sachiko M played a solo set for the “What is music” festival 2002 at the Studio. The night was an introduction for me to the world of improvised electronic music that is so important to today’s creative musicians. Also on the bill that night was Robbie Avenaim, Oren Ambarchi, Otomo Yoshihide, Voice Crack and others. Sachiko’s set stood out because it revealed to me the physical properties of sound and how powerful these things can be. She played a loud sine tone basically unchanged for a long time. Maybe twice in the set the tone was altered slightly but essentially it was static. The music was so physical it was as though the act of hearing this sound weakened my other senses. I had the feeling that the sound was affecting my visual senses stronger than my sight was. I completely lost a sense of time, and I have always thought that music is successful if it accomplishes this. Sachiko’s set was a small revelation for me.

3. MESSIAEN – Sydney Town Hall 2001 & Sydney Opera House 2002

I will actually include two Messiaen concerts here. The first was at Town hall in 2001 while I was at high school. The first piece was L’Ascension for orchestra. The second piece was Chronochrome for orchestra. The music was unlike anything I had heard at the time. A particular section in Chronochrome – the bird call section – stood out to me. It was so dense. Similar to the Sachiko M gig it was very physical and went straight to the senses. The music in both pieces was very colourful. The second concert was at the opera house in 2002 and the piece was I think the last orchestral work Messiaen composed. The piece has a sense of completeness and finality, as though he knew this was his last major work. The many facets and stages of his career are all present here, modal melodies, complex rhythmic structures, colourful percussion, serial techniques, and of course the bird calls. Apparently Australian birds are used in the piece though I didn’t notice them.

4. STEVE COLSON QUARTET - AACM New York Community Church, May 2006

I have never heard of pianist and composer Steve Colson before or since this gig. Yet this was probably the most beautiful music I have ever witnessed. The band consisted of Andrew Cyrille who is one of the greatest living drummers, Reggie Workman on bass, and Steve’s wife Ira Colson on vocals. It became immediately apparent that these musicians had been living music for a very long time and had long since arrived at a musicianship which could be considered sublime. This performance exemplified to me that music can contain things unrelated to sound that have to do with the nature of the people making it. It can often be hard to perceive how and why music is made but these elements can be the most powerful communicators.

5. JIM DENLEY’S WEST HEAD PROJECT – Kuringai Chase National Park Dec 2006

Jim Denley is for me one of the most important Australian musicians today. He has greatly influenced me and the musicians I work with and has also supported the music scene in Sydney with a selflessness that is very rare. The West Head Project was run by Jim and consisted of a performance in Kuringai chase National Park on a large, flat rock formation that is a sacred Aboriginal site. The musicians were Jim, Clayton Thomas, Dale Gorfinkel, Monica Brooks, Clare Cooper, Adam Sussman and Karen Booth. For the musicians the gig seemed to be unsuccessful. All the musicians felt very uncomfortable for one reason or another, whether it was because of the sacredness of the location, the bad weather (the gig was cancelled after half an hour because of rain), or issues to do with the New Music Network who funded the event. This unease could be sensed from the audience yet I was determined not to let this disturb the occasion for me individually, which was in actual fact very beautiful. How could it not be when one is listening to the natural surroundings, which seem to be free of the thoughtful nonsense that musicians usually deal with? The musicians though uncomfortable, played out of respect for this strength that nature’s music has. Much of the time I spent exploring the location, sometimes out of reach from the music. This was the first time that I have been to a concert where I have felt free to leave the music and yet still feel as though I am witnessing the performance. The occasion showed me that a musical happening involves all the senses all the time. In the bush this becomes apparent simply because of the beauty that is around us. I remember in particular Jim’s playing. At one stage he spent time playing with each of the musicians, perhaps trying to accommodate them individually through playing. This is an example of Jim’s generosity and thoughtful support.