jazz duo Archives - Phillip Johnston

The jazz duo of Peter Dasent (piano) and Phillip Johnston (alto saxophone) originally began with a focus on the music and influence of jazz iconoclast Thelonious Monk.

But after a period of exploring both the classics and lesser known works of Monk canon, they began adding tunes of their own that reflected Monk’s considerable influence, and then including film music (their own and that of Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, John Williams and others), early jazz (Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet), and an ever-expanding compendium of unexpected gems, building a truly unique repertoire that reflects their mutual loves of jazz history across eras, film music, and musical reinvention.

The music is swinging, bluesy and spiky, as Monk would have liked it.

For example: Click this link for more information about their project: Jazz Goes To The Movies.

You may know New Zealand émigré Peter Dasent from his film music compositions (including Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures and Meet The Feebles), his long tenure as music director/pianist for ABC’s long-running ‘Play School’, his Eastside radio show ‘One Size Fits All’, or his recordings of the music of Nino Rota or with his longstanding band The Umbrellas. https://www.peterdasent.com

You may know native New Yorker Phillip Johnston from his film scoring career (Paul Mazursky’s Faithful, Henry Bean’s Noise, Philip Haas’s The Music of Chance), his numerous festival appearances (Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne Festival, MONA FOMA, Sydney Vivid), his silent film scores, his 20 recordings as a leader, or his local bands The Coolerators, The Greasy Chicken Orchestra or Saxophone Special.

They are co-leaders of the early jazz repertory band The Greasy Chicken Orchestra, who make regular appearances at Sydney jazz clubs and festivals, and have released the highly regarded CD, I Cakewalked With A Zombie (Earshift). Johnston’s New York band The Microscopic Septet’s 2010 recording Friday The 13^th: The Micros Play Monk (Cuneiform) was given 4 stars, made an Editor’s Pick and called ‘a love letter to Monk’ by Downbeat Magazine.

This unique duo is the latest in a long history of collaboration between Dasent and Johnston on new and inventive projects that combine originality and a deep love of the breadth of jazz history.

Video clip: Peter Dasent & Phillip Johnston play Monk’s Locomotive

Contact:

Phillip Johnston phillip@phillipjohnston.com 0424 655 317

Peter Dasent peterdasent@mac.com

Dasent and Johnston perform jazz interpretations of beloved themes from the history of cinema.

From romantic standards that originated as film themes (The Shadow of Your Smile, As Time Goes By), to varied styles ranging from James Bond, Judy Garland, Walt Disney and Federico Fellini, Jazz Goes to the Movies will be a joy for the lover of film music.

Co-leaders Peter Dasent and Phillip Johnston both have careers as jazz musicians and composers of film music.

Dasent is known for Peter Jackson’s early films Heavenly Creatures, Meet The Feebles and Dead Alive.He has arranged six suites of music from Fellini’s films including the Academy Award-winning La Strada (1954), La Dolce Vita (1960) and 8 1/2 (1963). The music has been released on the CD Bravo Nino Rota, performed by his group The Umbrellas with guest mezzo-soprano Michelle Agius-Hall.

Johnston has scored Hollywood films starring Cher and Ryan O’Neal (Faithful), James Spader and Mandy Patinkin (The Music of Chance) and Tim Robbins and William Hurt (Noise), as well as independent films, documentaries and shorts. Johnston has also been a lecturer on film music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he taught composition for film, and the University of Sydney, where he taught the history of film music. His book Silent Films/Loud Music (Bloomsbury) was released in paperback in 2023. His early film music has been released on the CD Music for Films on Tzadik Music.

Here are a few samples of great film themes as performed by Dasent & Johnston:

Main Theme from Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures (1994) by Peter Dasent