The Java Quartet biography
Bandleader and bassist Michael Galeazzi formed The Java Quartet in 1994.
Using the modal jazz styling of Miles Davis and John Coltrane as a starting
point in the mid 1990s, the group has defined its own ambience through six
albums, focusing upon ensemble improvisation to manifest their sound. At
once driving, trance-like and reflective, The Java Quartet establishes a
unique corner of sonic territory.
The Java Quartet's first release Slumber For Nordic Wonder (a tribute to
the musical chanteuse Bjork), garnered the group local acclaim as an
improvising ensemble devoted to creating beautiful music. The ensuing album
Glow launched an international profile with the group being invited to perform
at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland) in 1997. The group’s
global presence flourished with the albums Glow, Passages and Dark
Garden being included in the pivotal publications The Penguin Guide To Jazz
on CD and Cadence Magazine (New York).
"The Java Quartet is well schooled in the Jazz tradition and has built on
those concepts in presenting music with dash and a contemporary flair…
These Aussies seem to have something brewing".
Frank Rubolino, Cadence Magazine, New York
On the local front they have played at every major jazz venue and festival in
the country including; the Manly Jazz Festival, Darling Harbour Jazz Festival,
Wangaratta Jazz Festival - the home of the National Jazz Awards, Thredbo
Jazz Festival, Bellingen Jazz Festival, Queensland Music Festival, Darwin
Festival, The Basement in Sydney, Bennetts Lane in Melbourne, The
Governor Hindmarsh in Adelaide etc. The Java Quartet has been recorded in
concert several times by the national broadcaster (ABC radio) and are
critically recognised as at the forefront of the contemporary Australian music
scene. The Sydney Morning Herald’s John Shand reviewed the album Dark
Garden as “Album Of the Week” above all releases in any genre. The track
“Shadow Dancing” was nominated for an APRA for “Most Performed Jazz
Work” by the national performing rights association. Kenny Weir of The Sun
Herald Sun (Melbourne) succinctly evaluated the group’s appeal when
reviewing the next album Deep Blue Sea:
“Mostly, though, The Java Quartet inhabits its own space, unlike that of any
other aggregation, in Australia or anywhere else - supremely melodic, full of
taut, yet limpid, grooves and packed with soul”.
Kenny Weir
2010 found the group extending its musical palette with Rejavanation, a
collection of remixes and new material incorporating the meditative aesthetics
of contemporary dj/dance culture and Hindustani ragas. Started as a part of
Michael Galeazzi’s postgraduate research at the Sydney Conservatorium of
Music, the group has invited guests of note (including virtuosos Bobby Singh
on Tabla, Adrian McNeil on sarod, lap top performer Jonathan Palmer and Hip
Hop producer Morganics) to explore notions of hybridity through
contemporary hypnotic landscapes.
The Java Quartet biography
“It was an intriguing jazz for a modern ear, and a mix of styles for a modern
world. Great stuff. And very much enjoyed by performers and audience”.
Eric Pozza, Canberra Jazz.
In 2014 a new album of original compositions will be released. Recorded in
the round at Studio A at Macquarie University (in the old film and television
school large TV studio) it takes the next step beyond Rejavanation. Once
again including guests Bobby Singh and Morganics, this album returns to the
acoustic (and organic) nature of the group, blending exotic grooves and
spoken word into the jazz harmonic world that is The Java Quartet.