Sandy Evans the eternal collaborator, and the music of speech

Jazz has always been about innovation and collaboration, and saxophonist and composer Sandy Evans has excelled on both counts for nearly four decades. She returns to The Music Show studio to perform live with an eclectic trio—the bass trombone of Adrian Sherriff and Suresh Vaidyanathan's ghatam (Indian clay drum). Sandy reflects on a life filled with musical conversations and why she's re-releasing her old albums for the streaming generation. 

How do you make historical speeches something that people will actually want to sit down and listen to? You set them to music. Composer Robert Davidson has teamed up with pianist Sonya Lifschitz to create a series of live musical portraits that weave archival audio from women like Frida Kahlo, Greta Thunberg, Michelle Obama and Patti Smith with piano music and video projections. Both the composer and performer will be on to talk about the inherent musicality of speech and how the work can breathe new life into figures from the past. 

So Much Myself: Piano Portraits is on at Brisbane Festival on 21 September.

Sandy Evans performs with Adrian Sherriff and Suresh Vaidyanathan at Local Edition on 7 September, Festival of the Winds in Bondi on 8 September and at JazzLab in Melbourne on 15 September.

Sandy Evans Trio (with Brett Hirst and Toby Hall) perform at Church St Studios on 30 September and at Inner West Jazz Fest on 20 October. 

Music in the program:

Title: So Much Myself (Nina Simone)Artist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonLive recording courtesy of the composer

Title: One PlanetArtist: Sandy Evans, Suresh Vaidyanathan, Adrian SherriffComposer: Sandy EvansRecorded live in The Music Show studio

Title: Improvised percussion duetArtist: Adrian Sherriff, Suresh VaidyanathanComposer: Adrian Sherriff, Suresh VaidyanathanRecorded live in The Music Show studio

Title: Ritual BurningArtist: Sandy Evans Trio (Sandy Evans, Brett Hirst, Toby Hall)Composer: Sandy EvansAlbum: The Running Tide (due 27 September)Label: Independent

Title: To Connect (Michelle Obama)Artist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonLive recording courtesy of the composer

Title: Sweet Spring (E. E. Cummings)Artist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonAlbum: Stalin's PianoLabel: Independent

Title: Portrait of Diego (Frida Kahlo)Artist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonLive recording courtesy of the composer

Title: Susan SontagArtist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonLive recording courtesy of the composer

Title: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XII. GalgenliedComposer: Arnold SchoenbergArtist: Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Thomas Kaufmann, Reto Bieri, Júlia Gállego, Joonas Ahonen, Meesun HongAlbum: Schoenberg: Pierrot LunaireLabel: ALPHA Classics ALPHA 722

Technical production by Nathan Turnbull, Tegan Nicholls and Beth Stewart

The Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra Country