Artist Profile

Elana Stone - Julien Wilson - Steve Magnussan

ABOUT ELENA
A group of friends whose collective talents draw on the rich traditions of soul, jazz and the blues, The Elana Stone Band bring the emotive force of an award winning talented singer/songwriter to an array of classic styles. A professional singer since the age of fourteen, Elana Stone has spent the better part of a decade exploring her considerable range. Immersing herself in the technical base of jazz and soul, her wandering eye soon saw the young singer drawing folk, funk, and modern pop music into her growing repertoire. Stepping outside the confines of jazz, her prodigiously talented group provide an exciting voice for Elanas growing songwriting ability. Their borderless attitude to genre reflects Elanas original music; a singer-songwriters intimacy voiced using a broad and progressive palette. Despite her eclecticism, Elana remains at heart an improviser, and is at home in the live environment. Structures become elastic as each player fully explores the contours of the tune. Elana and her quartet bring a profoundly inclusive energy, warmth and a total lack of self-consciousness to their performances. By turns ecstatic and melancholic, the audience shares Elana and her bands fortunes throughout the night.

ABOUT JULIEN
Julien Wilson is the recipient of the 2006 Music Council of Australia / Freedman Fellowship for Jazz. The funds from the Fellowship enabled him to travel to Europe and New York. In November his trio performed 14 shows in Europe, including two sold out performances at the Berlin Jazz Festival. Wilson and Magnusson then spent a month in New York writing and recording an album with Jim Black, Mark Helias & Barney McAll that will be released later this year.

ABOUT STEVE
Stephen Magnusson is one of the most accomplished, versatile and distinctive musicians in Australia. His incredible technique and astoundingly beautiful tone on his instrument have made him an indispensable part of many bands and film scores. His astute and thorough knowledge of music have also made him an in-demand teacher and lecturer at Monash University, NMIT & VCA. For most of the '90's Stephen lived in Switzerland performing with his bands SNAG and Facelifter at major festivals and clubs throughout Europe. During this time in Europe, Stephen was awarded the Swiss Diagonal Arts Grant and the Pop Kredit award with the band SNAG and also received rave reviews for his performances. Stephen spent time studying with Mick Goodrick and Jerry Bergonzi at the New England Conservatory. Stephen returned to Australia in 2000 to perform and record with his trio at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival where he was co-winner of the National Jazz Award. Since then he has been nominated twice for the Freedman Fellowship, produced Martin Breeze's album, Blackbird, released Boundaries, Healing Songs, assumptions2 & departures by assumptions on Newmarket Records, and recorded “For Elvin” with the Ted Vining Trio. He has also released his new album MAG and in the process of releasing a new solo album. He has performed recently with Elixar, Paul Kelly and james Morrison. He has also been involved in playing & co-producing albums for Alison Wedding, Lisa Young & Christine Sullivan, worked on movie soundtracks with Paul Grabowsky, produced soundtracks for film and worked with Ruby Hunter, Archie Roach & the Australian Art Orchestra on Ruby's Story.

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