The Umbrellas (jazz ensemble)

The Umbrellas
The Umbrellas
Origin	Australia
Genres	Jazz
Years active	1985–present
Members	Peter Dasent, James Greening, Andrew Robson, Andrew "Wilks" Wilkie, Zoe Hauptmann, Steve Elphick, Toby Hall

The Umbrellas are an Australian jazz ensemble formed in 1985 to play Peter Dasent's compositions. The group has published five full-length albums. All are still available, the first four as rereleases.^[1]

Sydney, Australia based, the group's style has been described as unpredictable, quirky, surreal, and influenced by Italian film music.^[2] The band members improvise in order to flesh out the characters in each composition's "play".^[3]

The Italian connection is reinforced by the Bravo Nino Rota tribute album and by founder Dasent himself. As he states in a Jazz Australia interview, "In 1976 my local cinema, in a moment of inspired programming unusual in Wellington, New Zealand, at the time, took to screening Fellini films on Sunday nights. I would watch these amazing creations, and then find myself singing the theme music all the way home. When I moved to Sydney in 1981 I heard Hal Wilner’s wonderful tribute album Amarcord Nino Rota, with the sublime piano solos by Jaki Byard, Bill Frisell’s interpretation of “Juliet Of The Spirits” (actually his first recordings) and of course Carla Bley’s arrangement of 8 1/2. By then I’d realised I was listening to music that I would live with for the rest of my life."^[4]

Instruments

James Greening, trombone
Andrew Robson, saxophone
Zoe Hauptmann, bassist
Toby Hall, drummer and vibes
Ian Wilkie, marimba^[2]

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected details
Title	Details
The Umbrellas	Released: 1986 Format: LP, Cassette Label: Sound Of Music (SOM 1001)
Age of Elegance	Released: 1990 Format: CD Label: Sound Of Music (SOM 1002)
Soundtrack to the Passing Parade	Released: 1992 Format: CD Label: Jarra Hill Records (CDJHR2019)
Bravo Nino Rota	Released: 2001 Format: CD
ounge Suite Tango	Released: 2015 Format: CD, digital

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result	Ref.
2002	Bravo Nino Rota	Best Jazz Album	Nominated	^[5]

References

^ "THE UMBRELLAS". peterdasent. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
^ ^a ^b "The Umbrellas - 'Lounge Suite Tango'". Radio National. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
^ Zwartz, Tim Byron, Paris Pompor, John Shand, Barney (13 October 2015). "Spectrum CD reviews: Eagles of Death Metal, Greta Bradman, The Umbrellas". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Kee, Joanne (19 August 2016). "Rota's Fellini scores come to life - Jazz Australia". Jazz Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
^ ARIA Award previous winners. "ARIA Awards Best Jazz Album". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 26 June 2022.

[1] "THE UMBRELLAS". peterdasent. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[abc-2] "The Umbrellas - 'Lounge Suite Tango'". Radio National. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[3] Zwartz, Tim Byron, Paris Pompor, John Shand, Barney (13 October 2015). "Spectrum CD reviews: Eagles of Death Metal, Greta Bradman, The Umbrellas". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[4] Kee, Joanne (19 August 2016). "Rota's Fellini scores come to life - Jazz Australia". Jazz Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[JazzAlbum-5] ARIA Award previous winners. "ARIA Awards Best Jazz Album". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 26 June 2022.

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