Primary Instrument: Saxophone
Education
Western Australian Conservatorium of Music
Berklee College of Music, Boston
Private Study in US with Dave Liebman,
George Garzone, George Coleman, Hal Crook.
Festivals
International Festivals - JVC Jazz Festival (New York), BBC London Jazz Festival, Jazz Yatra Festival (India), Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Edinburgh Jazz Festival (Scotland), Galway Jazz festival, Bray Jazz Festival (Ireland), Manila Jazz festival (Philipines), Villa Celimontana (Italy), Jazz Alive Festival (New Zealand).
Australian Festivals - Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Fremantle Jazz Festival, Manly Jazz Festival, Stonnington Jazz Festival, Darwin Fringe Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival, Sydney Festival, Festival of Perth, Glenelg Jazz Festival, Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival, Half Bent Music Festival and many more
Performances
Jamie has performed in the United States, Asia, India, UK, Europe, New Zealand and throughout Australia with leading international jazz artists like Ronnie Scott, Geri Allen, Robert Hurst, Eric Harland, Cindy Blackman, John and Jeff Clayton, Curtis Lundy, Paul Grabowsky, Dale Barlow, Bernie McGann, Bobby Shew, Renee Geyer, Barney Mcall, Scott Tinkler, Joe Chindamo and James Morrison, and with groups like the Australian Art Orchestra, Sam Keevers Octet, Paul Grabowsky Quintet and Quartet, Blowfish and the Paul Williamson Sextet. In 2004 Jamie's quartet performed a week long residency at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London
Awards:
Winner of the 2003 White Foundation World Saxophone CompetitionWinner of 2007 Bell Award for Australian Jazz Musician of the Year
Winner of 2007 Bell Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Cd Release "You R Here" Vol 2
Winner of 2006 Bell Award for Best Contemporary Jazz CD Release "Assemblers"
Winner of James Morrison Scholarship
Nominated for MO Award for Best Jazz Instrumentalist 2004
Western Australian Music Award for National/International Achievement
Scholarship to Berklee School of Music, Boston
Final Nominee for Best Jazz Release, ARIA Awards 1998 and 2005
Date: 25/11/2006
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald
YOU R HERE
Session Two: Jamie Oehlers Double Drummer Group (Jazzhead)
Many of the lurching, battered heroes of hard rock roar on with surprising potency; and so do those of free jazz, as this year's Wangaratta Festival of Jazz proved.
The spirit is taken up by new generations, but rarely with such energy as here. Powered by drummers Simon Barker and Ben Vanderwal and buoyed by Rodrigo Aravena's bass, the themes and improvisations come at you with exhilarating force. These hurricanes can evaporate suddenly in ethereal passages. Here the piano of Sam Keevers steps on air, sustained by a kind of harmonic anti-gravity. Tenor saxophonist Oehlers and trumpeter Scott Tinkler are currently at a peak, especially on this disc. After Oehlers's unaccompanied solo on track three, the band crashes in like a building falling on you. On track five, guitarist James Muller duels with Tinkler. This music does something very different with time and space.
THE AUSTRALIAN
9 Sep 06
You R Here Session One
Jazzhead
* * * * 1/2
THERE'S so much white-hot talent packed into this album, it's surprising it doesn't glow in the dark.
Multi-award-winning tenor saxophonist Jamie Oehlers has assembled a sextet of top Australian players
for this live recording of five originals. Twin drummers Simon Barker and Ben Vanderwal guarantee a
high standard of rhythmic grunt with no suggestion of percussive overkill, integrating beautifully with
Rodrigo Aravena's inventive bass lines. Wayne's World uses twangy rock references, including wah-wah
and distortion, notably on James Muller's high-velocity guitar, where those effects work better than on
Sam Keevers's keyboard solo. Oehlers's sax finalises, investigating every corner of the rocky-bop theme
with hurtling acceleration, high-flying glissandos and slews of raw-toned growly notes. Side Car
features a lyrical opening on sax where Oehlers achieves a wavery, dreamy effect by manipulating the
horn's open pads. There's a furiously exciting double-time passage before the tempo slides down to
conclude in languorous and tender mood.
John McBeath
You R Here
By Bev Stapleton
All About Jazz
Reviews of The Assemblers
'On this marvellous album [Oehlers'] sound is intense
and mostly understated, hinting and implying rather than overtly proclaiming. A pleasure to experience.
The Assemblers is compelling evidence in the continuing brilliance of Australian jazz. * * * * '
Sunday Herald Sun, Melbourne, 14 Nov 04
'[Oehlers is] a formidable musical force, the kind of player
who keeps the band on its toes with a restless, searching inventiveness, stretching and developing
phrases seemingly without effort. Contemporary jazz of the highest standard. ****1/2'
The Australian, Australia, 11 Sep 04
'[Oehlers'] group is the model of how powerful chemical reactions and musical dialogue can be.'
The Age Green Guide, Melbourne, 30 Sep 04
'I'd recommend The Assemblers to anyone.'
Catalyst, Melbourne, Sep 04
You R Here Session Two
Jazzhead
2006
Tracks: Just Out Of Reach 11:31, Side Car 07:35, Solace 07:35, Portal 09:21, Wayne’s World 14:00
Jamie Oehlers - Tenor Saxophone
Scott Tinkler - Trumpet
Sam Keevers - Piano / Nord Electro
Rodrigo Aravena - Bass
James Muller - Guitar
Simon Barker - Drums
Ben Vanderwal - Drums
Jamie Oehlers
The Assemblers
Jamie Oehlers
Jazzhead
2004
Tracks: The Replicators, Hat In The Cat, Midnight Mourning, Undercover, Tomorrow’s Yesterday, Beautiful Freak, The Assemblers, Protest
Oehlers (tenor sax)
Sam Keevers (piano)
Rodrigo Aravena (bass)
Danny Fischer (drums)
Paul Williamson (trumpet)
Oehlers & Keevers
Grace
Jazzhead
2004
Jamie Oehlers, winner of the 2003 White Foundation World Saxophone Competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival held in Switzerland, and Sam Keevers, recognised as one of Australia’s finest pianists come together on the duet CD Grace. Drawing inspiration from classic duos such as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz and Kenny Barron, and Art Tatum and Ben Webster, Grace's original compositions represent a fusion of the player's individual eclectic tastes, and personifies the freedom, intensity, and use of space that the duo format creates.
As a leader or co-leader
2006 - "You R Here" Session 1 (Jazzhead Records)
2006 - "You R Here" Session 2 (Jazzhead Records)
2003 - "The Assemblers" Jamie Oehlers (Jazzhead Records)
2003 - "Grace" Sam Keevers and Jamie Oehlers (Jazzhead Records)
2003 - "Blowfish" Blowfish featuring Alison Wedding (Bennett’s Lane Records)
2000 - "Velocity" Jamie Oehlers (Newmarket Records)
1998 - "Strut" Jamie Oehlers (Sunset Records)
As a sideman
2006 - "Far Away Here" Paul Williamson (Jazzhead Records)
2005 - "On the Surface, Near the Core" Paul Williamson (Newmarket Records)
2006 - "No Conditions" Sam Keevers (Jazzhead Records)
2006 - "No Exceptions" Sam Keevers (Jazzhead Records)
2003 - "Joyful" Toby Mak (Newmarket)
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Primary Instrument:
Saxophone
Willing to teach:
Advanced students only.
Credentials/Background:
Victorian College of the Arts (Melbourne)
Monash University (Melbourne)
Workshops in the UK, Ireland and throughout Australia and New Zealand
