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Andy Sugg

In the eighties Andy entered the orbit of Australia’s legendary concert saxophonist Peter Clinch, then a recent president of the World Saxophone Congress. Peter’s seminal role in the development of an Australian saxophone aesthetic mirrored the role played by Jean-Marie Londeix in France and Joe Allard in the USA.

Andy spent the early eighties studying and at times performing the classical repertoire with Peter. He also began a life-long partnership with pianist and composer Andy Vance, which has produced several albums exploring a post-bop acoustic direction. Through this partnership Andy (Sugg) developed a national profile, appeared at major festivals, on radio and television, and had his music used in hit TV dramas. Meanwhile, his apprenticeship continued in New York with Dave Liebman, George Coleman and Bill Evans.

In the nineties Andy emerged as a bandleader, fronting a series of acoustic and electric projects. Of these, The Andy Sugg Group has been the mainstay. It has produced several albums, the most recent being Grand & Union, recorded in Brooklyn (NY) in 2019, and Tenorness, recorded there a year earlier. These albums have jazz-fusion settings, strongly influenced by recent trends in jazz, avant-pop and world music.

In an earlier album, The Berlin Session, the jazz avant-garde is explored, as it is in The Kris Wanders/Andy Sugg Unit, which has formed the engine room of concert events such as the recreation of Coltrane’s Ascension session and the iconic A Love Supreme. The Unit has recorded On the Edges of Silence and The Unit: Live at 3PBS.

Another of Andy’s projects is the group, TTTenor, which features hard-blowing post-Trane solo and collective improvisation. The group’s first album, TTTenor, included Jamie Oehlers and Julien Wilson, with the rhythm section of Paul Grabowsky, Gary Costello and Andrew Gander. TTTenor II features the front line of Andy, Roger Manins and John Mackey.

Andy has written on jazz for The Times Literary Supplement (London) and the International Society for Jazz Research (Graz) and has been a regular contributor to Music Forum, the journal of the Music Council of Australia. He has lectured at the Centro Didattico Produzione Musica (Milan), the Manhattan School of Music (New York), and the World Saxophone Congress (Strasbourg, France). His book on modern jazz, The Influence of John Coltrane on Improvising Saxophonists (Edwin Mellen Press: New York and Wales), was praised by leading US jazz scholars Professors Lewis Porter and David Demsey, the latter describing it as “an analytical masterpiece.” Andy was a consultant for Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, the first feature-length film of its kind, directed by John Scheinfeld (Crew Neck Productions – Los Angeles).

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Radio & Podcasts

New music from Melbourne Australia, and old favourites

Read "New music from Melbourne Australia, and old favourites" reviewed by Len Davis


New releases from Andy Sugg Group Grand & Union featuring Brett Williams (piano and keyboards), Alex Claffy (bass) and Jonathan Barber (drums); plus, Alex Machacek, Canadian Band Metalwood and Tom Coster. Playlist Andy Sugg Group “Seeing Things" from Grand & Union(Self Produced) 00:00 Alex Machacek"Out of Pappenheim" from Sic (Abstract Logix) 07:33 Metalwood"Steeplejack" from The Recline (Telarc) 15:10 Chris Tarry “Evening with Uncle Ooo" from Sevyn (Maximus Music) 22:46 The Outside Men “Sweet 15" from Band Overboard (Terra ...

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Extended Analysis

The John Coltrane Project: Andy Sugg Plays Trane

Read "The John Coltrane Project: Andy Sugg Plays Trane" reviewed by Lawrence Peryer


The Andy Sugg Group The John Coltrane Project: Andy Sugg Plays Trane Downstream Music 2011 Recorded live in Melbourne, Australia, on July 17, 2010, saxophonist Andy Sugg and his group bring tasteful and modern sensibilities to the performances on this set. Sugg and his compatriots canvass the all-too-brief ten-year period spanning saxophonist John Coltrane's emergence from the shadow of trumpeter Miles Davis to that of a leader of the jazz avant-garde. The ...

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Recording

The John Coltrane Project: Andy Sugg Plays Trane

The John Coltrane Project: Andy Sugg Plays Trane

Source: Michael Ricci

The Andy Sugg Group releases The John Coltrane Project: Andy Sugg Plays Trane. “Sugg's train at full steam—its fire forging new lines into the 21st century. An unforgettable journey!" —Gerry Koster, Jazz Up Late, ABC Jazz & ABC Classic FM. “Music that moves the Coltrane legacy forward in an entrancing and powerful way." —Mal Stanley, Jazztrack, ABC Jazz & ABC Classic FM. In the wake of the critically acclaimed 2010 Coltrane Anniversary Concert, The John Coltrane Project: Andy Sugg Plays ...

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Recording

The Andy Sugg Group Releases "Brunswick Nights"

The Andy Sugg Group Releases "Brunswick Nights"

Source: Michael Ricci

The famed Victorian suburb of Brunswick has grown its own vibrant musical life. Inspired by this celebrated musical Mecca, The Andy Sugg Group has now released its latest album, Brunswick Nights. Recorded near the end of a long season at Sydney Roads Brunswick Green Hotel during 2009, Brunswick Nights captures an exciting moment in the life of The Andy Sugg Group and in the life of music-making in Brunswick. The Andy Sugg Group, led by Melbourne-based jazz saxophonist Andy Sugg, ...

“Brilliant, sparkling, strongly surging… Sugg is a high order musician.” Sydney Morning Herald.

“Andy Sugg has a rich tone, a rock solid technique and a sure attack that makes him one of the hottest tenor players in the country. Sugg is an outstanding soloist…” Rhythms Magazine.

“A dedicated warrior…” Dave Liebman.

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The John Coltrane...

Downstream Music
2011

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Greensleeves

From: The John Coltrane Project: Andy...
By Andy Sugg

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