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Chris Abrahams

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Chris Abrahams
James Waples, Mike Majkowski and Chris Abrahams
Background information
Birth nameChristopher Robert Lionel Abrahams
Born1961
New Zealand
Instrument(s)Piano, DX7 Synthesiser
Years active1985–present
Chris Abrahams and Lloyd Swanton performing with the Necks (2015) in Aarhus, Denmark
Photo Hreinn Gudlaugsson

Christopher Robert Lionel Abrahams (born 9 April 1961 in New Zealand[1]) is a Sydney-based pianist,[2] best known for his jazz work.

Abrahams has been a member of the Benders, Laughing Clowns, The Sparklers and The Necks.[3] He has recorded several solo albums, as well as collaborations with Melanie Oxley from the Sparklers. Abrahams has also been a session musician on albums for artists such as The Church, The Whitlams, Midnight Oil, Wendy Matthews, Skunkhour and Silverchair.[4]

Chris Abrahams produced and arranged the music for the Australian film "The Tender Hook" which was released in 2008.[5][6] In 2008, Chris Abrahams' work on the film's soundtrack was nominated for the "Best Original Music Score" AFI Award.[7]

Some of Abrahams music is experimental in nature—The Necks are an improvisational trio, and Abraham's performance at the Room40 Tenth Anniversary in London was labelled "ambient", "free-jazz" and "industrial noise" by (UK) Financial Times reviewer, Mike Hobart.[8] Chris Reid from RealTime Arts Magazine wrote of his Germ Studies collaboration with Clare Cooper, an organiser of the NOWnow Festival who played the Chinese zither on the album, that "it represents an extensive investigation into the endless range of sounds that can be created by combining the venerable DX7 synthesiser and the even more venerable Chinese zither, the guzheng [...] a deep exploration of musical language".[9]

Solo discography

  • Piano (Hot HTLP1014, 1985)
  • Walk (Hot HTLP1025, 1986)
  • Glow (Vegetable/Vitamin VEGE001, 2001)
  • Streaming (Vegetable Records VEGE002, 2003)
  • Thrown (Room40 RM409, 2005)[10]
  • The Tender Hook Soundtrack (Vitamin Records, 2008)
  • Play Scar (Room40, 2010)[11]
  • Memory Night (Room40, 2013)
  • Fluid to the Influence (Room40, 2016)

Discography with Melanie Oxley

  • Resisting Calm (EP, Spiral Scratch, 1990)
  • Welcome to Violet (Remote/MDS, 1992)
  • Coal (Remote/MDS, 1994)
  • Jerusalem Bay (Remote, 1998)
  • Blood Oranges (Vitamin, 2003)

Other collaborations

  • Pedal (Staubgold STAUBGOLD83, 2008) with Simon James Phillips
  • Oceanic Feeling Like (Room40 RM420, 2008) with Mike Cooper
  • Germ Studies (Split Records, Splitrec CD19, 2009) with Clare Cooper[9][12]
  • Hammeriver (Mikroton Recordings mikroton cd 8, 2010) with Hammeriver: Clare Cooper / Chris Abrahams / Christof Kurzmann / Tobias Delius / Clayton Thomas / Werner Dafeldecker / Tony Buck
  • None Of Them Would Remember It That Way (Mikroton Recordings mikroton cd 13, 2012) with Lucio Capece
  • We Who Had Left (Mikroton Recordings mikroton cd 19, 2012) with Alessandro Bosetti
  • Raft of the meadows (No Business Records, 2014) with Mike Majkowski (b) and James Waples (dr).
  • Trace (Al maslakh, 2014) with Mike Cooper

References

  1. ^ Shand, John (2002). "Abrahams, Chris(topher)". In Barry Kernfeld (ed.). The new Grove dictionary of jazz (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. pp. 6–7. ISBN 1561592846.
  2. ^ Rose, Jon (17 January 2003). "Forte Piano Solo – Chris Abrahams". Australia Adlib. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  3. ^ Swift, Brendan. "Chris Abrahams – Biography". All Music. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  4. ^ Holmgren, Magnus. "Chris Abrahams – Session musician". Australian Rock Database. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  5. ^ "The Tender Hook (2008)". IMDB – The Internet Movie Database. 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  6. ^ "The Tender Hook (sound recording) : motion picture soundtrack". State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  7. ^ "Awards for The Tender Hook (2008)". IMDB – The Internet Movie Database. 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  8. ^ Hobart, Mike (8 November 2010). "Chris Abrahams, Café Oto, London". Financial Times (UK). Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  9. ^ a b Reid, Chris. "Earbash – Sound/Music CD Reviews – clare cooper & chris abrahams". RealTime Arts Magazine. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  10. ^ Schaefer, Max (September 2005). "Chris Abrahams – Thrown (Room40/Couchblip)". Cyclic Defrost Magazine – Issue #012. Cyclic Defrost Magazine. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  11. ^ Laing, Oliver (27 July 2010). "Chris Abrahams – Play Scar (Room40)". Cyclic Defrost Magazine. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  12. ^ Meggitt, Joshua (6 April 2009). "Chris Abrahams and Clare Cooper – Germ Studies for Guzheng and DX7 (Splitrec)". Cyclic Defrost Magazine. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
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