Queen Street Mall will host the best of Brisbane’s emerging talent this weekend in a series of free concerts by the Queensland Conservatorium’s Jazz Department.
The event represents an opportunity to hear truly unique collaborations from fifteen groups, including the eclectic Tip n the Scales — a group fusing jazz, RnB and blues in a rare blend of classical and contemporary instrumentation.
The group formed in August as part of an elective course and created a band with every student that enrolled, regardless of their background.
Guitarist James McIntyre says it’s a rare opportunity to experiment with multiple instruments and create music that transcends traditional genres.
“We have quite a big band with strange instrumentation. We have three piano instruments; we have two drummers and another percussionist and then the rest. It gets a bit weird trying to experiment,” he says.
Lead singer Tip Mosese says working with different backgrounds and experience — such as incorporating classical piano in a jazz band — is something you don’t usually get to experience in the industry.
“It teaches you how to collaborate and deal with other people and how to handle yourself in different situations. In the jazz world you’re constantly collaborating and if you can get used to that here, when you’re out in the big bad world you’re ready to take on anything,” he says.
Tip n the Scales are in charge of organising the ConJazz festival and have been tasked with scheduling, promoting, ensuring sound quality and arranging compositions to widen their skill set.
Group tutor James Sandon says students are getting five to ten years’ music industry experience in one class.
“I’ve been playing for 25 years and I never stop learning. I run this class, I think ‘that’s something I could be doing’ and I’ll apply that and take it out to my gigs,” he says.
Brisbane will get the chance to hear Tip n the Scales live on Friday Oct 9, along with a range of unique collaborations over the weekend.
