Biography
Brilliant Melbourne-based jazz saxophonist Fiona Burnett’s latest album is Imagine. For this, her third release with ABC Jazz, Fiona moves away from pure jazz and dips into the rich musical pool of popular song. With such seminal tracks as Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, Sting’s ‘Fragile’ and Harold Arlen’s ‘Over the Rainbow’, this CD secures Fiona’s place as one of Australia’s brightest and most original musicians. Each of the ten tracks contains fresh and imaginative takes on much-loved favourites, with Fiona’s soprano sax bringing a new richness to the familiar melodies.
Joining Fiona for this album of modern day standards are three of Australia’s most recognised and respected musicians – guitarist Leonard Grigoryan, bass guitarist Christopher Hale and drummer Andrew Gander, as well as Alex Pertout for guest percussion on two tracks. This is a dream line-up, their musical vision perfectly in sync to produce one of the best jazz albums of the year.
Soprano saxophonist Fiona Burnett is a remarkable and unique musical voice. Since emerging onto the Australian jazz scene in the early 1990s she has rapidly gained recognition for her striking original sound and her dynamic, expressive and virtuosic improvisations.
Her area of specialisation, performing on the soprano saxophone, is rare as there are few other instrumentalists anywhere in the world to perform exclusively on the soprano. Since 1996 she has released seven critically acclaimed CDs and written a number of large-scale hybrid works combining both improvising and classical ensembles.
Although originally from Sydney, Fiona was drawn to Melbourne in 1992 by the vibrancy of its creative music scene. During her Master’s degree she had the opportunity to study both classical saxophone and contemporary classical composition. Both these areas of study have been very influential on her
development as an improvising musician.
Fiona’s first release for ABC Jazz, Soaring at Dawn, was composed in 1999 and recorded live at the 2001 Melbourne International Jazz Festival. The album features the Fiona Burnett Trio and the Silo String Quartet and received an APRA Award nomination in 2004. In 2005 Fiona released counterpoint, featuring her trio of Ben Robertson and David Jones.