Clarion Fracture Zone

“a creative powerhouse in Australian music”. Craig Pearce, Drum Media 1994

Sandy Evans : tenor and soprano saxophone
Tony Gorman : alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet
Alister Spence : piano and keyboards
Lloyd Swanton: double bass
Toby Hall: drums

 ARIA award winning contemporary jazz ensemble

 Clarion Fracture Zone was formed in 1988 when saxophonists Sandy Evans and Tony Gorman moved to Sydney from Scotland and joined forces with pianist Alister Spence to form a jazz quintet.

The band has had several different rhythm sections, beginning with drummer Andrew Dickeson and bassist Steve Elphick. Drummers Louis Burdett and Tony Buck played with the band in 1992. From 1993, the line-up of bassist Lloyd Swanton and drummer Toby Hall were the engine room of the group.

“…the best band in the world…this is a band that unwind the unconscious in a manner that is nothing short of physically, emotionally and intellectually devastating. Their music possesses a grace and sensitivity that most musical artists can only dream of capturing.” Craig Pearce Drum Media 1997

Their debut album ‘Blue Shift’ received the 1990 ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album, a 5 star rating from JAZZTHETIK Magazine (Germany) and was voted among the top10 jazz albums produced in 1990 by The Jazz Times (USA) and Coda (Canada) magazines.

Following the success of ‘Blue Shift’, Clarion Fracture Zone released ‘Zones on Parade’ in 1993 which received a 5 star review in Down Beat Magazine and was voted Editors Choice in the 1994 Record Poll Cadence Magazine (USA).
‘What This Love Can Do’, a suite of music by Sandy Evans was released in 1994; ‘Less Stable Elements’ in 1996, was a finalist ARIA-Award Best Jazz Album 1996. ‘Canticle’ , an original suite of music commissioned by the Eastside Parish Uniting Church, Sydney featuring the Martenitsa Choir, was released in 2002. All albums were released on Rufus Records.

The originality and intelligence of Clarion Fracture Zone’s music has won them plaudits from jazz writers around the world and the energy and ensemble dynamic of their performances has enraptured audiences everywhere. The result was invitations to many of the most prestigious festivals and venues world – wide including the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Brecon International Jazz Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, the Leverkusener Jazztage, WOMAD, Jazz Yatra, the Taipei Jazz Festival, the Brisbane Biennial, the Wangaratta Jazz Festival, the Montsalvat Jazz Festival, and the Manly Jazz Carnival.

“Discipline and spontaneity acting in connection with high ensemble density and brilliant soloistic parts….perfect arrangements and enormous musical charisma…” Kreiszeitung Syke, Germany 1996

“a truly contemporary band sensitively mixing acoustic playing and electronic sampling to produce a confection of influences that sound as if they were meant to belong together rather than just thrown in a blender and spun” John Fordham – The Guardian London 1994

Note:
Sadly, in 1997 Tony Gorman was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This led to a drastically reduced performance schedule for Clarion Fracture Zone.

However, Sandy and Tony have continued their partnership as composers in a new ensemble Gest8.
Alister, Lloyd and Toby continue to play together as the Alister Spence Trio. They have released 8 albums.
Alister and Sandy continue to perform together in a duet setting.
Tony has released a solo clarinet CD ‘Songs Of Hope’ which you can buy through Birdland Records.