Barney McAll
August Artist in Residence

ARIA-Winning jazz pianist and composer Barney McAll is our August artist in residence. He came up through the downtown 90s New York scene playing the piano with some of the great spiritual jazz heavyweights like Gary Bartz, Roy Ayers, Dewey Redman, and Billy Harper. He also submerged himself in a river of unadulterated funk with the likes of Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Clyde Stubblefield, and The Groove Collective which earned him a Grammy nomination.

Later as musical director for Sia and Daniel Merriweather, he began delving into more pop and electronica and understood he could unite all of his influences into a dark light bizarre blend of improvisation, composition, and percussive offensive funk. His ensembles include “M.O.D.A.S”, “Sylent Running”, “GRAFT” and ASIO (Australian Symbiotic Improvisers Orbit). He was awarded the Australia Council Fellowship in 2007 and was also the 2015 recipient of the Peggy Glanville-Hicks composer residency in Sydney, Australia. 2019, saw multiple releases from Barney – a Research Records release, “Mother Of Dreams And Secrets”, and two singles; “Sweet Water”, for Wondercore Island’s “Seven Wonders” compilation, and “Precious Energy for Pharoah Sanders”, both of which were picked up by Gilles Peterson, Eavesdrop Playlist and other tastemakers.

Across four nights in August Barney will curate and perform original compositions and with his ensemble and special guests including Julien Wilson, Flora Carbo, Rita Satch and Laneous.