Eugene Ball
Encyclopedia
Eugene Ball is an Australian jazz
music composer and acclaimed trumpet
er who won the best Australian jazz
composition award for Fool Poet's Portion in 2008.
Fool Poet's Portion suite is inspired by Norse mythology with three movements: the Death of Baldr, Trickster's Intent, and the Coming of Christianity. It is performed by the Bennetts Lane Big Band
which was put together by Eugene Ball, Andrea Keller and Nick Haywood
in 2001 as a large ensemble and as a vehicle for original new work. The work was re-orchestrated and performed at a benefit concert for the Melbourne Jazz Co-op in January 2008.
Eugene was awarded second place in the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz
Awards in 2003, and was a finalist in the prestigious Freedman Jazz Fellowship in 2003 and 2006.
In 2004 Ball and guitarist Steve Magnusson started Lebowski's: a series of musician-run regular concerts in venues not associated with jazz. The following year, 2005, Eugene Ball was an important initiator of the Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival
.
Ball was awarded a Melbourne Research Scholarship at the completion of his Masters Degree in Performance and Composition from Melbourne University.
Ball has performed with many other jazz and contemporary musicians including Paul Grabowsky
, Mike Nock
, Tony Gould
, Graeme Lyall
, Don Burrows
, Jamie Cullum
and John Butler
; and with groups The Hoodangers, the Andrea Keller Quartet, the Allan Browne Quintet
, the Australian Art Orchestra, the Bennetts Lane Big Band
and the Ball/Magnusson/Talia trio. He is involved in several musical projects including Kadoonka, ish ish, Aaron Choulai Quintet, and the Messiaen Project performing works by Olivier Messiaen
.
He teaches trumpet, improvisation and composition and has directed award winning ensembles at Eltham High School
, Monash University
and the Victorian College of the Arts
. Eugene Ball is an ongoing lecturer in music for Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE
's Bachelor Music program at the Fairfield campus.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music composer and acclaimed trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er who won the best Australian jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
composition award for Fool Poet's Portion in 2008.
Fool Poet's Portion suite is inspired by Norse mythology with three movements: the Death of Baldr, Trickster's Intent, and the Coming of Christianity. It is performed by the Bennetts Lane Big Band
Bennetts Lane Big Band
The Bennetts Lane Big Band is an Australian large ensemble band playing jazz compositions and improvisations that was formed in 2001 to provide an avenue for original new work....
which was put together by Eugene Ball, Andrea Keller and Nick Haywood
Nick Haywood
Nick Haywood is a prominent Australian jazz double bass player, composer and music educator in Melbourne.He has worked with many of Australia's best known Australian jazz musicians including Don Burrows, Dale Barlow, Paul Grabowsky, Bernie McGann, and James Morrison, and with many international...
in 2001 as a large ensemble and as a vehicle for original new work. The work was re-orchestrated and performed at a benefit concert for the Melbourne Jazz Co-op in January 2008.
Eugene was awarded second place in the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz
Wangaratta Festival of Jazz
The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz is an annual festival of jazz and blues held in the town of Wangaratta, 2.5 hours from Melbourne in North East Victoria, Australia. It has become the premier jazz event in Australia and is renowned internationally....
Awards in 2003, and was a finalist in the prestigious Freedman Jazz Fellowship in 2003 and 2006.
In 2004 Ball and guitarist Steve Magnusson started Lebowski's: a series of musician-run regular concerts in venues not associated with jazz. The following year, 2005, Eugene Ball was an important initiator of the Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival
Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival
The Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival is an annual international jazz festival held in Melbourne, Australia in April or May. The festival was formed in 2005 to celebrate Melbourne’s burgeoning creative jazz scene...
.
Ball was awarded a Melbourne Research Scholarship at the completion of his Masters Degree in Performance and Composition from Melbourne University.
Ball has performed with many other jazz and contemporary musicians including Paul Grabowsky
Paul Grabowsky
-Biography:Grabowsky was born on 27 September 1958 in Lae, Papua New Guinea; his father Alistair had lived in Papua New Guinea with his wife Charlotte since the 1930s working on oil rigs, building roads, flying planes and playing the drums...
, Mike Nock
Mike Nock
Mike Nock is a jazz pianist, currently based in Australia. He began studying piano at 11 and by 18 was performing in Australia. He headed a trio that toured England in 1961 and then attended Berklee College of Music...
, Tony Gould
Tony Gould
Tony Gould is an Australian jazz musician, pianist, composer and educator.Gould's many recordings and performances reveal his harmonic view of music and his love of music from both African-American and European jazz traditions, as well as the classical works of Bach, Mahler, Stravinsky and...
, Graeme Lyall
Graeme Lyall
Graeme William Lyall , is a Western Australian saxophonist, composer and arranger. He became a Member of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2003: "For service to music as Artistic Director of the Western Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra, and as a musical director, composer and...
, Don Burrows
Don Burrows
Donald Vernon Burrows, AO, MBE is an Australian jazz and swing musician, playing the clarinet, saxophone, and flute....
, Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum is an English pop and jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.- Early...
and John Butler
John Butler (musician)
John Charles Wiltshire-Butler or John Charles Butler is an Australian musician, songwriter, record label owner and producer...
; and with groups The Hoodangers, the Andrea Keller Quartet, the Allan Browne Quintet
Allan Browne
Allan Browne is an Australia jazz drummer and composer first known for his work in the Red Onion Jazz band in the 1960's.-Life and career:...
, the Australian Art Orchestra, the Bennetts Lane Big Band
Bennetts Lane Big Band
The Bennetts Lane Big Band is an Australian large ensemble band playing jazz compositions and improvisations that was formed in 2001 to provide an avenue for original new work....
and the Ball/Magnusson/Talia trio. He is involved in several musical projects including Kadoonka, ish ish, Aaron Choulai Quintet, and the Messiaen Project performing works by Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
.
He teaches trumpet, improvisation and composition and has directed award winning ensembles at Eltham High School
Eltham High School
Eltham High School is a secondary school in Victoria, Australia. It is located in Eltham, a suburb which is north east from Melbourne. It is mainly known for the creativity of its students, in areas such as art, drama, and music....
, Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
and the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
. Eugene Ball is an ongoing lecturer in music for Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE
Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE
Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE is a TAFE institute located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It has six city campuses located at Preston, Collingwood, Epping, Fairfield, Greensborough, Heidelberg, a country campus at Ararat, and country training facilities at Eden...
's Bachelor Music program at the Fairfield campus.