The Helpmann Academy’s annual jazz awards concert took on an unusual form this year, with featured guest artist, the internationally renowned and Grammy Award-winning bassist and composer Linda May Han Oh, performing alongside the top graduating students of the Elder Conservatorium at UKARIA Cultural Centre in Mount Barker. Past award nights have been modelled after the concert-hall jazz tradition, but this year’s award afternoon was presented in the bare intimacy of a chamber setting.

From the beginning, the award recipients rose to the occasion with thoughtful interpretations of a wide variety of tunes. They began with an arrangement of Australian bassist Sam Anning’s composition ‘Sweethearts’ – with lyrics by Kristin Berardi – for vocalists Ruby Zoontjens, Millie Curry, Courteney Hooper and Maisie Aitken, with Tommy Norman Award recipient Jacob Phillips on bass. The melody was presented in lush, folk-inspired four-part vocal harmony, with a few moments of jazz chromaticism. Phillips’ bass-line showcased his thoughtful approach to accompaniment.

From here, the instrumentalists then performed Langley Award recipient Lachlan McGargill’s composition ‘Grasping Onto Hope’. This ballad, written for McGargill’s grandmother and inspired by his fear during the pandemic that she might pass away before he could see her one final time, is an emotionally fraught one, but McGargill shared it fearlessly with both his bandmates and the audience. His presence was commanding throughout, in both his ruminative presentation of the melody and his muscular improvisation, which gave the audience a sense of the ambitious musical scope of the jazz fusion project, entitled Beyond, which his Langley Award winnings will be used to record.

Aitken and Zoontjens then performed Jazzmeia Horn’s arrangement of Erykah Badu’s ‘Green Eyes’, with gritty modal solos from guitarist Kallan Francis and bassist Christopher Allen. This was deftly juxtaposed with vocalists Courteney Hooper and Millie Curry’s effervescent rendition of the jazz standard ‘The Simple Life’, featuring a tasteful solo from pianist Chair Anderson and elegant drum breaks from Lachlan Durrans.

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Guest artist Linda May Han Oh then joined the award recipients to play Oh’s composition ‘Halo’, which she indicated was named in honour of “all the angels out there that help make live music happen”. This tune’s infectious groove belied the complexity of its constantly shifting metre and unusual harmonic progression, and contrasted well with another newer original composition, entitled ‘A Cappella’, replete with darkly simmering free-time sections and pristine vocal harmonies. Oh then joined bassists Allen and Phillips in a tribute to the jazz triple-bass ensemble SuperBass, with a stirring performance of Thelonious Monk’s blues composition ‘Blue Monk’.

The group continued with Oh’s composition ‘10 Minutes Till Closing’, which was included in Terri Lynne Carrington’s New Standards book, a collection of works by female jazz composers intended to provide an alternative to the almost exclusively male-composed jazz standards of the so-called “real books” from which jazz musicians often learn repertoire. A lightning-fast arrangement of the standard ‘There Will Never Be Another You’ constituted an excellent end an afternoon in which Oh continually challenged the student ensemble; neither allowing them to rest on their laurels nor depriving them of the opportunity to demonstrate their worthiness for the receipt of their respective awards.

Oh then performed alongside a number of Elder Conservatorium lecturers and teaching staff, beginning with a composition entitled ‘The Imperative’, from Oh’s 2023 album The Glass Hours. The first solo was taken by saxophonist Timothy Clarkson, the newest addition to the Elder Conservatorium’s faculty, his fiery improvisation forming an excellent introduction to the Adelaide jazz scene. Guitarist James Muller’s admirably unhurried time-feel underpinned his similarly effortless traversal of the chord changes; Stephen Neville’s drum solo had an intense fervour that nevertheless remained thoughtful.

The ensemble then continued with the title track of Oh’s upcoming album Strange Heavens, which featured a folky harmonic inflection and loping backbeat, and a beautifully constructed solo from Oh herself, driving the band forward with ease. Vocalist Lauren Henderson then joined Oh for a duet, ‘Optical Illusions’, written by Oh as a “wish that all children around the world could have the chance to just be kids”. Henderson’s vocal was heartfelt and dramatic, and Oh’s accompaniment was a masterclass in musical collaboration – the link between the two felt telepathic. The tune ended with a wordless vocal refrain in which the audience were invited to join, with Oh herself adding an ethereal harmony at the last moment.

Another tune from The Glass Hours, entitled ‘Hatchling’, brought the afternoon to a close. Dedicated to Oh’s four-year-old son, this tune began a slightly more relaxed groove, but the band’s chemistry was still stunning as the band shimmered out of it into a wash of harmonic colour and an explosive finale – a fitting end to an afternoon that did not allow the necessity of presenting awards to undercut its musical integrity.

A Night of Jazz with Linda May Han Oh was presented by the Helpmann Academy and the University of Adelaide at UKARIA Cultural Centre on Saturday August 16

Award Winners:

Lachlan McGargill – Helpmann Academy Langley Award for Jazz 2025, $7,500
Ruby Zoontjens – Helpmann Academy Award for Voice 2025, $5,000
Millie Curry – Helpmann Academy Top Honours Award, $5,000
Courteney Hooper – Helpmann Academy Top Undergraduate Award, $5,000
Maisie Aitken – Helpmann Academy Award for Outstanding Vocalist, $2,000
Lachlan Durrans – Helpmann Academy Award for Outstanding Drummer, $2,000
Christopher Allen – Helpmann Academy Award for Outstanding Bassist, $2,000
Kallan Francis – Helpmann Academy Award for Outstanding Guitarist, $2,000
Jacob Phillips and Chair Anderson – Tommy Norman Award, $2,000