Divergence Jazz Orchestra is made up of 19 of Sydney’s most accomplished young musicians led by Jenna Cave (conductor/composer) and Paul Weber (trombone). Our sound brings the spirit and tradition of improvised jazz music to the 21st century big band.  With a compositional focus, we perform music by Jenna Cave and band members, while also featuring and promoting music by other Australian composers, showcasing the outstanding musical culture on our doorsteps.

We are now four years old as a band and It’s been three years since we’ve recorded our first album. A lot has changed in that time and we have developed our sound as an ensemble. Through our work developing and performing new Australian music we’ve accumulated a large collection of music which is yet to be recorded.

Our goal is to record and produce our 2^nd album in 2016 which will include some favourite pieces from band members including Jenna Cave, Brendan Champion, Luke Davis, and tunes from other Australian composers such as Miroslav Bukovsky. These tracks will include a wide variety of influences and styles, from contemporary jazz, New Orleans 2^nd line, gospel ballads through to pop and groove; pushing the envelope of large ensemble jazz while staying rooted in rhythm. We also want to feature some of our great soloists including Will Gilbert (Trumpet), Tim Coggins (Trombone), David Reglar (Tenor Saxophone), and Andrew Scott (Piano) amongst others!

“Divergence Jazz Orchestra is one of Australia’s keepers of the big band flame…An astonishing array of Australia’s best and brightest” - John Hardaker, AustralianJazz.net

With your help we are hoping to record for two days at studio 301 in late April with the assistance of sound engineer Christo Curtis. In this time we would be able to record 8-9 tracks for the new album. We would also like Christo to mix and master the tracks, after which we can produce it as a CD and distribute it digitally with original artwork.

Recording a big band is expensive!

Costs include:

-Studio hire: $2600

-Sound Engineer (including record, mix and master): $5200

-CD Printing and artwork: $1800

-Postage and administration: $400 

This equals approximately $10000 for the recording and album production alone. We are asking for your help in raising a minimum of $7500 to help us cover some of these costs and make this project possible.