JOE O’CONNOR’S ‘Full Circle’ – Debut

With ‘Full Circle’ Joe returns to the piano trio, a format that has been a long and abiding musical love. As a younger musician, Joe’s trio with James McLean (drums) and Marty Holoubek (double bass) was a sandbox for testing unique and challenging compositions that culminated in his albums Praxis (2015) and Confrontations (2018), the latter with trumpet virtuoso Scott Tinkler. Before this group formed though, Joe’s first outings as a bandleader after moving to Melbourne in 2012 were with James McLean and Ben Robertson (double bass), performing some initial ‘Studies in Dissonant Counterpoint’ and compositions recorded in 1961 by Jimmy Giuffre’s visionary trio with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow. In this special performance for the Melbourne Jazz Coop, Joe revives his formative collaboration with James and Ben with a new set of tunes that combine his trademark preference for multilayered intricacy with an embrace of the particular and the intimate. This music draws more deeply on Joe’s love of singing line and expressive gesture than his trio compositions of the 2010s, though the music is still held taught by a cerebral undercurrent that occasionally breaches the surface.

Presented by:

The Melbourne Jazz Co-operative is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and promoting original live jazz performance by established and emerging artists in Melbourne.

Since 1983 our objectives have been to increase the exposure of contemporary jazz performance by making it accessible to audiences, and to provide award waged performance opportunities for emerging and established artists.

In addition to support derived from member contributions, the MJC is assisted by  the Victorian Government, through Creative Victoria, via its Arts Development Programs. MJC was assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body from 1983-2017 inclusive, and was delighted to receive Australia Council funding of $60,000 for our 2019 program.

The MJC received $40,000 from the Australia Council over the 2021/2022 Financial Year, and was pleased to received a grant of $75,341 from Creative Australia (with Music Australia contribution) for our 2025 Annual Program.

Our sold-out 40th Anniversary Concert at the Melbourne Recital Centre in May 2023 was supported by a $20,000 grant from Creative Victoria’s Creative Projects program.