Claire Cross is an Australian electric bassist and composer based in Berlin.

Her 2023 album Dialect with pianist Harry Cook was released on Australian label ABC Jazz, with her piece ‘Road to Eden’ receiving over 100k streams on Spotify to date. Claire’s 2022 album Into Light was nominated for a Music Victoria Award in the Best Jazz Work category, was feature album of the week on ABC Jazz in June 2022 and received a 4-star review from Eric Myers in The Australian.

In 2019 Claire was the inaugural recipient of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival’s Take Note program. She also received the 2018 Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival Recording Prize for her project ‘Moving Targets’. She was nominated as a finalist for the APRA AMCOS Professional Development Award in 2022 and 2023, and has received numerous grants including from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust and Creative Victoria.

Claire completed her Masters of Music at the Jazz Institute Berlin in 2024, and her Honours Degree in Music at Monash University in 2014. She has also studied with artists including Shane Endsley and Björn Meyer.

Her latest album Sleep Cycle releases May 2024 on label Art as Catharsis.

Daniel Gassin is an Australian pianist and composer of Franco-American descent based in Paris.

Before relocating to France in 2013, Daniel garnered both local and international acclaim in his hometown of Melbourne, releasing three albums. He was a finalist in the Jazz Solo Piano Competition at the iconic Montreux Jazz Festival in 2007 and the Australian National Jazz Awards in 2013, and was nominated for the prestigious Freedman Fellowship in 2016.

Since his move to France, Daniel has added an international dimension to his career, as well as becoming an integral part of the Paris jazz scene. He became the first pianist to perform at Quincy Jones’ new club in Dubaï, and has toured widely, in particular across Europe and Africa.

Daniel’s new Crossover Band has performed at festivals in France, Ukraine and Romania, and in 2021 released its debut album Change of Heart.

In addition to playing and touring extensively with many of Australia’s – and now France’s – finest jazz musicians, Daniel has also performed and recorded with U.S. greats Dave Liebman, George Garzone, Leroy Jones, Rick Margitza, John Riley and Bob Sheppard.

Hamed Sadeghi is an Iranian-born tar player and composer based on Gadigal land (Sydney). Trained as a Persian classical musician in Tehran, Hamed’s haunting compositions give you a taste of his cherished culture.

From WOMAD, Sydney Opera House, Festibalmes Barcelona to Rome Jazz Festival, he has performed his original projects at many notable music festivals and in prestigious concert halls in Australia and around the world. He is the founder of the acclaimed Eishan Ensemble.

He has been scoring music for multiple theatre, film and dance productions including productions at Belvoir St Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Dance Company and Sydney Film Festival.

As a composer Sadeghi has released 6 albums to critical acclaim and has earned recognition through nominations for ARIA Awards 2021 for Best World Music Album and Best Jazz Album. He has been a finalist at APRA Art Music Awards and has been nominated for Best Original Score Of Mainstage Production at Sydney Theatre Award.

Having worked in the music scene in Australia for 7 years before moving to Berlin in 2019, I will be at jazzahead for the first time in 2024. Having established myself as an event series organiser, bandleader, session musician and composer in Berlin I’m now wanting to expand my network while also providing the network and opportunities that I can provide to artists coming through Berlin.

Jeremy Rose is a prolific saxophonist, composer and educator from Sydney, Australia. He is known for his wide breadth of work, gift for vibrant melody and musical curiosity. His career spans over 25 unique original recordings as a leader and over 150 published works. His current ensembles include The Earshift Orchestra, The Vampires, Vazesh, Visions of Nar, Project Infinity and the Jeremy Rose Quartet.

Rose has received numerous accolades for his work, including the 2023 ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album and the 2022 APRA/AMCOS Art Music Award for Improvised/Jazz Performance of the Year, two Bell Awards and short-listed for the Australian Music Prize. As a label director of Earshift Music, Rose has fostered a community of creative musicians throughout Australasia which NYC Jazz Records describes as “hell bent on pushing the very definition of jazz,” and Sydney Morning Herald describes as “Australia’s most significant outlet for jazz-related music.” The label celebrated 15 years in 2019 with over 90 releases.

“a pivotal figure” NYC Jazz Record

“his mastery in all aspects of his artistry makes him a creative force with which to reckon.” ALL ABOUT JAZZ

Jess Green (AKA Pheno) is an Australian guitarist and vocalist. In her twenty-year career she has established herself as a genre-defying performer and composer. Jess has performed with jazz & blues luminaries including The Catholics, Jim Conway and Renee Geyer, as well as contemporary artists Laura Jean and Katie Noonan. She has supported touring international pop icons including Joan as Policewoman (US) and The New Pornographers (CAN). Jess collaborates as an improviser across jazz, new music and contemporary classical, and has performed with Bree van Reyk, Nick Wales and Ensemble Offspring.

“Jazz fans will be impressed by a variety of stand-out solos from Green” The Australian

“….it all hangs beautifully together in a deceptively simple manner, but you are always aware there is a shrewd compositional mind behind it”. John Hardaker, Jazz Australia.

Jessica is a jazz journalist and broadcaster based in Melbourne, Australia. She is the jazz critic for The Age newspaper, one of Australia’s leading daily broadsheets. She presented and produced a weekly national radio show on ABC Jazz, and before that on 3RRR, and is still a guest contributor to both stations.

he regularly serves on award and grant assessment panels for Creative Australia, Music Victoria Awards, Australian Art Music Awards, Australian Jazz Bell Awards and others.

Jo Lawry grew up on an almond farm in South Australia and, after a brief flirtation with operatic study, began her formal instruction in jazz.

Her debut album as a leader, I Want to Be Happy, was named one of the “Best CDs of the Decade” by Downbeat Magazine. She has been featured as a guest on numerous modern jazz recordings; stand-outs include Dr. Lonnie Smith’s album Rise Up! and Kate McGarry’s Grammy-nominated If Less is More… Nothing is Everything. She is also the vocalist for the Fred Hersch Pocket Orchestra, a quartet whose album Live at Jazz Standard was released on Sunnyside Records.

Jo has become well-known beyond jazz circles for her work with Sting, with whom she has toured and recorded since 2009, and more recently with Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel. In 2013, Jo was featured in the film 20 Feet From Stardom, which chronicled the lives and careers of “the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century” and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In 2024, Jo took on the role of Head of Jazz at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.

Currently in Brisbane, Australia for a PhD in composition, Dutch saxophonist/composer/arranger Marike van Dijk has divided her time working and living between New York and the Netherlands over recent years.

Prior to commencing her PhD studies in Australia in 2019, she worked as a research assistant at the Antwerp Royal Conservatoire (Belgium) and was part of the saxophone faculty at the Institut fur Music in Osnabrück, Germany for several years. Additionally, she taught workshops and classes at Codarts Rotterdam, Groningen Conservatory and Amsterdam Conservatory.

Marike is at Jazzahead representing the Brisbane International Jazz Festival (BIJF) Oct 12-20 2024. This annual jazz festival is in the third largest city of Australia. After a hiatus of several years, the festival took place again in 2023 – filling Brisbane with international, interstate and local acts.

Martel Ollerenshaw has a wide portfolio of skills and interests, and leads her own company, Arts & Parts. Working internationally with artists, organisations and festivals to create and produce work that is pioneering, and often genre blurring, current clients include: Genevieve Lacey (AUS), Tania Giannouli (GR), John Surman (UK), Jan Bang and Punkt Festival (NO), Melbourne International Jazz Festival (AU) and NICA artist development, Stadtgarten Köln (DE).

She is a board member of hcmf// and the Australian Music Centre, and was previously vice president of the Europe Jazz Network (2017-2022), and an associate director at Serious International Music Producers (2002–2017).

Melanie Pose is a highly regarded consultant in the Australian music and broader creative industries with over 15 years’ experience across the arts, music and festival sectors. Melanie has worked at a senior leadership level in management and programming across major critically acclaimed and commercially successful events including the Melbourne International Jazz Festival where she was the Program Director for 8 years. She has been involved with various government projects including overseeing the establishment of Music Market at Collingwood Yards and leading core programs for the Victorian music industry through the Victorian Music Development Office.

Melanie regularly consults with independent artists in both Australia and internationally and works across diverse performing arts and music projects for organisations and government.

Philippa has worked internationally both as a performing musician and as a manager of projects and artists. She has lived in Berlin for over 20 years, returning regularly to Australia.

As a violinist, she toured, recorded and performed internationally with orchestras and chamber music formations, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Ever keen to venture off the beaten track, she explored contemporary classical music early on. Philippa made the move to artist management in 2007 and worked at a prominent international agency for several years and later at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, before moving on to found Real Arts in early 2019, which was inspired by her desire to more closely connect the artistic scenes of Australia and Europe.

Alongside its activities today in the realm of opera/chamber/orchestral concerts, Philippa’s company takes special interest in contemporary and improvised music, interdisciplinary projects, and listening for voices which might otherwise be missed within the confines of existing traditional structures in the music industry.

Sean Foran is an ARIA nominated pianist, composer, educator and researcher from Brisbane, Australia, most known for his work with the acclaimed contemporary piano trio TRICHOTOMY.

He holds a Doctorate from the QLD Conservatorium, Masters degree from the Leeds College of Music UK and has been awarded the APRA PDA award, the APRA/AMC State Award for Excellence in Jazz and the QLD Music Award for Jazz (seven times).

He has toured internationally extensively with his group TRICHOTOMY, performing throughout Europe, the UK, China, Japan, Canada, Korea, New Zealand and Australia.

His work has been featured with the QLD Symphony Orchestra, Expressions Dance Company and QLD Theatre Company, and he is Course Director for Audio & Music at SAE Institute Australia.

Shannon Barnett is a trombonist and composer, currently based in Cologne, Germany.

She established herself as an important voice in the Australian scene by performing in ensembles including The Bamboos, The Vampires, and as a guest with the Andrea Keller Quartet. She has also appeared with the Australian Art Orchestra, Charlie Haden, Barney McAll, and the contemporary circus group Circus Oz.

In 2010, Barnett released her debut album Country on the Which Way Music label. After attending a workshop in Banff, Canada that same year, she was inspired to relocate to New York City. There she performed with Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Pedro Giraudo, Cyrille Aimée and the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York, and the Birdland Big Band.
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In 2014 she moved to Cologne, Germany, to play the WDR Big Band, which saw her perform with guests including Vince Mendoza, Ron Carter, Joshua Redman, Maria Schneider and Paquito D’Rivera. She now works primarily with her own quartet as well as in many Germany-based ensembles, and is Professor for Jazz Trombone at the conservatory in Cologne.

In 2020 she received the WDR Prize for Improvisation and in 2022 the German Jazz Prize (Brass).

Tamara Murphy is a well-known bassist in Australia with a reputation for a solid time feel and melodic soloing style. She has released 12 albums as leader/co-leader and appears on over 40 recordings by other artists. She’s toured worldwide in a variety of musical styles including jazz, pop, rock and experimental music. She is constantly in-demand in Australia, working as a sideperson in many different groups. Past performing credits include Kate Miller-Heidke, Ali McGregor, Frente!, Harry Angus (The Cat Empire), Andrea Keller, Nat Bartsch, Paul Grabowsky and Stephen Magnusson.

She currently leads three projects:
Spirograph Studies (cinematic, textural experimental quartet)
Tamara Murphy Trio (jazz trio with a punk-rock sensibility)
Tamara Murphy & the Golden Tone Retrievers (debuting in 2024)

Her compositions have appeared on albums by other artists such as Tony Gould, Ali McGregor and Women of Soul. She has worked as a musical director and arranger for the Brunswick Music Festival, Monash University’s MLIVE Progress Festival, Women of Soul and The Wheeler Centre. In 2019, she was shortlisted for the National Live Music Awards (Best Jazz Act).