Lillian Albazi & Oscar Neyland's "Bright Phantoms" VIC Album Launch live at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club
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“Bright Phantoms” is the debut album from Naarm based experimental duo Lillian Albazi and Oscar Neyland, bringing voice and double bass together in a restless and richly textured sound world. Weaving together fragments of post-punk, folk, modern classical, noise, found percussion, free improvisation and rock. At its centre is the interplay between double bass and voice: layered echoes and tidal harmonies move through dissonant extended techniques, abrasive textures and moments of quiet reflection.
What began on a whim, became a six-year process of recording, experimentation and reflection, driven by a shared love of the sea, the loss of friends and the shifting landscapes of life. Over time, Bright Phantoms expanded beyond its original voice-and-double-bass format into a broader sonic world, bringing together works by Colin Stetson, Nick Cave, ANOHNI, Björk and Adrianne Lenker. The record was brought to life with Pat Telfer (Brian Brown Recording Studios VCA/Sydney Rd Studios) at the helm, alongside contributions from renowned Australian musicians James Sherlock (guitar), Niran Dasika (trumpet), Elliot Lamb (trombone) and Natasha Fearnside (bass clarinet), as well as found sound, poetry, analogue manipulation and extended instrumental techniques.
“Bright Phantoms” has existed in several forms on stage, first presented as a duo at Melbourne Recital Centre in 2022, before expanding with loop-based backing for smaller shows around Australia. These performances revealed a larger sound world that ultimately needed the space and time of the studio to fully realise.
Recorded patiently over six years, the album is as much a document of friendship, loss and changing lives as it is an experimental recording. It grew through connections with a small community of musicians and friends, with each contribution becoming part of its evolving shape. The result is a record built slowly and deliberately from bass, voice, found sound, poetry and a shared willingness to follow an idea wherever it might lead.
“Bright Phantoms” is a slow burn: a collection of meditative and powerful statements about memory, impermanence and all that we hold dear. Six years after that first recording of Autoluminescent, Albazi and Neyland are proud to finally present the album as a genesis – a beginning born from patience, experimentation, friendship and the enduring possibility of making something together.
Lillian Albazi - Vocals
Oscar Neyland - Double Bass
Elliot Lamb - Trombone
Niran Dasika - Trumpet
James Sherlock - Guitar
Jarrad Linke - Bass Clarinet
Pat Telfer - Analogue Tape Decks, Manipulated Found Sound
Supported by -
Holly Moore - Alto Saxophone
Aaron Choulai - Piano
Aaron Choulai (Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra) is an award winning and critically acclaimed pianist and composer whose work is recognised as innovating new directions in jazz, hip-hop and improvised music. From large scale multi media cross-cultural festival commissions. to Japanese hip-hop beat tapes, Choulai’s career spans over 20 years, crossing international borders and intersections between genre and culture.
Holly Moore is a saxophonist and composer whose focus on melody and textural improvising has established her as a unique voice amongst the Australian jazz scene. She was awarded the 2020 MIJF Take Note leader and received an ABC Jazz Composer Commission in 2023. These accolades led to her two releases 'FLOOD' and 'Reunion'. Her music has been described as having "exceptional compositional talent and emotional depth" (Limelight). Alongside her career leading projects from duo to sextet configurations, she also plays with the Australian Art Orchestra and has travelled to Japan, Papua New Guinea and China with the ensemble.
What began on a whim, became a six-year process of recording, experimentation and reflection, driven by a shared love of the sea, the loss of friends and the shifting landscapes of life. Over time, Bright Phantoms expanded beyond its original voice-and-double-bass format into a broader sonic world, bringing together works by Colin Stetson, Nick Cave, ANOHNI, Björk and Adrianne Lenker. The record was brought to life with Pat Telfer (Brian Brown Recording Studios VCA/Sydney Rd Studios) at the helm, alongside contributions from renowned Australian musicians James Sherlock (guitar), Niran Dasika (trumpet), Elliot Lamb (trombone) and Natasha Fearnside (bass clarinet), as well as found sound, poetry, analogue manipulation and extended instrumental techniques.
“Bright Phantoms” has existed in several forms on stage, first presented as a duo at Melbourne Recital Centre in 2022, before expanding with loop-based backing for smaller shows around Australia. These performances revealed a larger sound world that ultimately needed the space and time of the studio to fully realise.
Recorded patiently over six years, the album is as much a document of friendship, loss and changing lives as it is an experimental recording. It grew through connections with a small community of musicians and friends, with each contribution becoming part of its evolving shape. The result is a record built slowly and deliberately from bass, voice, found sound, poetry and a shared willingness to follow an idea wherever it might lead.
“Bright Phantoms” is a slow burn: a collection of meditative and powerful statements about memory, impermanence and all that we hold dear. Six years after that first recording of Autoluminescent, Albazi and Neyland are proud to finally present the album as a genesis – a beginning born from patience, experimentation, friendship and the enduring possibility of making something together.
Lillian Albazi - Vocals
Oscar Neyland - Double Bass
Elliot Lamb - Trombone
Niran Dasika - Trumpet
James Sherlock - Guitar
Jarrad Linke - Bass Clarinet
Pat Telfer - Analogue Tape Decks, Manipulated Found Sound
Supported by -
Holly Moore - Alto Saxophone
Aaron Choulai - Piano
Aaron Choulai (Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra) is an award winning and critically acclaimed pianist and composer whose work is recognised as innovating new directions in jazz, hip-hop and improvised music. From large scale multi media cross-cultural festival commissions. to Japanese hip-hop beat tapes, Choulai’s career spans over 20 years, crossing international borders and intersections between genre and culture.
Holly Moore is a saxophonist and composer whose focus on melody and textural improvising has established her as a unique voice amongst the Australian jazz scene. She was awarded the 2020 MIJF Take Note leader and received an ABC Jazz Composer Commission in 2023. These accolades led to her two releases 'FLOOD' and 'Reunion'. Her music has been described as having "exceptional compositional talent and emotional depth" (Limelight). Alongside her career leading projects from duo to sextet configurations, she also plays with the Australian Art Orchestra and has travelled to Japan, Papua New Guinea and China with the ensemble.
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Where is it happening?
The Jazzlab, Tortoni Bijoux, 27A Leslie St, Brunswick VIC 3056, Australia, Brunswick
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherLillian Albazi
