players

Tim Pledger

Saxophones / Composition / Producer

Timothy Pledger is a Melbourne based composer, musician and film artist. Tim composes acoustic, electric, electronic and orchestral works using a diverse range of forms and materials from highly minimalist and personal to expressive and extreme emotional structures. Timothy is deeply involved in the tonal and emotional aspects of rhythmic harmony as they move against each other in blocks and waves of sound.

"Pledgers harmonies are so pungent they make you blush, and his tunes breathe...the usual distinctions between tradition and convention can't plot Bohjass " (The Wire. Britain).

Tim is the composer and saxophonist with his spiritual free jazz band Bohjass which began in the early 1980's. Bohjass has been critically acclaimed both in Australia and abroad with many of Australia’s great improvisers having played at some stage in this ensemble.

"Pledger demonstrates his right to impose his ideas on the rest of the group by delivering amazing sax solo's, where he evokes Ayler and Dolphy with just the right amount of detachment and humour to separate himself from the numbskull literalists." (Hi-Fi News. Britain)

Tim’s musical, filmic and written works are concerned with the landscape of the culture and politics of the environment they are created within, and therefore present personal meditations on certain aspects of society. Tim's music was the soundtrack to Iranian/Australian filmaker Vahid Vahed's film "Transformation" which was awrded The Dead Oscar at Sydney Underground Film Festival, 2011 for Most Political Film.

Bohjass' forthcoming album "Into the Low Rents/Compassion" with the 14 piece Bohjass Upas Militia (BUM) speaks of the intolerance so many have faced and calls for compassion.

Tim has a Masters Degree in Music Performance (Melb.Uni)

Belinda Woods

Flutes

"Belinda Woods is a sweet monster on the flute, the beguiling effortless of her invention masks the years of work, but years of work wont guarantee the edginess and clarity of her blissful execution. When she plays shes lyrical and feisty and marvellous." (australianjazz.net)

A PhD graduate of the VCA, Belinda was the recipient of a 2015 Creative Victoria Scholarship for excellence and a 2009-2012 APA recipient as well as being selected as a finalist in the 2011 APRA Professional Development Awards. Belinda explores the use of texture and contour within her compositions and improvisations to paint scenes of rich complexity, focusing on the acoustic nature of her instrument.

Artistic director of the Make It Up Club from 1998 – 2007, and Project Manager through 2010-2016 for the Click Clack Project and Jolt Arts, Belinda has played a major role in supporting and enhancing the development of the local music scene, uniting the works of professional musicians with those of emerging artists and underprivileged individuals.

Ali Watts

Bass

Alastair Watts is a Victorian born and bred double and electric bassist who has been invested in composition, arrangement, electronics and improvised music making for 20+ years. Having studied at the VCA and having played with numerous notable Melbourne improvisatory luminaries, Alastair's heartfelt writing and arranging has plenty of emotional and academic heft. His favourite bass is called Polly.

Alastair's main project is 'Slipper,' an outfit which is currently producing their 2nd studio album 'Perihelion.' His compositions for this project give the players creative sonic freedom, an aspect of ensemble sound that Watts holds close to his heart. With sonic exploration at the heart this ensemble leadership Watts is able to create immaculate sonic settings for simple but glorious tunes.

Watts loves sound. And ensemble playing. Colour, as a function of timbral aggregation, has been an important recent sonic discovery for him. He cites musical opportunities with Belinda Woods, Timothy Pledger and Hannah Bowden as critically important in his artistic development - moving from harsher idioms into art music was well served by careful mentorship and carefully curated listening. Formalising his learning at the VCA (Bachelor of Music Performance 2009) where he met Daniel Brates, and now having gigged extensively in a variety of genres, Watts views music as a wonderful racket. He finds inspiration in the art of Low, J.S Bach, Chris Marker, Charles Mingus, Meshuggah, Julio Cortazar, Boards of Canada and Jorge Louis Borges. He would like to play piano, drumkit and trumpet.

Daniel Brates

Drums

Drummer and composer Daniel Brates started his musical journey in Israel studying with local drum and piano teachers and playing in his first bands as a teenager.

In 2002 he relocated to Munich Germany where he studied jazz at the Freies Musik Zentrum under Bastian Jütte and Geoff Goodman whilst playing with local mund art band Sautanz, Electronic jazz band Chekov and other projects, touring Germany, Austria and Czech Republic.

Since 2007 Daniel has called Melbourne home, where he graduated from the VCA , (Bachelor of music performance in 2009) studying under Graham Morgan, Simon Barker, Alex Pertout and has been teaching, writing, recording, touring and performing in the vibrant local scene. His versatility and musical skills enabled him to work with a plethora of artists such as James Ellis, Matt Joe Gow, Small town romance, Tim Guy, Chris Young, Mirror Clippers, Bohjass and so many more.

Mick Power

Guitar

Performing in the popular soul/disco band Squid Nebula and rising star Bumpy, Mick Power brings a textural tone to the guitar, building vast soundscapes to every band he’s a part of. Mick has honed this sound within the Northcote Jazz scene with cult spiritual jazz ensemble Bohjass and textural ambient trio; Factory House Band(FHB)

Mick has played at events such as Woodford Folk Festival, Strawberry Fields, Loch Hart, and St. Kilda Festival and gained a place on 2020’s Bigsound 150 list with Squid Nebula.

Oscar France

Keys / Synths

Pianist/Composer

Oscar is a piano and synth wiz at the forefront of the Northcote jazz scene. Performing regularly with cult spiritual jazz ensemble Bohjass and his textural ambient trio; Factory House Band (FHB).

Combining his influences of jazz, electronica and folk music Oscar has started the ethereal orchestral jazz project Toqui and released a debut album in May 2023. Oscar is also a key figure at the Ragtime Tavern, performing, bartending and creating the weekly Jazz Jam (The Sunset Sessions) providing an encouraging and inclusive environment for developing musicians of all diversities to perform at.

Chris Lewis

Timbales / percussion

Composer/Musician/Sound Designer/Musical Director

Christopher Lewis is a Melbourne based drummer/percussionist, composer, and
musical director working across all facets of the music, circus and theatre
worlds. He performs and tours regularly as a drummer and percussionist with
Bush Gothic, SHOL, The Faraway Trio, The Confabulations, Bohjass and Slipper.

He has played at numerous venues and festivals with the above including
Womadelaide , MONA FOMA, Rajasthan International Music Festival (India),
Home Gathering (UK), Port Fairy Music Festival, Falls Festival, Wangaratta Jazz
Festival. In 2020 he collaborated with Visual artist lighting designer Gina
Gascoigne in a Creative Arts Victoria funded project “Explorations in Light and
Sound”.

Within the theatre and physical theatre realm he has composed and performed
with in the 2023 productions Spherical (Flying Fruit Fly Circus) at Sydney Opera
House and Non-Stop Energy (Circus Oz) at Melbourne International Comedy
Festival. He has also worked for Chamber Made Opera, Legs on the Wall, NICA,
Dislocate Physical Theatre, Musica Viva, and has a long connection with Circus Oz
as a musical director and musician.

Luigi Portararo

Conga and percussion

Luigi Portararo is a prominent percussionist in Melbourne, who has dedicated his musical career to the Latin, Jazz and Funk genres. Honing his skills at Drum-tech School of Music in Melbourne under notable teachers, John Clark, Salvador Persico, Javier Fredes. Later studying in Havana Cuba, under the instruction of Yaroldy Abreu Robles and others. Immersing himself in the study of Afro Cuban Folkloric music and spiritualism, he developed a signature sound that is melodic, soulful, and explosive.

Luigi established himself quickly in the Melbourne music scene playing energetic gigs at the Copacabana, with La Mezcla, the Night Cat with La Influencia and San Lazaro. Shortly after - becoming a long-standing member of Experimental Free Jazz band Bohjass and founding member of Melbourne up and coming soul fusion band Let Your Hair Down.

Luigi has recorded on fourteen albums to date with Bohjass and Let Your Hair Down. He does regular session work on local and international albums, short film scores and live to air PBS and RRR programmes. Luigi has performed in many notable festivals such as Falls Festival, White night, Johnston Street Festival and AUS Music Festival.

Playing with the likes of Danny Ross and The Cat Empire, Bohjass, The Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, Fulton Street, The 7ups and more… Luigi has played countless residencies at many of Melbourne’s hotspots.

Currently represented by College of Knowledge Records.