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"Marc Hannaford is a complex Australian pianist that has taken full control of the music histories that interest him: from Messaien to Earl Hines.
When Marc fuses those histories with his own compositions, the results are a new sound that only come from within him, and thankfully they exist for us to hear. It's rewarding music that deserves all of the attention the music demands." - Jason Moran (U.S.A. pianist)
"Startling." - John Shand (Sydney Morning Herald)
"The musicians work best in a tight group context. Still, at the same time, their personal improvisational digressions are dazzling, creating an accumulated effect of well-planned narrative and definite solidarity of sound. ….this kind of conviction and openness to the possibilities of collective and open improvisation is astounding…" – Eyal Hareuveni (allaboutjazz.com)
"This pianist makes you believe there's still hope for the future…nay for the present of improvisation while half of the jazz world survives with one foot in the grave." – Andrea Ferraris (chindlk.com)
"…it is Hannaford who's at the centre, throwing with loose notes, breaking harmonies apart into thousands of atoms, holding very still and then again exploding into a firework of dissonance.", "In its impulsive and infectious nature, 'The Garden of Forking Paths' is also an irresistible invitation to make good on that first request: Once you've come to enjoy it, you'll want find out how it fits into the picture of the Australian improvisational scene." – Tobias Fischer (tokafi.com)
"Hannaford's playing style is as bold as his compositional concept." - textura.org
'….impressed with his beautiful time feel and melodic invention',
'…a highlight of the festival'
– John Clare (sima.org.au)
"…a formidable two-handed pianist, making treble dissonances ping over huge bottom chords, thundering and crashing in bursts like a freeze-frame avalanche and suddenly retreating to some fernery of rarefied calm.", "deeply satisfying music" - (Sydney Morning Herald)
'…one of the best jazz pianists in the country' – Eric Dunan (Head of Jazz-Wollongong Conservatorium)
'…complex, simple, aggressive, delicate, triumphal, dazzling, acerbic and engaging." – Roger Mitchell (Herald Sun)
Although he was already making an impact on the vital Melbourne improvised music scene, it was his 2nd prize at the 2006 National Jazz Awards that brought him national recognition as an energetic and creative improvising pianist.
After completing a Bachelor of Music (Jazz) and Graduate Diploma in Performance (Jazz) with the aid of the Michael Foster scholarship and under the tutelage of Paul MacNamara, Matt McMahon, Miroslav Bukovsky, John Luxton and Colin Forbes at the Australian National University, Marc moved to Melbourne to pursue further creative opportunities. An Australian Postgraduate Award supports his current study towards a Masters of Music Performance at the University of Melbourne.
Melbourne saw him come under the influence of such renowned Australian musicians as Scott Tinkler, Eugene Ball, Allan Browne, Ronny Ferella, Andrea Keller and Donna Coleman.
He was one of four jazz composers to be nominated for the 2006 Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival's annual commission, and in 2004 was commissioned by the Half Bent Winter Music Festival to present a suite of new music for septet. Marc's composition 'Out and Out' was nominated as a semi-finalist in the jazz category of the 2006 International Song Contest.
2007 and 2008 saw him included as one of the four national finalists in the Music Council of Australia's prestigious Freedman Fellowship (held at the Sydney Opera House) as well as one of three nominees for the Australian Jazz 'Bell' Awards Young Jazz Musician of the Year.
His recent projects have lead him to discover the music of Australian improvisers John Rodgers, Ken Edie and Elliott Dalgleish, who he now collaborates with on a regular basis: Rodgers and Edie in The Antripodean Collective, and with Dalgleish's Mute Canary Project.
He has presented music under the banner of organizations such as The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, The Stonnington Jazz Festival, Jazzgroove, The Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival, The Melbourne Jazz Co-operative, The Make-It-Up Club, The Sydney Improvised Music Association and many others.
He has given workshops and masterclasses at many of Australia's leading creative institutions including the Sydney Conservatory of Music, The Australian National University in Canberra, The Wollongong Conservatory of Music, and the Brisbane Conservatory of Music.
In May/June of 2008 Marc traveled to Banff, Canada to take part in the International Workshop for Jazz and creative music. There he learned intensely from world-reknowned musicians Dave Douglas, Thomas Morgan, Ethan Iversson and Wayne Krantz. He then traveled to New York to receive lessons from pre-eminent contemporary classical pianist Marilyn Nonken. He has also received lessons from New York pianists Jason Moran and Andy Milne, New York saxophonist Greg Osby.
Marc released his debut album: The Garden of Forking Paths on Extreme (www.xtr.com) in 2007; lauded by Laurence Donohue-Greene (chief editor allaboutjazz.com), Paul Grabowsky (Australian jazz pianist/composer) and John Rodgers (leading contemporary composer/ violinist) as some of the most original and exciting improvised music in recent times.
The Antripodean Collective's release Funcall (Extreme) was named one of the best releases of 2008 by Laurence Donohue-Greene at All About Jazz, New York.
His solo piano album: Polar was released mid-2009 on Extreme, and contains compositions and improvisations that reflect Marc's increased interest in post-serialism and rhythmic counterpoint. It was named the #2 best album of 2009 in the Herald Sun.
He is part of a trio with Allan Browne and Sam Anning that released its debut release: Homage on Jazzhead mid-2009. Garnering critical praise from around Australia for its re-interpretation of the music of Jelly-Roll Morton, Lennie Tristano, Duke Ellington, Herbie Nichols, Thelonious Monk it recived the 2010 Jazz 'Bell' Award for best traditional jazz album. Homage was nominated for a 2009 Air award, and named album of the year in both the Herald Sun and Rhythms Magazine.
Marc has performed with such well-known international musicians such as Tim Berne (USA), Wycliffe Gordon (trombonist with the Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra, USA) and Rex Richardson (USA) as well as saxophonists Elliott Dalgleish, Bernie McGann, Dale Barlow, Jamie Oehlers and Julien Wilson, trumpeters Miroslav Bukovsky, Scott Tinkler and Eugene Ball, violinist and composer John Rodgers and drummers Ken Edie, Simon Barker Ronny Ferella and Allan Browne. He has also appeared in such ensembles as the Scott Tinkler Quartet, the Bennett's Lane Big Band, Jamie Oehlers/Marc Hannaford Monk Project, Eugene Ball's Messiaen Ensemble, The David Rex Quartet and the multi-media ensemble The Maximalists.
