About Freefall

Style & Description

The Freefall quartet is accustomed to providing a professional and elegant mix of music. The ensemble blends styles from improvised rhythmic grooves to soulful jazz; blues and latin standards. Freefall’s rich musical repertoire includes subtle influences from the middle east and reggae, offering an alluring variety of musical flavours and textures.

Intuitively, they weave and blend sounds and musical rhythms to enhance and provide a suggestive mood for any occasion. Freefall specialises and is experienced in providing entertainment for sophisticated art gallery exhibitions, cocktail and corporate functions, private parties and weddings.

Musical Description

Band Members The ensemble’s musical diversity is expressed through familiar standard tunes such as Rodrigo’s Spanish guitar Concerto de Aranjuez, jazz ballads like Little Sunflower and So What to vocal ballads from Sting’s Fragile, latin guitar tunes from Santana’s Europa and their interpretation of Jimmi Hendrix’s Little Wing. You may hear familiar muted trumpet melodies blending through smooth jazz grooves, reflecting moods of Miles Davis and Chet Baker. Later on as the evening matures, the ensemble will create a more lively upbeat vibe from latin and funk dance grooves, drawing on influences from James Brown and Joe Cocker to Herbie Hancock and St Germein.

Instruments

Freefall combine an elegant blending of instrumentation and sounds from diverse musical styles. The ensemble comprises the warmth and depth of double bass, the grit and texture of fender rhodes keyboard, a soulful blending of blues and latin guitar, spatial muted trumpet and voice, with subtle effects, haunting Irish flute and unobtrusive percussion, providing shades of light and colour from a palette of sounds.

Formal Occasions

Freefall specialises in gentle acoustic and ambient music for red carpet entrances into art galleries and function centres, as well as providing full sound and equipment in the main reception room.

The ensemble is considerate, adaptable and flexible to their clients’ needs and requests. Versatility is Freefall’s strength, combining many years of experience. Mostly dressing elegantly in suits the band can equally look the part in funky street attire as well.

Venues Played

Freefall have played at the following venues:

Vanguard, Newtown
Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery
Royal Sydney Golf Club
Aria Restaurant, Circular Quay
Rose Bay Afloat Restaurant
Randwick Rugby Club, Coogee
Watson’s Bay Hotel
Menangle Heritage House.

Freefall have also enjoyed playing a two year residency at the 446 Club Cocktail Bar in Chatswood.

Meet the Band Members

Jonathan Holowell

Jonathan Holowell studied both the piano and trumpet at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education and over the past twenty years has taught both piano and classroom music at many different schools in Sydney. During this time he has always performed in numerous ensembles and musical situations from classical to jazz. His style is very individual and is based on his synthesis of many different styles of music. Some of the bands he has played in during his career were the renowned Booze Brothers Show during the eighties and the Dexter Moore Band in the nineties supporting James Morrison and Skunkhour. He has formed his own groups such as Havic in the Ballroom and has used a regular line up for many years to record and perform blues/rock and fusion. Jonathan’s major project during 1999 was writing, performing and recording a jazz/fusion CD named Cry Wolf with Guy Vaughan-Smith. In recent times he has performed at The Basement playing for David Westmore and his CD launch.

Jason Smith

Jason Smith is a professional musician, teacher of electric and double bass and currently runs several school bands. He graduated with an Advanced Certificate in Music (Dist) from the Australian Institute of Music in the early nineties. Jason grew up in Coffs Harbour playing and performing trumpet and organ at the local church and with the town brass band. He has a wealth of experience playing in many different situations from pub rock to night clubs and even the Opera House. Since moving to Sydney in 1989 he has developed a love for jazz which is now his main focus and considers the Freefall quartet a perfect outlet for this kind of music. "It is constantly changing and adapts to any situation". In recent years he has played with several bands including Something Urban (Indie pop), receiving high rotation airplay on Triple J and he is the band leader for another jazz group called MetroJazz. Jason also works as a freelance bassist for live gigs and studio recordings.

Andrew Paterson

Andrew Paterson began drumming in Adelaide and has had a career in the musical instrument retail and wholesale industry. His teachers were Steve Todd, John Stephens and Jim Bailey (congas). He freelanced for many years in dinner/dance bands playing all styles. During the eighties he played percussion for a seven piece Afro-Ska band named Nuveau Ago-go. Over the past fifteen years Andrew has played and recorded with a wide variety of groups from jazz, acoustic folk stomp to rock ’n’ roll. He plays percussion for songwriter and guitarist Peter Miller Robinson performing semi acoustic folk blues, and backs Cal Walker on drums in a tribute show to Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley called Black & White Night.

Colin Campbell

Colin Campbell on guitar blends Freefall with a dynamic and melodic mix of rhythms and solos. He performs with sensitivity and style drawing on and blending his diverse knowledge of blues, jazz, Irish music and African guitar. Colin is mainly a self taught musician who can play many instruments including piano, bass, mandolin, tin whistle, banjo and percussion. He has been playing for over the past twenty years in bands and performing live in the UK, Ireland, France, Holland and Australia. He has recorded and composed music for television, video and live theatre. His latest project is producing and performing an environmental music theatre programme for school children.