James Muller set for Guitar Festival

Acclaimed Adelaide-born jazz guitarist James Muller will be performing as part of the Adelaide International Guitar Festival on Saturday, July 19 at the Space Theatre. Muller has released four albums since he burst onto the Sydney scene in 1996 at age 21, including All Out, his second album, which won an ARIA award for best jazz album in 2000 and Thrum, his third album, which was nominated for the same award in 2002. From a young age, Muller took a liking to jazz music and, at age 15, joined Marryatville High School’s Jazz Ensemble band. “I remember, even as a primary school kid, liking the sound of jazz whenever I’d hear it on the radio or TV,” Muller explained. After joining the school band, he and some other members decided to investigate jazz more seriously. “I thought jazz sounded more sophisticated and interesting than a lot of the rock and pop music I was listening to at the time.” This will be the first year Muller performs as part of the Guitar Festival, which he says is great for exposure of jazz music and an important event for aspiring musicians to attend. “As a developing musician, it’s crucial to hear music played live at the very highest level. It’s a life changing thing when you get to see your heroes play in the flesh rather than watching them on YouTube or on CD. “You learn so much more in a live situation – it’s much more profound and undiluted than on recorded medium. It’s also great for artists to be able to perform in this kind of festival environment because the audience is a lot more diverse than at a typical gig; it’s a great opportunity to gain wider exposure.” Muller will be performing at the festival alongside Sydney guitarist Ben Hauptmann; Melbourne bassist Chris Hale; and Ben Vanderwal, the drummer from his band. The group will also be featuring singer, Gian Slater. “We’ll be playing Ben Hauptmann’s new music, which will be a lot of fun.” Muller enjoys performing on stage with other musicians and embraces the effect the sound of two guitars has. “I love playing with another guitarist – two guitars sound great together. Although we’ve all known each other for a long time we have never played together as this band before.” Throughout and following the festival, Muller’s trio will be embarking on their first Australian tour, with the group visiting most of the major capital cities and a few other smaller towns. “Our first gig is at the Wheatsheaf in Adelaide on Monday, June 30, and we head up to the eastern states after that and then finish up in Perth.” The trio are planning to release a new album sometime later this year. James Muller Adelaide international Guitar Festival Coopers Late Night Sessions Saturday, July 19 Space Theatre