Cathy Menezes quartet playing at Qbaa this weekend

Friday, 5 July 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lankan born acclaimed musician Cathy Menezes has returned to her roots with a quartet featuring Andrew Jones, Matt Gibson and Hayley Jones-Buckley to give the local music lovers a new and unique taste of music. Scheduled to perform at Qbaa this Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 p.m. onwards, the event is a ticket only event, with tickets priced at Rs. 1000. Born in Colombo, Menezes was raised in a family of Asia’s most famous musicians. Having started playing the piano at the age of four, she is today a well recognised singer, composer and improviser. Mainly working on the genres of jazz, standard, Latin and R&B, Menezes first made her public appearance as a musician at the age of 12, as a vocalist with her late father (Tom Menezes). Having stepped in to the business with key focus on jazz and contemporary music, she has toured extensively since, performing in Switzerland and Germany. She moved to Hong Kong and continued her career as an artiste. Her musicianship has found her taking part in artistic activities from jazz to pop including performances at the Sheraton Ayers Rock Hotel, with Kutcha Edwards at the Recital Centre in Melbourne and recordings with international musicians such as Hussain Jiffry and Francis Yip.

Today, she is studying jazz improvisation at the Victorian College of Arts in Melbourne and has received a 2012 Outstanding Creative Performance Award. Her passion in life is to further pursue her studies in music and continue to compose and perform. Accompanying her are Andrew Jones on piano, Hayley Jones-Buckley on upright and electric bass and Matt Gibson on drums. An Australian, Jones started playing music at the early age of three when his mother bought him a toy keyboard for Christmas. Playing by ear, he attended piano lessons at age seven, learning through the Suzuki Method. His mother would play a musical passage on the piano and he would listen and copy her using aural and muscle memory until he learnt a piece of music. When Jones was ten he learnt to read music and it was around this time that he began to hear the exotic sounds of jazz. From his early high school years he began music exams and entered music competitions all over the state achieving outstanding results. In 2006 Jones auditioned for the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and was a successful applicant. In 2010 Andrew was accepted into Honours at the VCA and was selected to perform at the Shanghai World Expo for two weeks playing solo piano in the Australian Pavilion. Andrew currently plays gigs in and around Melbourne and looks to further pursue his music studies in the near future. Hayley Jones-Buckley’s varied career has seen her play alongside some of the music industry’s biggest talents internationally. Following her Bachelor of Music at Lismore’s Southern Cross University, she enjoyed a long stint supporting various jazz, funk, Latin, big band, and pop artists around Europe before moving to Melbourne and stamping her name on Australia’s finest music scene. Bringing the bottom end of The Cathy Menezes Group to life, Jones-Buckley’s performances are renowned for showcasing the rare ability to deliver a dynamic-energy with a mature sensibility. Last but not least, an essential for the team is Matt Gibson who started playing the drums in primary school, following his older brother’s lead. He continued to study and play in local bands throughout his high school years. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Contemporary Music, majoring in Drumset Studies, from Southern Cross University in Lismore. After completing his studies, Matt moved to Melbourne, Australia where his talents were soon recognised and much sought after. Matt has performed in a variety of musical situations, from music theatre (The Producers, Cabaret, The Sound of Music), to performing with some of Australia’s brightest up and coming pop artistes (Ricky Muscat and Millie Moodie - Australian Idol Finalists). In 2009, Matt performed regularly with Alex Pertout (leading Australian Percussionist and head of improvisation at the VCA), where he performed alongside some of Australia’s finest musicians. Matt Gibson currently performs in various groups around Melbourne, and brings his solid, mature, yet playful style of timekeeping to the Cathy Menezes Quartet.