By MATTHEW SIMS

Seemingly dissonant chords and notes clash from several instruments.

Many voices strain to be heard and somehow combine with each other in a private conversation.

This is the world of jazz.

Several students from Monash University were given the chance to learn from world famous jazz musicians in the 2015 Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF).

Now in its 17^th year, the festival hosted about 100 events, including performances, workshops, interviews with prominent artists and film exhibitions from May 28 until June 7.

Renowned New York jazz saxophonist and composer Joe Lovano and Melbourne-based pianist Marc Hannaford performed with students of the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music.

Three ensembles of students from the Jazz and Popular Studies class showcased their musical abilities in Jazz Futures on Tuesday with Joe Lovano.

The show incorporated the jazz standards and the improvisations that have remained with jazz throughout its many incarnations, since its origins in New Orleans in the early 20th century.

It is often identified by the musician’s use of improvisation, a more relaxed and free playing style, unusual time signatures and sudden shifts.

One of the concert’s saxophonists and a second-year Bachelor of Music student at Monash University Eric Boesten said its popularity was constantly increasing.

“The first-year cohort this year is 50 per cent larger than my first year one was,” Mr Boesten said.

He said the key to jazz’s success was to debunk some of the misconceptions surrounding it.

“It is more enjoyable once you learn about it,” he said. “The more people know, the more successful it will be.”

Drummer and third-year student Robert Mercer said the musical conversations the musicians had with each other attracted him to jazz.

“You don’t need to rehearse it too much, because of the improvisation,” Mr Mercer said.

Joe Lovano, a multi-instrumentalist musician, has been involved in the music business since the early 1980s.

After listening to a rehearsal of the performance, he said the Monash University students seemed to be “on their way”.

“They all have a good feeling and they are listening to the right people,” Mr Lovano said.

He also said the essence of jazz is the personal expression of each musician.

“The essence of spontaneous creativity is a life force,” he said. 

Globally renowned Bennetts Lane Jazz Club

This year’s festival also marked the potential farewell to the globally acclaimed Bennetts Lane Jazz Club in central Melbourne. 

The artistic director of the MIJF and the founder of Bennetts Lane Michael Tortoni said he was offered a deal from the Marriner Group and other real-estate developers.

He said the developers might choose to continue on the legacy of Bennetts Lane but that he would not be involved with the building or the name into the future.

“The economic reality of running a jazz club in the CBD on such valuable real estate does not make a lot of sense any more,” Mr Tortoni said. 

The popular publisher of travel guides Lonely Planet also said it was “the world’s best jazz club”.

The club will officially close on Monday, June 15, with a free performance from Australian jazz drummer Allan Browne and his band.

Gender inequality 

Despite only male students being chosen to take part in Jazz Futures, Mr Tortoni said gender inequality within the jazz world was not an issue.

He said when choosing who would play at his club, he aimed to display the best performers based solely on their talent.

“For me, it is totally a non-issue and totally irrelevant who they are, what they look like [or] what gender they are,” he said.

Monash University Jazz and Popular Studies co-ordinator Robert Burke said there was a gender imbalance within the jazz course, although gender did not influence the selection process.

He said the issue was one of many problems within the arts sector as a result of insufficient funding.

“The funding bodies need to look at this as an issue in the sector and it needs more investigation and more support,” he said.

The Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival will be held this December and Dr Burke said there were many other opportunities for female jazz musicians in other countries.

Jazz leads the way

Dr Burke said the MIJF provided Monash University students with life-changing opportunities and put the university on the map in terms of jazz education.

Mr Tortoni said he thought jazz was “the most important art form of the 21^st century "because it is constantly evolving and informing all other genres of music."

"Jazz itself tends to take on trends, politics, fashion, other forms of music, it absorbs everything in its path, it evolves and then, again informs,” he said.

“It is not pop music, but it is always there.”