Chris Cody - Astrolabe

2020 release

A powerful musical journey, Astrolabe is inspired by French navigator La Pérouse’s voyage to Australia on the ship Astrolabe in 1788. Pérouse arrived in Botany Bay only six days after the First Fleet and vanished just weeks after leaving Australian shores. Cody says, “I found the voyage resonated with my own voyage to France and later back to Australia. I was challenged to grow as a musician and explore my identity and dreams. Both our stories share themes of old world versus new, the unknown, the meetings of different cultures, and of loss, death and disappearance. And ultimately, of hope and continuation.”

Cody’s work draws upon jazz, classical and world music to take audiences on a vibrant and exciting musical odyssey. It delves into differently imagined times, cultures and places to convey the emotions he felt after reading the ship journal. It starts with a medieval influenced dance in 5, move through upbeat jazz to a brass and wind chorale inspired by the stone figures of Easter Island. After a very still ballad and a north Japanese inspired temple piece, the music travels through a quirky dance in 7 with a hint of violence, a soulful lament for Père Receveur who died in Australia, the impending disaster and finally a waltz for hope.

The album was beautifully recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney in December 2019, with sparkling mastering by Michael Lynch, artwork by Maya Cody, and design by Tim Kliendienst. It contains a booklet with the story, photos, and superb original engravings and quotes from the ship’s journal.



Musicians: Chris Cody composition and piano, Tom Avgenicos trumpet, Paul Cutlan saxophone, clarinets and flute, James Greening trombone, didgeridoo, conch, Susie Bishop, violin, Emily-Rose Sarkova accordion, Lloyd Swanton, bass, Fabien Hevia drums, percussion, ship bell.

Sydney Morning Herald & The Age review 17/7/2020

It's as if new instruments are being devised by the minute, such are the improbable combinations Chris Cody contrives among his eccentric octet. Not mere whimsy, this eccentricity stems from the composer crafting a musical account of the voyages of French explorer La Perouse (the Astrolabe being one of his ships). In live performance, Cody's suite was embellished with readings from the great navigator's journals, which wisely have been left off the recording, and the listener, released from programmatic contextualisation duties, may simply absorb the enthralling music on its own terms.

The melodic richness is realised with ever-changing textures, as Tom Avgenicos' trumpet, Paul Cutlan's reeds, James Greening's trombone and didgeridoo, Susie Bishop's violin, Emily-Rose Sarkova's accordion and Cody's own piano come and go against the grooves of Lloyd Swanton's bass and Fabian Hevia's percussion. Cody builds improvisational space into the work, and such gifted players inevitably lead us to uncharted lands, but even more notable is the coherence and thoughtfulness of the composing as we journey across this new musical world.

John Shand