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2nd March 2026 - Jason Bruer & Hammerhead // Damon Poppleton & Kevin HuntJason Bruer & Hammerhead
Jason Bruer – tenor & soprano sax
Andrew Robertson – alto sax & flute
Simon Ferenci – trumpet
Gavin Ahearn – piano
David Quinn – double bass
Elliot Carter – drums
Hammerhead is a powerhouse jazz sextet led by internationally acclaimed tenor saxophonist Jason Bruer, and has been a prominent force in the Australian jazz scene since 2011. Drawing inspiration from the hard bop era while incorporating urban jazz, funk, and chamber jazz influences, the band has established a reputation for high-energy performances and innovative compositions.
Their debut album, ‘Mozaic’ (2014), paid tribute to hard bop pioneers and received acclaim in Australia and Japan. With ‘Turning Point’ (2019), they transitioned to an all-original repertoire, further solidifying their unique artistic identity. Their latest release, ‘I Didn’t Get To Where I Am Today’ (2023), written during the pandemic, was hailed as their best album yet, receiving a 4.5-star review in The Australian and praise from jazz legend Mike Nock.
Hammerhead has performed at major jazz festivals, including Wangaratta Jazz & Blues, Sydney Conservatorium International Jazz Festival, Manly Jazz Festival, Thredbo Jazz Festival, Capital Jazz Festival, and Inner West Marrickville Festival. They have headlined the ‘Jazz Up North’ series at Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns and performed extensively across Australia. The also played a monthly residency at Lazybones Lounge in Sydney for nearly a decade, Hammerhead continues to push creative boundaries.
New music has been written by bandleader Jason Bruer which will be showcased at this gig as well as material from their last two releases. Expect a night of highly nuanced, sophisticated original contemporary jazz by one of Australia’s finest jazz ensembles.
Damon Poppleton & Kevin Hunt
Damon Poppleton - alto saxophone
Kevin Hunt - piano
The duo of Damon Poppleton & Kevin Hunt initially bonded over their shared love of reinterpreting music from the jazz canon, performing together for the first time in March 2025 at Foundry616. Now, they channel that same level of reverence and intensity into exploring their own original compositions, mostly written for larger groups, now performed within the intimate confines of the duo.
Damon Poppleton is a saxophonist/composer/bandleader. He is a 3 time member of the Australian National Jazz Orchestra Youth Big Band, leads his own groups the "Damon Poppleton Quartet" and "Damon Poppleton Orchestra", and works regularly as a sideman around Sydney. He recently returned from a trip to Adelaide where he performed his original music with his quartet.
Kevin Hunt is a jazz pianist-composer who has performed regularly in the Sydney jazz scene since 1979. Kevin Hunt currently performs regularly with vocalist Emma Pask and pianist Simon Tedeschi.
As well as performing jazz music, Kevin teaches jazz studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has recently completed his PhD entitled ‘Perceptions of the Stuart & Sons piano: realising a creative, active vision.’ In this research Kevin analyses the unique sound produced by the Australian made Stuart & Sons piano. As an outcome of this research, Kevin collaborates musically with local and regional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians to produce new music for the Stuart Piano. This research has instigated the annual OUR MUSIC Indigenous music program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to encourage continued collaborations between Sydney’s Indigenous and non- Indigenous musicians.
Doors 7:30pm
Show 8:00pm
Tickets: $15 Student / $25 General Admission
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Event Venue
62-68 Church St, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW, Australia, New South Wales, 62-68 Church St, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia, Pyrmont
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