The new home of jazz in the heart of Darlo
Following the success of its month-long BLOOM Festival, Darlinghurst Theatre Company is expanding its offering of summer-night entertainment with DARLO UNDERGROUND – Sydney’s newest and most intimate jazz and comedy club.
Featuring an incredible line up of Australian jazz musicians and comedians, the weekly program is being curated by composer and multi-instrumentalist, Trevor Brown, alongside comedian Brendan Hancock, whom many will recognize as one half of Sydney’s Two Queers Walk Into a Bar.
Beginning on Wednesday 25 November with “Sydney’s first lady of blues”, Alice Terry and comedians Alex Reynolds, Rose Piper and Sam Taunton, Darlo Underground promises to be the next big thing, offering tapas and cocktails from the theatre’s Two Trout restaurant throughout the evening.
The idea to transform the downstairs lounge into a New York-style jazz club has been a long-time goal for Co-Artistic Director, Amylia Harris. “COVID has forced the closure of our borders and sadly the closure of many live music venues. So what better offering for music lovers and those who miss to fly in our skies, than to bring a cozy New-York inspired Jazz lounge to the heart of Sydney – a new permanent home for musicians, comedians and audiences to unite.”
Photos by Robert Catto
Harris is particularly pleased that Trevor Brown and Brendan Hancock have come on board to curate the weekly lineup. “The key to the success of any of our programs is the team behind it,” she says. “In the case of our BLOOM Festival, The People of Cabaret’s 10-day artist residency really helped define what the festival was all about. Now that we are presenting jazz and stand-up, we also need the perfect team to curate that. Trevor and Brendan absolutely fit the bill.”
With over thirty years under his belt, Trevor Brown is a highly sought-after composer, multi-instrumentalist, sound designer, improviser, director and producer. He has performed around Australia with countless bands including Waiting for Guinness, The Gypsy Dub Sound System and Meta Bass n Breath, as well regularly touring Europe with a range of solo and collaborative projects. He is the Artistic Director of the Sydney Improvisers Composers Kollektic Orchestra. He is a prolific composer for film, dance, circus, theatre, radio and spoken word and has had sound installations commissioned by STC, Belvoir St, Bangarra, MONA, Dark Mofo, ABC, Australian Museum and Triple J. Touring extensively around Australia, Brown has performed with countless bands including Waiting for Guinness, The Gypsy Dub Sound System and Meta Bass n Breath.
Brown is joined by co-curator Brendan Hancock. A comedian and improviser, Hancock is one-half of Sydney's Two Queers Walk Into a Bar. A Sydney regular, Hancock performed his debut solo-show at this year's 2020 Sydney Comedy Festival.
Brown and Hancock are thrilled to be assembling the lineup for DARLO UNDERGROUND every Wednesday, with Hancock emceeing the first night on 25 November, when the first jazz performer of the season will be Alice Terry. Powerful, emotive, gritty and intense, Alice Terry’s vocals evoke classic singers like Janis Joplin, and the American blues singer and Grammy nominee, Beth Hart, has described Alice Terry as “the real deal”. In 2018, her debut single ‘Emotion’ and debut LP ‘The Fear Of’ both charted in the top five of the iTunes blues charts. Terry has supported acts like Matt Corby, Thirsty Merc, Allen Stone, Beth Hart and The Waifs and continues to tour with Matt Corby as part of his band. Terry describes her own style as a mixture of jazz, folk, country and blues stewed together to create an individual feel.
Alice Terry will be followed by some of Sydney’s best stand-up comedians. Alex Reynolds has entertained sell-out crowds across Australia including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Sydney Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe and Sydney Fringe Comedy. Rose Piper has performed stand-up at the Sydney Opera House, on Tonightly, at Splendour in the Grass or just at gigs all around the country, supporting the likes of Wil Anderson and Zoe Coombs Marr. Meanwhile, Sam Taunton has toured with the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow throughout Australia, Asia and India, as well as being a regular at Splendour In The Grass and the nationwide Falls Festival. Taunton has performed at the Sydney Opera House as part of Just for Laughs and has been seen and heard on Channel 10's The Project, ABC2's Comedy Up Late and Triple J.
DARLO UNDERGROUND will be held every Wednesday evening, beginning 25 November. Tickets are $38 dollars p.p. and include a confirmed reservation at the Two Trout Restaurant and all five acts during the course of the evening. Please note that food and beverage are not included in the ticket price. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Wednesday 18 November. For more information and bookings, visit www.darlinghursttheatre.com
For interviews and further information please contact Jansson Antmann, in-house publicist at jansson@darlinghursttheatre.com or on 0405 383 051.