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Christopher Robert Lionel Abrahams (born 9 April 1961) is a New Zealand-born, Australian-based musician. He is a founding mainstay member of experimental, jazz trio the Necks (1987–present), collaborated with Melanie Oxley as a soul pop duo (1989–2003), and has issued ten solo albums.
BiographyEdit
Early yearsEdit
Template:Main article Christopher Robert Lionel Abrahams was born on 9 April 1961 in Oamaru, New Zealand.<ref name="APRALiving">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="New Grove">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="NLA Sth Isle">Template:Citation</ref> Abrahams, on keyboards, formed jazz group Benders, in 1980 in Sydney with Dale Barlow on tenor saxophone, Louis Burdett on drums and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar.<ref name="McFarlane">McFarlane, 'Chris Abrahams' entry. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 3 March 2022.</ref><ref name=ausrockdb/><ref name="Jackson 1">Template:Cite news</ref> By the time Benders disbanded in 1985, Abrahams had performed on all three of their albums, E (1983), False Laughter (1984) and Distance (1985).<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name=ausrockdb/><ref name=allmusic>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While still with Benders, late in 1983, he supplied piano for Laughing Clowns' second album, Law of Nature (1984).<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name=ausrockdb/>
The Necks, Melanie Oxley & Chris AbrahamsEdit
Template:Main article The Sparklers were a dance pop group formed in 1985 by Abrahams on keyboards, Bill Bilson on drums (ex-Sunnyboys), Gerard Corben on guitar (ex-Lime Spiders), Ernie Finckh (RenrocRab) on guitar and the Oxley siblings Melanie on lead vocals (ex-Sweet Nothings) and Peter on bass guitar (ex-Sunnyboys).<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name=ausrockdb/> Colin Bloxsom took over lead guitar by the following year.<ref name=ausrockdb/><ref name="Sutton"/> Sparklers released two singles, "Overworking" (October 1986) and "So Often Dreaming" (January 1987) before Abrahams left.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Sutton">Template:Cite news</ref> The Sparklers issued their debut album, Persuasion, in 1988.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name=ausrockdb/>
The Necks were formed as a jazz trio, in 1987, by Abrahams on piano, keyboards, organ and guitar with former bandmate, Swanton, on bass guitar and double bass, and Tony Buck on drums, percussion and guitar (ex-Great White Noise).<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name=ausrockdb/><ref name=allmusic/> For his compositions with the group he has won two APRA Awards (Australia) for Most Performed Jazz Work; "Drive By" in 2005 and "Mosquito" in 2006.<ref name="APRAWin2005">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As from March 2020 the trio have issued 16 studio albums.<ref name="Couture">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described their sonation, "abstract, improvised, jazzy mood music."<ref name="McFarlane"/>
In 1989, while still with the Necks, Abrahams formed a soul pop duo, Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams, with former the Sparklers' bandmate, Oxley.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name=ausrockdb/> They released a four-track extended play (EP), Resisting Calm, via Spiral Scratch in late 1990.<ref name="NLA Resisting">Template:Citation</ref> For that EP they used Abrahams' current and former bandmates, Buck on drums, Swanton on acoustic bass guitar, Corben (ex-the Sparklers) on guitar as well as Mike Bukovsky on trumpet, Guy Dickerson on guitar, Stuart Eadie on floor toms and Jackie Orszaczky on bass guitar.<ref name="Resisting">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> While periodically collaborating with Abrahams, Oxley maintained her career as a school teacher.<ref name="Dwyer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The duo's first two albums, Welcome to Violet (1992) and Coal (1994), were released via Remote Records/MDS.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name=ausrockdb/> They were labelled as, "moody, emotive soul/pop" works by McFarlane.<ref name="McFarlane"/> Their next album, Jerusalem Bay (1998), had Hamish Stuart on drums (ex-Ayers Rock, Wig World, the Catholics) and Mike Bukowski on trumpet (ex-Ten Part Invention).<ref name="McFarlane"/> In 2001 the pair performed Abrahams' music for a radio travel documentary, South Island, which was broadcast by ABC Classic FM on 6 October 2003.<ref name="S Island Doco">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> It was created, narrated and produced by Abrahams with The Listening RoomTemplate:'s Sherre DeLys.<ref name="S Island Doco"/><ref name="MediaArts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>
Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams' next work, Blood Oranges, appeared in early 2003 via Remote Records/Vitamin Records.<ref name="Shand">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> The Sydney Morning HeraldTemplate:'s John Shand found, "his lyrics are often bleaker than their past work, it is not a despairing bleakness, but one bolstered by stoicism, wit, hope and a love of beauty."<ref name="Shand"/> Jeremy Green of dB Magazine observed, "[it is] peculiarly ineffectual. It paws lazily at classic Motown pop but is totally sedated by dinky production and emotional primness."<ref name="Green">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>
Solo workEdit
Abrahams issued his debut solo album, Piano, in 1985 via Hot Records/Making Waves.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name=ausrockdb/><ref name=adlib>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was recorded at Sydney Opera House's Recording Hall and mastered at Studios 301.<ref name="Mitchell"/> Tony Mitchell of Cyclic Defrost described this album in 2017, "nine improvisations... it suggests a virtuoso pianist in the making."<ref name="Mitchell">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> After leaving the Sparklers, in 1987, he issued his second studio album, Walk.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name=ausrockdb/>
His fifth solo album, Thrown appeared in 2005 via Room40.<ref name=cd-thrown-review>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cyclic DefrostTemplate:'s Max Schaefer noticed, "Technically formidable and conceptually refined, [he] pays homage to the piano by drawing it into tightly articulated and highly personalized forms."<ref name=cd-thrown-review/> Abrahams performed, produced and arranged the music for the Australian film, The Tender Hook (2008), which was released as the soundtrack album, The Tender Hook: Motion Picture Soundtrack.<ref name=tender-hook-album>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards his work was nominated for Best Original Music Score.<ref name="2008 AFI Noms">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="2008 AFI Wins">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Play Scar (2010), his seventh album, was reviewed by Oliver Laing of Cyclic Defrost, who declared, "[it] is the glorious sound of well-established artist willing to push the boundaries of sound and technique into new realms."<ref name=cd-play-scar-review>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His next effort, Memory Night (2013), shows that "even at his most ominous is also quite listenable, creating jumbled, but still quite accessible soundscapes" according to 4ZZZ's Chris Cobroft.<ref name="Cobroft">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>
Abrahams has worked as a session musician on albums by the Triffids (Born Sandy Devotional, 1986), Ed Kuepper (Rooms of the Magnificent, 1986; Honey Steel's Gold, 1991; This Is the Magic Mile, 2005), Skunkhour (Skunkhour, 1993), the Apartments (A Life Full of Farewells, 1995; Apart, 1997; In and Out of the Light, 2020), the Church (Magician Among the Spirits, 1996), the Whitlams (Eternal Nightcap, 1997; Torch the Moon, 2002), Silverchair (Neon Ballroom, 1999), Midnight Oil (The Real Thing, 2000) and Wendy Matthews (Beautiful View, 2001).<ref name=ausrockdb>Australian Rock Database entries:
- Chris Abrahams: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- The Laughing Clowns: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- The Sparklers: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- The Necks: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }} </ref><ref name="Couture"/>
Musical style and composingEdit
Some of Abrahams' music is experimental in nature—The Necks are an improvisational trio, and Abraham's performance at the Room40 Tenth Anniversary in London was labelled "ambient", "free-jazz" and "industrial noise" by (UK) Financial Times reviewer, Mike Hobart.<ref name=ft-uk>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Chris Reid of RealTime magazine wrote of his Germ Studies collaboration with Clare Cooper, an organiser of the NOWnow Festival who played the Chinese zither on the album, that "it represents an extensive investigation into the endless range of sounds that can be created by combining the venerable DX7 synthesiser and the even more venerable Chinese zither, the guzheng [...] a deep exploration of musical language".<ref name=realtimearts-germ-review>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DiscographyEdit
AlbumsEdit
| Title | Album details | |
|---|---|---|
| Piano |
| |
| Walk |
| |
| Welcome to Violet (with Melanie Oxley) |
| |
| Coal (with Melanie Oxley) |
| |
| Jerusalem Bay (with Melanie Oxley) |
| |
| Glow |
| |
| Blood Oranges (with Melanie Oxley) |
| |
| Streaming |
| |
| Artery (with Jon Rose, and Clayton Thomas) |
| |
| Thrown |
| |
| Oceanic Feeling Like (with Mike Cooper) |
| |
| The Tender Hook: Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| |
| Germ Studies (with Clare Cooper) |
|
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}}</ref>
|
| Play Scar |
| |
| None of Them Would Remember It That Way (with Lucio Capece) |
| |
| None of Them Would Remember It That Way (with Alessandro Bosetti) |
| |
| Kopfüberwelle (with Sabine Vogel) |
| |
| Memory Night |
| |
| Gardenier (with Magda Mayas) |
| |
| Luv / Kopfüberwelle (with Sabine Vogel) |
| |
| Fluid to the Influence |
| |
| Climb |
| |
| Peggy (with Jon Rose) |
| |
| Sink (with Arthur Rother, Andrea Ermke, Marcello Silvio Busato) |
| |
| Next to Nothing (with Ignaz Schick) |
| |
| Appearance |
| |
| Praxis (with Mike Cooper) |
| |
| Weft (with Robbie Avenaim and Jim Denley) |
|
CitationClass=web
}}</ref>
|
| Words Fail (with Clayton Thomas & Miles Thomas) |
| |
| Nightjar (with The Vampires) |
|
Extended playsEdit
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| Resisting Calm (with Melanie Oxley) |
|
Awards and nominationsEdit
APRA AwardsEdit
The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).<ref name="APRAMusic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Awards table |- | 2005 || "Drive By" (with Lloyd Swanton and Anthony Buck) || Most Performed Jazz Work<ref name="APRAWin2005"/> || Template:Won |- | 2006 || "Chemist" (with Swanton and Buck) || Most Performed Jazz Work<ref name="APRAWin2006">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Template:Won |- | 2019<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> | "Body" (with Swanton and Buck) | Song of the Year | Template:Shortlisted |-
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ARIA Music AwardsEdit
The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.
Template:Awards table ! Template:Abbr |- | 1993 | Welcome to Violet (with Melanie Oxley) | Best Independent Release | Template:Nom | <ref name="BIR ARIA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> |- | 2023 | Nightjar (with The Vampires) | Best Jazz Album | Template:Won | <ref name="ARIA2023noms">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> |-
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Helpmann AwardsEdit
The Helpmann Awards is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001.<ref name=lpa>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Template:Awards table ! Template:Abbr |- |rowspan="2"| 2009 | FOOD COURT (with Back to Back Theatre and The Necks) | Best New Australian Work | Template:Nom |rowspan="2"| <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> |- | FOOD COURT (The Necks, Chris Abrahams, Tony Buck & Lloyd Swanton) | Best Original Score | Template:Nom |-
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ReferencesEdit
- General
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- Specific
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