Origin Western Melbourne Years active 2001-current Website Myspace | Genres Jazz Labels Jazzhead Genre Jazz | |
Members Peter Knight(trumpet),
Dung Nguyen (modified electric guitar, traditional Vietnamese instruments),
Paul Williamson (saxophone),
Ray Pereira (percussion),
Howard Cairns (acoustic bass),
Rajiv Jayaweera (drum kit). People also search for Dung Nguyen, Peter Knight | ||
Way Out West are an Australian jazz group, formed in 2001. They originated in the western suburbs of Melbourne and are noted for their unusual instrumentation which includes West African drumming, and many traditional Vietnamese string instruments such as a dan tranh, dan nguyet and dan bau.
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The band has performed at major international festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, and Veneto Jazz Festival.
Reception
Their second album, Old Grooves for New Streets (2007), received five star reviews in Australia, and a review by America's All About Jazz said, “Certainly a candidate for Best Release of the Year – I hope lots of ears hear this one!”. In 2009 the group won the Bell Award for Australian Jazz Ensemble of the year. The Sydney Herald observed, “That these exotic sounds blend so well with jazz is a mysterious Melbourne alchemy”.