Dorian Mode is a seasoned vocalist who excels at the hammond organ. After his first organ quartet release earned him a deal with Mushroom in 1989, he was quickly signed to EMI where he established himself as a jazz artist with a very original approach. Since then his trio has been performing at festivals and jazz clubs around Australia, playing wicked grooves and swinging 60s jazz. As a writer of funny books he also is an entertaining stage performer and often peppers his concerts with quirky yarns and satirical observations. All in all an entertaining night.

Dr Dorian Mode is an award-winning jazz pianist, singer and composer. After leaving school he sat for a degree in composition at the NSW Conservatorium of Music, studying jazz piano with Mike Nock, arranging with Roger Frampton and Bill Motzing, improvisation with Judy Bailey and orchestration with Bozidar Kos. He studied voice with Edwin Duff, Don Grayden and Susannah Thompson. Upon leaving the NSW Conservatorium of Music he worked and studied in New York.

Returning to Australia he was quickly signed to EMI Records where his debut CD Rebirth of the Cool achieved chart-topping success both locally and internationally, reaching number two on the Adult Contemporary Charts in Japan. This mercurial success was followed by Café of Broken Dreams on ABC Jazz the following year.

Dorian lived in London for a while where he sang with the BBC Big Band in Europe and worked with other leading European jazz musicians before returning to Australia to take up a position as jazz vocal tutor at The Australian Institute of Music. He also formed the bebop scat group The Three Terrors with jazz legends Joe Bebop Lane and Booby Scott, who schooled him in the dark arts of scat singing.

Dorian has performed at numerous jazz festivals (including Montsalvat, Norfolk, Noosa and Manly) and leading venues across Australia (including the Sydney Opera House) and has appeared on several TV shows including Hey Hey It’s Saturday and the The Today Show. And he also composed the music for a travel series for FOX Television in the US. This was followed by his CD A Café in Venice on La Brava Records.

In 2006 Dorian recorded a new jazz trio CD, Memoir, earning an ABC Music Award for Best Jazz Composition. He was also awarded an ABC Music Award for Best Instrumental Composition. He has a Masters Degree (Hons) and was head of the jazz dept at the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music, where he taught jazz piano and voice for ten years. In 2008 he won an ABC Music Award for Best Theatrical Score for music composed for the play The Good German at the Seymour Centre in Sydney.

In 2009 he was awarded a prestigious APA doctoral scholarship. In 2012 he completed is doctorate.

As a singing teacher of many years, he has tutored numerous singers, including two winners from channel 7’s inaugural television singing series PopStars and has taught 2011 Australia’s Got Talent Finalist, Liam Burrows, since he was 12 years old. Liam was a recent finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition in LA.

What makes Dorian a superlative vocal teacher is his facility as a professional jazz pianist and arranger. He is able to accompany students at the piano and take the fledgling vocalist through standards in different keys, tempos and styles.

He recently giggled as a vocalist with Dale Barlow and toured the South Pacific with Galapagos Duck as their guest vocalist.

The Talent
Dorian Mode: Organ/vocals
Bruce Woodward: Guitar
Joe Marchisella: Drums

Doors open at 6.30pm. Show starts at 7.30pm.

See below to book your tickets today.

Jazz