Sandy Evans: Australia's mother of jazz

Very few can claim they could read music before they could read words.

Sandy Evans, a tenor-saxophonist, jazz composer, musical leader, university teacher, female icon in the Australian jazz scene and pioneer for jazz and jazz fusion in Sydney, is one of those extraordinary people.

“My first memory, as a very young person was of being out in the back garden in the Northern Beaches singing. I remember being in the garden with the sun shining just making up songs,” says Sandy, her eyes gleaming with the thought of her memory.

She owes her early musical proficiency to her pianist mother: “I wasn't very good at playing piano, and still not, but still it gives you that insight. Then I went on to recorder at primary school, then flute, and then saxophone.”

Sandy is a woman whose immaculate and warm smile makes up for her demure frame. Her mousy grey hair reaches far beyond her shoulders and her kaleidoscopic Oriental clothing makes her stand out as a woman whose features stretch well beyond her musical prowess.

Jazz, to Sandy, is a constantly refreshing genre which ties itself strongly to improvisation. Although it is an extremely diverse, utterly underestimated and alternative form of music, jazz continues to grow at a rate that far exceeds the diversity of mainstream music today: “I feel like it's as exciting a time for jazz and improvised music as ever.”

Sandy completed her final two years of high school in Singapore which helped her discover “Oriental” music, particularly South Indian music. Since then, Sandy has visited India and collaborated with the likes of singer Shubha Mudgal and tabla players Aneesh Pradhan and Bobby Singh. She admits to sometimes finding herself face-to-face with the polarising musical differences between the Westernised, sultry sounds of the saxophone and highly ornamented classical Indian sound: “sometimes when you apply saxophone in a jazz context, you just don't feel comfortable with your identity or with the sound of it [alongside South Indian music].”

After discovering she felt most comfortable with tenor saxophone, Sandy joined a punk jazz fusion band, Great White Noise and gained her first experience recording in a cheap, overnight slot at a studio.

“I remember coming out the next morning and trying to get in the car and drive and just being completely exhausted. That was the beginning. Most of the recordings I've done we’ve paid for ourselves. It's pretty much a DIY industry.”

Sandy is an integral part of this “DIY” industry, having established and led countless ensembles, trios and bands and collaborating with hundreds of musicians internationally since the 1980’s. Two of her collaborations, world music quintet MARA! and jazz ensemble Clarion Fracture Zone have won ARIA’s in the 1990’s and in 2010, Sandy was awarded with an Order of Australia Medal for her contribution to music in Australia.

Sandy remains humble despite being such a highly regarded pioneer for jazz in Australia and laughs off her confession that many of her bands called her the ‘jazz mama’: “They don't need me anymore because they're fully matured.”

However, the pint-sized saxophonist’s successes haven’t occurred without challenges. In 1998, Sandy’s husband Tony Gorman was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis which dramatically altered the couple’s way of life. Despite such physical setbacks, Gorman continues to perform alongside Sandy with saxophone or clarinet in hand. “It was, and still continues to be very, very difficult. First of all, I had to become the sole bread winner, and secondly there was a long period of a lot of mental and emotional challenges associated with that.”

“I've been very fortunate to have very good support from my family and my friends. I've had a lot of positives, but that's definitely been a big, big struggle.”

As for her next feat? “I've got about eight projects I'm doing, far too many, actually. About half of them are in the area of the Indian jazz collaborations. I'm going to India in June to record and I think that's going to be amazing.”