| Jazz |
An Australian in New York: Tim Jago’s Jazz Odyssey
It sounds like the title of a Sting ballad, An Australian in New York. But this isn’t a pop reverie; it’s the story of a guitarist and composer who has quietly but deliberately settled into one of the most competitive and electrifying music capitals in the world. Tim Jago didn’t come to New York seeking fame. He came to share a deeply personal musical language—one that fuses jazz with rock, rhythm with intellect, and tradition with the kind of daring imagination that sets true artists apart.
From the opening bars of his latest album, Timeshift, Jago signals that this is no ordinary jazz record. The title track wastes no time in revealing its intentions: it’s sharp, rhythmically sophisticated, and melodically adventurous. This is jazz-fusion with a clear lineage, yes, steeped in the conventions of modern jazz, but also bursting with echoes of progressive rock, textured harmonies, and a cinematic sense of space. Jago is not just playing the guitar; he’s crafting narratives, stretching musical time like a filmmaker bends storylines.
Jago’s command of this idiom didn’t emerge from nowhere. His journey begins in Western Australia, where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance at the prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. There, he was awarded the Melville Toyota Scholarship in 2006, an honor reserved for the most promising final-year jazz student. One year later, he returned as a lecturer in jazz guitar, already proving himself as much a mentor as a performer.
In 2007, Jago was a finalist at the National Jazz Awards, which led to a performance at the celebrated Wangaratta Jazz Festival, a turning point that foreshadowed his future international presence. That same rhythmic intelligence that impressed the judges at Wangaratta is evident in Timeshift. There’s something about the way Jago structures time, layering beats, stretching phrases, slipping in and out of meters, that evokes comparisons not just to jazz greats, but to the polyrhythmic precision of rock legends like Rob Hirst, drummer for Midnight Oil. Except here, the drums don’t dominate, they blend. The percussion on Timeshift leans into ethnic textures, complementing rather than crowding Jago’s guitar. It’s a perfect fit for Jago’s genre-defying sensibility.
For those who enjoy tracing the contours of an artist’s career, Jago offers a rich map. He has performed and recorded extensively in both Australia and the U.S., curating and co-leading ensembles at major festivals such as the York Jazz and Soul Festival (2008, 2009), Perth International Jazz Festival (2013, 2014), Melbourne International Jazz Festival (2010–2015), and Miami Downtown Jazz Festival (2018). Along the way, he has shared the stage with a staggering list of luminaries: Chick Corea, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Patti Austin, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Gloria Estefan, Bobby McFerrin, Terence Blanchard, and Arturo Sandoval, to name only a few.
But accolades and associations don’t tell the whole story. What makes Timeshift so compelling is its internal cohesion. Where many fusion albums frontload their energy and trail off into indulgent noodling, this record holds its architecture from beginning to end. The second track, often a bellwether for the album’s staying power, doesn’t disappoint, it deepens the journey. Each of the eight compositions stands as a self-contained tableau, but together they form a kind of sonic mosaic: intricate, layered, and immaculately constructed. There’s no filler here, no lapses in craftsmanship. This is an artist at the height of his compositional and improvisational powers.
It must be said: this is not a record for traditionalists. Fans of classic swing or bebop may find themselves disoriented in Jago’s universe. But for listeners with an appetite for sonic risk, for those who approach music the way a reader approaches a novel, hoping to be drawn into a world unfamiliar and fascinating, Timeshift offers rich rewards. Jago’s playing is as personal as a voice, his guitar tone unmistakably his own. More than rhythm or harmony, it is this signature tone, sometimes crystalline, sometimes snarling, always intentional—that defines his artistic identity.
As 2025 unfolds, Timeshift stands out as one of the year’s most imaginative and rewarding jazz releases. It’s a record that doesn’t simply entertain, it challenges, invites, and ultimately transports.
And if you’re curious to hear more of Jago’s work, you can also find his guitar gracing the latest album by saxophonist Troy Roberts, another example of his growing presence in the world of contemporary jazz.
Troy Roberts NU-JIVE – Live at Perth Jazz Festival (ENG review)
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by Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, May 13th 2025
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Musicians :
Tim Jago: guitar, compositions & arrangements
Mark Small: saxophone
Martin Bejerano: keyboards
Dion: electric & Upright bass
David Shiverton: drums
Tracklist:
Time Shift
Calypso’ish
Soil To Sky
Major
Bernie’s Tune
Body And Soul
Fine Line
Kind Minded