ANDREW SARAGOSSI - He's the guy playing the saxophone!

 For some time now, Jugglers Two Pages and our weekly newsletter has been featuring stories from artists,musicians and other creatives who are part of the Jugglers family or have had a step up through their engagement with us over the years. Today it is a joy to have Andrew Saragossi’s story in his own words. We have watched his evolving success over the past 5 years with great excitement and we are sure that he and his partners/colleague Helen Svoboda will continue to grow deeply. Peter Breen.

Hello readers of TWO PAGES. 

 My name is Andrew Saragossi, I am a saxophonist/organiser/educator/composer from Brisbane and I am currently living in the Netherlands completing my Master of Music studies alongside my partner and collaborator Helen Svoboda.  This time away from the comfort and familiarity of home has proven to be extremely valuable and profound for me – I feel as though I have a clearer vision and confidence in my individual musical identity as well as a better understanding of where and how I want my career in the arts to develop into the future. 

Before I go further, I just want to thank Peter Breen for offering me this platform to share my current doings.  Peter’s leadership and ethos continues to inspire me in my artistic pursuits (and life in general) and the time we spent together at the RBWH with the Stairwell Project was truly life changing for me. It allowed me to experience the power of music and art and their importance in our society on a level that I had never comprehended before and showed me how much good can be done through community building and outreach – values I still hold close today.  

 My personal practice and research are currently centred on the exploration and development of a personal approach and musically functional application of unconventional & extended techniques for the saxophone.   This concept was born out of my frustration with always being limited to the melodic/soloistic role in any given musical situation – I wanted to know what it felt like to truly accompany or occupy a different musical space AND I wanted to develop my own way to do this utilising the saxophone to its fullest potential.  

 This has opened up a whole new world of musical possibilities for me, fully manifesting in my newest duo project MEATSHELLco-led by Helen Svoboda (double-bass/vocals).  Self described as experimental-folk, we utilise traditional song forms, non-traditional musical roles and unique textures in the pursuit of serving the story of the music in the most expressive ways we can.  We had the opportunity in late last year to take this concept even further as we wrote, directed and performed in our debut immersive theatre production entitled “Peaceful Co-Existence” which won the inaugural Award for Innovation for Music in Maastricht.  

 I am still writing, recording and touring with my main Australian project Milton Man Gogh(co-led by Benjamin Shannon, drums & Zac Sakrewski, bass/effects) as well as my other European project AHA Trio(co-led by Helen Svoboda, bass & Andre van der Heide, drums).  MMG are coming to Europe in March to participate in the finals of the B-Jazz International Competition in Leuven, Belgium (along with MEATSHELL) and AHA Trio will also be competing in the final of the Jazz Burghausen Awards in Germany in the same month.  Even though it can be difficult, for me it is extremely exciting to have so many different projects based in different places around the world.  

 Aside from performing, I have been very fortunate to be working as the Head of Production with the team at Jazz Maastricht, a non-profit organisation bringing local, national and internationally renowned jazz artists to this region.   This job has allowed me to build on my experience with my Brisbane based labels Green Chimneys Records and SuperSonic and I now feel a new level of competence that I am excited to continue developing.  

 I feel lucky to have had so many inspiring people in my life who are ambitious, pro-active and think in terms greater than themselves.  As I write this, I keep circling in on one fundamental idea that I believe is of upmost important for anyone (especially those in the arts) to embrace and act through.   People should consciously and consistently put themselves in positions that force them go beyond what they think they are capable of.  This could mean radically different things for different people but the essence is that creativity, progress and development are born out of discomfort. Why would anything change otherwise?