Tributary: Recorded album

The commercial sound recording ‘Tributary’ by the Damien Kingston Trio sits within the improvised music and multidisciplinary arts practice fields. The album demonstrates innovative approaches to performance practice, composition and improvisation utilised to interpret scientific research, promoting awareness of environmental issues surrounding the Derwent River ecosystem as part of the MONA Heavy Metals project. The research aimed to produce a sound recording containing disparate approaches to improvisation and composition that interpret and respond to the research of Ada Crantock investigating the POMS virus.

The research output is a recorded creative work comprised of seven original compositions. The approach documented in the recorded work contains a unique composition and improvisatory language and new approaches to interpreting scientific data through artistic practice. Innovative approaches included the use of oyster shell topography to generate melodic contour, the spectral analysis of scientific research sound sources utilised to generate harmonic and melodic content and graphic score representation of scientific data. The work documents a unique improvisatory and compositional voice that melds jazz, free improvisation and 20th Century compositional technique. It reimagines and recontextualises scientific research data in an improvised music context, giving rise to innovations in improvisation, composition, guitar performance practice and multidisciplinary arts practice.

The work demonstrates new knowledge in the form of innovative approaches to interpreting scientific data and environmental issues in the context of contemporary improvised music. The output was released on Hobart record label Scratch Match Records and was recognized through national (PBS 106.7 Impressions, Australia) and international (One Man’s Jazz, Canada) radio playlists, and press coverage including published critique in Australia (CutCommon) and America (Cadence Jazz World).