The Necks (australia) at Bray Jazz Festival at The Well

THEY have been described, by the New York Times as “one of the greatest bands in the world”, and by The Guardian as “one of the most extraordinary groups on the planet”.

Championed by musical pioneers such as Nick Cave and Brian Eno, the trio, who have released 19 albums in over 30 years are the epitome of the cult band, and with good reason.

The Necks don’t sound like any band you have ever heard. They are an instrumental piano trio but don’t sound like one, their music is not jazz, classical, minimalism, ambient, trance or alt-rock. Somehow it is beyond these labels....

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THEY have been described, by the New York Times as “one of the greatest bands in the world”, and by The Guardian as “one of the most extraordinary groups on the planet”.

Championed by musical pioneers such as Nick Cave and Brian Eno, the trio, who have released 19 albums in over 30 years are the epitome of the cult band, and with good reason.

The Necks don’t sound like any band you have ever heard. They are an instrumental piano trio but don’t sound like one, their music is not jazz, classical, minimalism, ambient, trance or alt-rock. Somehow it is beyond these labels.

Renowned for ‘playing the room’ and drawing inspiration from their surrounds (which makes the medieval The Well church a perfect venue), The Necks create music that subtly changes and develops, their pieces can last for up to an hour. In concert, the trio walk out and play; nothing prepared in advance. Pieces are begun with a repeated melodic or rhythmic phrase by one of the members, the others gradually joining with complementary or contrasting ideas that incrementally build and enrich the whole. The overall effect is meditative and hypnotic. “It almost feels that we’re caretakers of the music, or serving it in some way,” says drummer Tony Buck.

“Broad impressionist brushstrokes… a sweeping, irrepressible sense of grandeur... I am left feeling quite pleasantly drunk" - The Wire

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