With an intriguing name and growing reputation, the music of Brisbane’s experimental, post-jazz ensemble, The Quadratic Contingency, is as complex and intricate as the name suggests. On Friday evening, January 7, 2020, The Quadratic Contingency performed at the iconic Brisbane Jazz Club for a debut live recording. The music being played and recorded was intense, expressive and alluring.
Unlike a brassy big band sound, The Quadratic Contingency used an eclectic instrumentation of its four core players (clarinet, double bass, piano/keyboard and drums) enhanced by voice and violin, to evoke a tense atmosphere. The audience seemed compelled to watch the musicians as they interwove their sounds. Lead by their composer and drummer, Paul Young, the ensemble performed a number of new compositions and a range of improvised pieces.Young’s scores expressed his intrepid skills as a composer, drawing musical inspiration from his central European travels, his childhood memories and minimalist techniques. Each song was infinitely involved, using multiple rhythms and complex meters to create a ‘staircase’ effect with layered sounds. The charts contrasted in style from the rhythmically expressive Wine Time, featuring an intuitive piano solo by 17 year old James Ball, to the more conventional jazz grooves of Sweet Kid, featuring a prominent bass solo by Phil Jack.
As the improvised numbers unfolded, it was energizing to watch the experimental interplay between the musicians. Young’s animated drumming ensured a strong percussive influence throughout. His prolonged solo in Improvisation Three combined a range of styles. He started with a drum roll, a pounding bass and a continued high-hat tap, before moving to a clashing cymbal then a seamless change from sticks to brushes. Toby Gifford’s clarinet sounds ranged from rapid, trickling notes to long, mellow phrases to suit the overall dynamic of the group’s collective sound. The vibrant, yet graceful, violin playing by Frances Hyu, added an element of adventure to
Improvisation Six, just as a group of rowers sailed along the river, creating a delicate, illuminated backdrop for the performance. In the final number, Improvisation Two, Lauren Lucille awed the crowd as she sung without words, modeling her voice to reciprocate the sounds of the instruments.
The Quadratic Contingency first performed in 2020 alongside The West End Composers Collective. As their reputation continued to spread, the band performed with the contemporary jazz trio, Misinterprotato, and well-known composer and bassist Robert Davidson, from the post-classical group, Topology. After releasing their debut, self-titled EP at the Globe Theatre in 2020, the recent live recording will allow listeners to experience the immediacy and intimacy of the group’s expressive live sound.
While experiencing the recording process at the Brisbane Jazz Club, it was clear that The Quadratic Contingency is no background jazz ensemble. With their complex charts, innovative improvisation and invigorating music, The Quadratic Contingency give a preview of what lies beyond the genre of jazz.

The Quadratic Contingency: Debut Live Recording
The Quadratic Contingency
Brisbane Jazz Club
7 January 2020
Review by Miranda Cass