Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - Iron in the Blood: A Musical Adaptation of Robert Hughes' "The Fatal Shore" (2016) [Hi-Res]

“Jazz orchestra and two actors with Mic Gruchy’s superbly complementary big-screen visuals – the work is a dialogue between idioms and eras. This is a major Australian work and should be embraced by our key festivals.” –

– ★★★★½ Sydney Morning Herald (live review)

An award-winning musical production from acclaimed Australian saxophonist-composer Jeremy Rose & his Earshift Orchestra, Iron in the Blood is a powerful exploration of Australia’s colonial past.

Inspired by and featuring text from Robert Hughes’ seminal book The Fatal Shore, the production uses two narrators William Zappa and Philip Quast, stunning visuals from Mic Gruchy and Rose’s sophisticated compositions to bring to life the story of Australia’s founding.

Iron in the Blood provides an opportunity to explore Hughes’ masterpiece with a musical narrative that creates a rich perspective, from jazz evocations of Australian natural beauty to the folksong of the colonialists. Composed and conducted by Rose, the work is brought to life by a stellar 17-piece orchestra, drawn from Rose’s colleagues from Sydney and Melbourne. This grouping is described by Paul Grabowsky as an “ensemble comprising some of the most creative improvisers of the new generation”.

Iron in the Blood was released on ABC Jazz in 2016, premiered at Parramatta Riverside Theatre on 23 September 2018, and at the Sydney Festival, presented by City Recital Hall and Sydney Writer's Festival on 23 January 2020.

“A brilliant Sydney jazz composer and instrumentalist, a young man with a social purpose…. extraordinary music, reminiscent of comparable works such as Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite and Wynton Marsalis’ Blood on the Fields.” – The Australian (live review)

"Rose’s composition and orchestration here is reminiscent not only of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Gil Evans but, at times, of Igor Stravinsky and Peter Sculthorpe. It is a powerful mélange to which Rose has added much of his own as well...

Tracklist:
1.01 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - The Marauder Within (8:44)
1.02 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - Time Immemorial: Pt. 1 (11:05)
1.03 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - Time Immemorial: Pt. 2 (4:33)
1.04 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - Tyranny and Van Diemen’s Land (10:34)
1.05 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - An Ineradicable Stain (5:47)
1.06 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - Beyond the Seas (4:26)
1.07 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - Bunters, Mollies and Sable Brethren (5:34)
1.08 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - A Strange Lottery (6:36)
1.09 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - Norfolk Island (4:57)
1.10 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - The Aristocracy Be We (3:55)
1.11 - Jeremy Rose, The Earshift Orchestra - The Melancholy Bush (Wild Colonial Boy) (3:39)