Biography

Dr. Jamie Oehlers is one of Australia’s leading jazz artists and saxophonists. In 2003 Jamie was the winner of the World Saxophone Competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and has won numerous awards in Australia, including an Australian Jazz “Bell” Award for Best Australian Jazz Artist and three for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, an ABC Limelight Award for Best Jazz CD Release, an Australian Young Achiever of the Year Award, and has twice been a finalist in the ARIA awards for Best Jazz Album. He has performed throughout the world including major festivals like the JVC Jazz Festival in New York, BBC London Jazz Festival, Jazz Yatra in India, Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Edinburgh Jazz Festival, Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival in Rome, Galway Jazz festival, Brecon Jazz Festival, and comprehensively throughout Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

 

            Jamie has collaborated with many great international jazz artists within Australia and overseas including performances and recordings with Ari Hoenig, Aaron Goldberg, George Garzone, Charlie Haden, Eric Harland, Reuben Rogers, Rufus Reid, Geri Allen, Cindy Blackman, Jamie Cullum, Bob Hurst, Megan Washington, Kate Ceberano and many more. He has released 15 albums as a leader, including his most recent recordings “Night Music”, “Innocent Dreamer” (with Tal Cohen), and  “The Burden of Memory” (with Paul Grabowsky, Eric Harland and Reuben Rogers). As a sideman, Jamie has recorded on over 100 recordings. After completing his studies at WAAPA in 1993, he furthered his studies at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Boston, under scholarship. Jamie has been a saxophone and improvisation tutor at the Victorian College of the Arts and Monash University in Melbourne, and has held saxophone and improvisation workshops throughout Australia, USA, Japan, New Zealand and the UK. In 2008 he became the Head of Jazz Studies at WAAPA and is now the Associate Dean of Music. In 2018, he completed his PhD on reflexive practice within improvisation—Developing a Chromatic-Intervallic Approach to Jazz Improvisation Through Reflexive Practice.