Terry Reilly (and Keith Pettigrew) chat to Hilary Geddes 

For many younger Australian jazz musicians Covid presented an image of what professional life might be like under different circumstances, a two-year hiatus with few or no performance sessions; the demands of tours or constant gigging giving way to some solitude and time to compose and record. For many of us it was the nadir of our creative work or impulses, blunting working relationships and output.  

However, it has proved to be an ill wind that blew some a little good. 

The icing on the social cake for these young artists was that for the better part of two years they received some government support, a policy long advocated by the arts industry. Out of those grey days came a feast of creative new jazz releases, particularly for Hilary Geddes, a distinctive and inventive guitarist and composer of spacious soundscapes and raw energy. 

Those times are still never far away for Hilary, with her breakthrough album Parkside and follow- up Redleaf both anthems to the freedom to enjoy Nature, so much missed by all in those dark days. Parkside is a tribute to Centennial Park and Redleaf draws on memories of a begonia bush near a harbourside pool that provided solace and inspiration. 

Hilary is no stranger to the opportunities created by talent. She was the 2021 Freedman Jazz Fellow, the 2021 ABC Jazz Scholar and, before those, the 2019 recipient of the Jann Rutherford Memorial Award for young women musicians. Now, as 2MBS’s 2026 Jazz Artist-in-Residence, she is a beneficiary of the station’s role in supporting young musicians, providing studio and recording space, and on-air opportunities. 

Geddes from notion to crafting 

Geddes has a soft but precise guitar style that lends itself readily to a reflective sound, one that echoes Europe and the features of the German Edition of Contemporary Music independent record label but wedded, too, to the sunny lightness of Sydney. She uses digital looping technologies carefully in her work, keeping her pure electric guitar sound in focus – a challenge for a guitarist who counts Angus Young of AC/DC as her guitar hero. On some occasions Angus’s headbanging does emerge. 

Through some mentoring by pianist Andrea Keller she developed a compositional annotation that creates a non-linear score using direction and language that enable her band members to improvise. This gives tracks a coherence and tightness as the musicians build the songs. 

The band and the leader 

Geddes is a new type of band leader; a composer who writes specifically for the individuals with whom she is working. Currently they are Matthew Harris (piano), Max Alduca (double bass) and Alexander Inman-Hislop (drums  

She is also aware of the importance of touring to the development of the band and the works she composes for it. Playing tunes repeatedly to live audiences in a variety of setting and spaces creates within the group both an understanding of and empathy for the music and their individual styles. 

The Geddes style 

The style is based on a shared motif or figure that evokes a mood or character. It is saved from sameness by clever arrangements and defined use of looping technologies. Tracks usually start with a short introduction by Geddes followed by a selection of solos from the band, some standard straight ahead, others variations on the earlier theme. 

Alex Inman-Hislop’s drum kit is prominent in a rim shot style that adds to the general sharp tones of Geddes’ guitar and Matthew Harris’ piano and keeps the slow timings from becoming turgid or lethargic. Occasionally he drops in a deep bass kick, knowing that Max Alduca’s bass will work in unison and signal a change. Alduca’s guitar is often strummed, adding another level of percussion or rhythm that propels the mix of sounds forward. 

The Album Redleaf 

The recently released album, Redleaf, contains eight new Geddes compositions, written with this band in mind. Two are short soundscape pieces. Of the remaining six, two stand out and will no doubt in time become the Geddes sound. 

From the spacious guitar of ‘Riff’ through the simmering ‘The Needling’, the conversation of ‘Under Oakes’ and ‘Not Olives’, the freshness and vibrance of ‘After Rain’, the spontaneity and evocativeness of ‘All That Glistens Is Not’, the album moves into a contemplative love song, ‘First’, and an anxious and moody ‘March’, wrapping up with an evocation of a picnic at Redleaf Beach full of warmth and quiet joy in ‘Three Five Ten’.  

The Redleaf Tour 

Recognising Geddes’ roots in the spacious calm of the Riverina, the band has been touring the Blue Mountains, Melbourne, Wagga Wagga, Deniliquin and Griffith. The polish the musicians acquire through the tour will peak as they continue to Sydney’s Newtown, Brisbane and finally Thirroul on the Illawarra Coast.   

What will we see and hear from the band, coming back from their tour of the Riverina? Such a musically intelligent bunch of players. What will the experience provide in terms of composition and band growth? 

You can expect to hear a great deal more of the 2026 2MBS Artist-in-Residence this year.