Mr Carl Dewhurst
People_

Mr Carl Dewhurst

Carl Dewhurst is an Associate Lecturer in Jazz Performance (guitar) and Rhythm Awareness at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Carl leads his own solo projects and is co-leader of Showa 44, with drummer Simon Barker. He led the genre defying trio The Drip Hards and was a member of the legendary free-jazz quartet NUDE with Lisa Parrott, Cam Undy and Louis Burdett. He performed for many years with Undy’s 20th Century Dog and Numerology. He recorded with Parrott on her album “Round Tripper” which earned four stars in Downbeat magazine.

He wasa member of Korean/Australian ensemble Daorum, with whom he performed at The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, Scott Tinkler’s power trio DRUB; Band of Five Names, Phil Slater Quintet, and Stu Hunter’s Migration. He was a long-timemember of the Australian Art Orchestra and was a regular member of the James Morrison Quintet.


Carl has also performed with a diverse range of artists including:

Synergy Percussion, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Paul Grabowsky, Emma Donovan, Kim Dong Won, Bae Il Dong, The Young Wagilak (Arnhem Land, NT), Sruti Laya Ensemble (India), Paul Capsis, Opera Australia, Ruby Hunter, Archie Roach, Moscow Circus, Jim Black, Mike Nock, Tony Buck, Bernie McGann, Will Vinson, Sandy Evans, Jonathan Zwartz, Chris Abrahams, Julien Wilson, Tina Harrod, Barney McCall, Lucie Thorne, Robbie Avenaim, Michelle Nicolle, Oren Ambarchi, Dale Barlow, James Muller, Sean Wayland, Bobby Previte, Benny Maupuin, Steve Hunter, Clayton Thomas, Terumasa Hino, Jeff Clayton, Peter Scherr, Vince Jones, Jackie Orszacsky, Bobby Shew, Caroline Nin, The Potbelleez, Wendy Matthews, Leo Sayer, Dan Barnett, The Catholics, Uncle Jed, Glenn Shorrock and Rick Springfield.

Carl’s compositional skills have segued into the theatre and cinema. He composed and performed the soundtrack for the Company B production Scorched in 2008 (directed by Neil Armfield) and the music of Showa 44 is featured in Emma Franz’s award winning documentary Intangible Asset No. 82 and Khao Do’s feature film Missing Water. He was a co-composer on the Legs on the Wall / Asia Now production Tale Of Samulnori.


Carl is an experienced songwriter. His material has been recorded by several artists including Lily Dior, Susan Gai Dowling, Lucinda Peters and Dewey. He has studied song writing with Berklee professor Pat Pattison.

Carl began teaching guitar at age fifteen. He taught at Guitar Institute in London, Thames Valley University, and the Australian Institute of Music, and has led masterclasses at the ANU School of Music, Victorian College of the Arts, Southern Cross University, James Morrison Academy of Music and Auckland School of Music. He also worked for many years at Moriah College, Shore School, Sydney Boys High and taught in the NSW Juvenile Justice System for the Australian Children’s Music Foundation.
He has a Diploma of Music and a Master’s Degree of Music from the Australian National University.

Carl was the winner of both the judges’ and people’s choice awards at the Ike Isaacs International Jazz Guitar competition in 1998 and was runner-up at the National Jazz Awards in 2000. He was president of the Jazzgroove Association from 2008 to 2011 and was founding member in 1998.

He has been on the judging panel for the National Jazz Awards and the Freedman Foundation Fellowship.

During his thirty five year professional career Carl has lived and worked in Sydney, New York, London and Amsterdam.

Research interests:

  • Guitar pedagogy
  • Improvisation pedagogy
  • Rhythm studies
  • Embodiment and entrainment
  • Adaptive processes
  • Extended guitar techniques
  • Composition
  • Principal study (guitar)
  • Jazz improvisation
  • Jazz ensemble
  • Rhythm awareness

My current research focuses on the adaptation of rudimental drum etudes to the guitar so to develop pick technique, articulation, dynamics, phrasing, dexterity, and rhythmic accuracy. Furthermore, some of this material has been re-configured from duple and triple-based sub-divisions into quintuplet and septuplet subdivisions. This process has allowed me to create an individual language of phrasing within the meters of 15 and 21 both on the drum set and guitar. These modified drum etudes and the resultant phraseology form the bedrock for a series of compositions and specific rhythms I have been workshopping and performing with the Carl Dewhurst Trio throughout 2022-23.

I will be recording an album of this work with Cameron Undy, Lisa Parrott and Alex Inman Hislop mid 2024.

  • Runner up: Ike Isaccs International Jazz Guitar Competition
  • Winner: Ike Isaccs International Jazz Guitar Competition – Judges and people’s choice awards (1998)
  • Runner up: National Jazz Awards (2000)
  • Graeme Bell Award for Best Jazz Ensemble (Australian Art Orchestra)
  • Nominated for Best Jazz Album: 2011 Bell Awards & 2011 ABC Limelight Awards
  • Member of judging panel: 2022 National Jazz Awards
  • Member of judging panel: 2012 Jazzgroove Association JARA Awards
  • Member of judging panel: 2006 Music Council of Australia Freedman Fellowship

Publications

Music

  • Barker, S., Dewhurst, C. (2022). Boom! International Festival of Percussion. Boom! International Festival of Percussion. Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney, Australia: Boom! International Festival of Percussion.
  • Slater, P., McMahon, M., Barker, S., Dewhurst, C. (2009). Band of Five Names Improv. 1. 2009 Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues. Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Sydney, Australia: Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues.
  • Slater, P., McMahon, M., Barker, S., Dewhurst, C., Dae, I. (2007). 1.Improv 2.Sinawi 3.Calling 4.Daorum 5.Pansori. Powerhouse, Brisbane, Australia: Queensland Music Fesitval.

Recorded / Rendered Performance

  • Dewhurst, C. (2021). Drainpipe Blue. On , Digital, New York, United States of America: DistroKid. [More Information]
  • McMahon, M., Dewhurst, C. (2019). Trapeze For Two Atoms, CD and Digital, New York, United States of America: DistroKid. [More Information]
  • Barker, S., Dewhurst, C. (2017). 1. Kaihogyo, 2. Trail, 3. Cohere. On Showa 44: Kaihogyo, All major digital platforms, Sydney, Australia: MGM.

2022

  • Barker, S., Dewhurst, C. (2022). Boom! International Festival of Percussion. Boom! International Festival of Percussion. Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney, Australia: Boom! International Festival of Percussion.

2021

  • Dewhurst, C. (2021). Drainpipe Blue. On , Digital, New York, United States of America: DistroKid. [More Information]

2019

  • McMahon, M., Dewhurst, C. (2019). Trapeze For Two Atoms, CD and Digital, New York, United States of America: DistroKid. [More Information]

2017

  • Barker, S., Dewhurst, C. (2017). 1. Kaihogyo, 2. Trail, 3. Cohere. On Showa 44: Kaihogyo, All major digital platforms, Sydney, Australia: MGM.

2016

  • Barker, S., Slater, P., Dewhurst, C. (2016). 3. Hill/Mind. On On Running, CD, Sydney, Australia: MGM.

2009

  • Slater, P., McMahon, M., Barker, S., Dewhurst, C. (2009). Band of Five Names Improv. 1. 2009 Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues. Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Sydney, Australia: Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues.

2007

  • Slater, P., McMahon, M., Barker, S., Dewhurst, C., Dae, I. (2007). 1.Improv 2.Sinawi 3.Calling 4.Daorum 5.Pansori. Powerhouse, Brisbane, Australia: Queensland Music Fesitval.