The Necks (AUS) @ Avant Art Festival 2026 Wrocław

Fri 11.09.2026 20:00

Tickets / Registration

The Necks (AUS)

The Necks are an Australian trio formed by Chris Abrahams on piano, Tony Buck on drums and Lloyd Swanton on double bass. The group has developed a distinctive musical language that resists straightforward classification as jazz, minimalism, ambient or avant-garde music. Their extended compositions unfold gradually, often around a deep, insistent pulse, while seemingly simple motifs slowly transform in shape, dynamics and meaning.

The music of The Necks emerges from the exceptional attentiveness and understanding shared by the three musicians. Their concerts take the form of long, collectively developed improvisations, in which subtle shifts in rhythm, timbre and harmony lead to unexpected transformations of the entire structure. Rather than following a conventional compositional narrative, the trio creates a hypnotic process — one that demands concentration while remaining full of warmth, tension and physical energy.

Over the course of their career, The Necks have achieved cult status as one of Australia’s most distinctive bands. Their eighteen albums document a consistently evolving practice, while critics have emphasised that the trio has completely reimagined the idea of the jazz piano trio and created a sound unlike that of any other group.

https://thenecksau.bandcamp.com/album/disquiet

https://www.instagram.com/the.necks/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPwqBHTNx3k&list=RDsPwqBHTNx3k&start_radio=1

Performers

Avant Art Festival
Festliwal muzyki i sztuki eksperymentalnej i awangardowej z edycjami we Wroclawiu, Warszawie, Berlinie, Lublinie i na Dolnym Śląsku.
The Necks
The Necks are a virtually unclassifiable piano trio from Sydney, Australia. Neither jazz nor rock, this deceptive unit has toed a single line of conduct throughout its career. Pianist Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton, and drummer Tony Buck usually commence their shows and recording sessions by playing a single, basic, melodic, and rhythmic vamp or figure that, over an extended period of time, gradually transforms its shape without ever completely discarding it. Microscopic tonal, dynamic, electronic, and textural changes -- as well as similarly minimal harmonic variations -- are gradually introduced into the music. By the time any piece reaches its nadir, the music has evolved into something else entirely, though its root layers remain present. The Necks have drawn comparisons to groups like CAN and Faust, as well as composers such as La Monte Young, Tony Conrad and Philip Glass. But the Necks exist in a musical territory that is uniquely their own. Whether in the gentle, trance-like grooves of 'Sex,' the undulating exchange of synth and piano passages in 'Drive By', the quaking space rock of 'Hanging Gardens,' or the dark, brooding, elegantly fractured -- and occasionally explosive -- interludes on 2017's 'BODY,' the Necks never remain (quite) static; they shapeshift around and through the lineage of the piano trio format. Over the past three decades, their reputation has spread across the globe. This band only fits comfortably in its own category.