Australia’s classical saxophonist Amy Dickson
From Tom Waites to Claude Debussy, 31-year-old Australian classical saxophonist Amy Dickson’s musical tendencies are as far reaching as dusk is from dawn.
Dickson’s latest offering, titled Dusk and Dawn, is a stylish reworking of classical, jazz and popular tunes including Chopin’s “Nocturne”, Bellini’s “Casta Diva” and Harry Warren’s “I Only Have Eyes for You”.
I am told it’s midnight in London as an operator connects me to Dickson. She has had a busy week and I am the last in a long line of interviews for her this evening but she is sweet, generous and softly spoken– even from halfway across the world.
Dickson’s artistry and aesthetic is utterly cinematic, from her Hollywood beauty to her decadent musical arrangements. The album, recorded in London’s Angel City, is all late-night class, best enjoyed over a dirty martini and designed to seduce its listener into a blissful reverie. Dickson tells me she chose this particular location as it was where many of the original film soundtracks she so adores were recorded.
“When we came up with the idea for the album I really loved the sound of 1950s and 1960s film soundtracks. Especially that of the original Thomas Crown Affair soundtrack,” she says.
Noting the shimmering strings and alto flutes, Dickson remarks, “there was something very elegant and sumptuous about them that I loved very much”.
Perhaps music and romance are inherent to Dickson: her great-grandmother played the piano for silent films in a tiny country town outside Sydney and her great-grandfather played the cornet. Grandma was already engaged to the town jeweller but Dickson’s great-grandfather decided he loved her, so every night he would play his cornet across the valley for her until the day she said she would marry him.
Romantic sensibility resonates through every note that Amy Dickson plays
This same romantic sensibility resonates through every note that Dickson, who started on the saxophone at age six and instantly fell in love, weaves.
“There’s just something about it that drew my ear to it,” she says. “I knew and have never doubted since that that’s what I was supposed to be playing.”
The most important thing Dickson has learned over the years is to be herself and to be natural.
“An audience can always see through an act,” she says.
Her father is an architect and her mother hand-made Dickson’s performance dresses. These days Dickson lives in London and is dressed by Armani. This year she got married, not once but twice, to fellow musician James Barclay.
Of her career so far, Dickson tells me she is most proud of the Classical BRIT award she won earlier this month for best Breakthrough Artist. “Every time over the years something big like that happens, it’s been the impact on the loved ones in the audience that has been what I’ve most remembered. It was the same when I won Young Performer of the Year in Sydney and the Opera House was full of my family and friends. When they announced the winner I just remember thinking about my grandma and how thrilled she was.
“They’re the things that I remember,” says Dickson.
“It’s such a joy.”
And when I ask how her mum feels about being replaced by Mr Armani in the costume department, Dickson lets out a laugh.
“Oh she doesn’t mind too much. She gets pretty excited by the dresses I bring home these days.”
Dusk and Dawn is available now under Sony Music. For more information please visit: www.amydickson.com
