Sam Gill’s Coursed Waters - Sensemaker
Released 24 October 2025, via CD and digital
Sam Gill - alto & soprano saxophones, composition
Novak Manojlovic - piano
Jacques Emery - double bass
James McLean - drums
Sydney-based saxophonist and composer Sam Gill announces Sensemaker, the sophomore album by his acclaimed quartet Coursed Waters. Featuring Gill alongside Melbourne-based drummer James McLean, pianist Novak Manojlovic from Sydney, and bassist Jacques Emery, the quartet navigates compositions that explore the concept of sense-making: how we understand and engage with the world around us, how we ascribe meaning to our life experiences, and how we co-create the world with those around us.
Through free-flowing improvisation and intense melodic counterpoints, the album portrays a range of emotional and musical worlds, featuring multi-layered rhythmic cycles, shimmering harmonies and sprawling melodic arcs. The album's six tracks demonstrate the high-energy and creativity that has defined Coursed Waters since its formation in 2016, and has been heard previously on their 2019 debut Many Altered Returns (Earshift Music), which received glowing reviews.In discussing the influences and aspirations behind Coursed Waters' latest album Sensemaker, Sam Gill shares insights into the creative forces that shape the group's music. Influenced by renowned saxophonists like Steve Lehman and Ingrid Laubrock, and compositional voices such as Marc Hannaford and Matt Mitchell, Gill's approach to music is deeply rooted in a blend of complexity and innovation. "The music that resonates with me most deeply often possesses a rhythmic ambiguity yet retains an underlying order, producing a fluid and unpredictable sound," explains Gill. This quality is something he actively explores with Coursed Waters and within the six new compositions featured on Sensemaker.
Harmonically, the album ventures into what Gill describes as "bright" harmony. "We're pushing beyond traditional harmony, utilising unusual pitch sets and scales that offer a harmonic richness that is bright rather than dissonant, inspired by the likes of Peter Evans and the modes of limited transposition by Messiaen," he notes. This harmonic exploration imbues the music with a sense of expansiveness becoming increasingly prominent in Gill's growing body of work.
The concept of Sensemaker itself, as Gill describes, is about engaging with and making sense of overwhelming information. "It mirrors life's process of making sense of our surroundings and experiences. Within the band, we transform dense, complex rhythmic and harmonic material into an enjoyable and interactive process through improvisation," says Gill.
A particularly memorable moment during recording encapsulates the essence of the album. "While recording the title track, all four of us unexpectedly played the same phrase in unison followed by a lengthy silence—an unplanned moment of synchronicity that brought the composition to life in an extraordinary way," recalls Gill. Such moments highlight the serendipitous beauty that emerges when the creativity and sympathetic voices of his bandmates bring his compositional ideas to life.
Technically, Sensemaker marks a shift from their first album, favoring improvisation over composed forms and embracing complex rhythmic cycles that allow for both precision and spontaneity. "For instance, in 'Abundance', we embedded a sequence of intricate polyrhythms within a slow swing feel, which brings a familiar sound world alive with unexpected rhythmic flourishes," Gill elaborates.
Despite challenges such as geographic separation of band members and the constraints imposed by the pandemic, the creation of Sensemaker provided a valuable opportunity for reconnection in periods of focused collaboration. "This record feels particularly special due to the total dedication and creativity that Novak, Jacques, and James brought into those intense workshop periods," Gill reflects, underlining the deep communal bond and shared artistic vision that define Coursed Waters.