Hayley Chan & Eudaemons Masterfully Open A New Season Of ‘Monday Night Confessions’

Easing open the heavy Church Street Studios door on Monday, June 29, I slipped in from the quiet streets of Camperdown to face a stream of warm chatter. Happy voices spilled down the steep stairs and beckoned me up. They led me past an array of instruments – piano keys, trombones, kick drums – wedged into gaps, strapped to the walls, and dangling from the ceiling.

I dropped into a fold-out chair before a golden, glowing stage. A red drum kit sat shining, teasingly at the fore. And as the room steadily filled, I felt curiosity and anticipation mount in the growing audience for what was soon to come.

Presented in blocks of two-month-long ‘seasons’ since 2022, every Monday, Church Street Studios’ ‘Monday Night Confessions‘ series has hosted two performances of some of Australia’s most innovative and interesting jazz. Whether a local project formed only the night before, or a long-standing international act, never will a musician on this small stage disappoint in the proficiency of their craft.

Tonight, launching the third season of 2026 – which will run every Monday until August 31 – the artists slated to perform were no different.

First, it was Hayley Chan – percussionist in local Sydney five-piece Monstrous – who took her place behind the glowing drum set. Without her hip-hop project’s bass, keys, saxophone and guitar behind her, tonight – supporting the release of her album ‘desert meditations’ – Chan was playing solo.

Thirty minutes of solo drums may sound daunting, but in the right hands a drum set can be one of the most evocative and interesting instruments. The performance began by Chan pulling a violin bow along the edge of a hi-hat – allowing short, sharp metallic breaths to sting into the room. Then gradually – raising her sticks to the snare, toms, and eventually cymbals – she began to pour a steady rain onto the kit.

Different from rain you may hear on a tin roof, Chan’s was controlled and measured. It fell in a steady pattern for some time – expertly lulling the room into a state of quiet meditation – before rising to erupt in brief storming showers. Within this, remarkably, she would find places to press and work the kit to bring to life new, fascinating elastic sounds. At one point I was sure I heard the croak of frogs lost within the beautiful patter. And by the time she left the stage, my eyes were heavy and my heart rate slow.

When Sydney/Newcastle saxophonist Michael Avgenicos then took the stage with his new four-piece Eudaemons (Good Demons), the up-tempo project was a welcome way to be brought back to the present. With compositions from their upcoming self-titled album, Eudaemons’ music ranged between free-flowing improvisation – often from Peter Koopman’s dancing guitar – and quick, catchy, structured refrains helmed by Avgenicos’ exquisite saxophone. With double bassist Max Alduca joyfully dancing in the background and Tim Geldens running his sticks over his kit like wind over water, the hour-long set was a pleasure to witness.

Combined, the two performances – though wildly different – perfectly captured the essence of Monday Night Confessions. A place where, even on the most unassuming day of the week, musical mastery can reliably be found.