Timothy Franklin

Saxophonist / Composer

Timothy Franklin

saxophonist / composer

Originally from Kingaroy, Queensland, Timothy began playing the piano at an early age, and started writing music soon after. He studied music at the Queensland Conservatorium, majoring in saxophone. Timothy has led a varied performance career, having done sessional work with orchestras, toured and recorded with a small big band, played avant-garde improvised saxophone with electronics, and moonlighted on Hammond organ in a blues band. His primary performance project is a small jazz ensemble playing highly interactive original music.

Timothy is a largely self-taught composer. His harmonic language attempts to normalise dissonance. This language is strongly intervallic in nature, and is characterised by the juxtaposition of stable and unstable structures. These harmonic structures are coupled with a strong polyrhythmic understanding, an ear for melody and a penchant for arithmetic or pre-classical formal structures. As a performing composer, Timothy is acutely aware of the composer/performer dialogue, and strongly believes in encouraging performers to develop their voice within the framework of his works.

Timothy has recorded two independent albums; Fractals (2010) and Mysteries (2015). Fractals is an album with a bass-less jazz trio, consisting entirely of original compositions. Mysteries is an album of solo saxophone improvisations recorded in a re-purposed church.