Born out of a love for contemporary jazz, ISM's quirky compositions range from minimalist soundscapes to wild frenzies. Formed in 2013, the trio offers an intriguing European jazz sound, predominantly influenced by musicians of the ECM recording label.

"ISM featuring pianist Selene Messinis, bassist Isaac Gunnoo and drummer Maddison Carter is an outstanding new band of extremely talented and dedicated young practitioners presenting remarkable original repertoire…"
- Alex Pertout
percussionist, composer, educator

'ISM are a new improvising ensemble that have their own fresh take on the tradition of intimate interplay that characterises the best piano trios’
- Ashley Cross

Maddison Carter is a Melbourne-based drummer and composer, fascin¬ated with the territory between notated and improvised music. Exploring a large palette of improvisatory sounds, he is currently in his final year of Jazz and Improvisation studies at the Victorian College of the Arts. He has lead an array of ensembles, including a 12-piece New Music ensemble, a double saxophone trio sextet, and has lead and co-lead three of the winning bands in the VCA’s Ensemble Series. 
Maddison performs regularly in local and interstate contexts, notably, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Wangaratta Jazz Festival, and Stonnington Jazz Festival. He is co-leader of improvising bands ISM and Carbo Carter Gunnoo, and recently performed with the Allan Browne Quintet as part of the Allan Browne Memorial Concert, following an East Coast tour with folk band The Bean Project.

Jessica Lindsay Smith is a Melbourne-based composer who is passionate about music that crosses the boundaries of genre. Holding a Bachelor of Music (Honours) from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Jessica has worked with ensembles within local and international contexts to create music with a focus on vivid colours and unusual sounds. 

Jessica’s work has been performed in a variety of venues such as Arts Centre Melbourne, Ian Potter Museum of Art, The Paris Cat Jazz Club, and Melba Hall. As part of her Bachelor of Music (Composition) at Monash University, Jessica studied chamber music in Italy at the Prato Centre and Verdi Music School.

In 2016 Jessica was awarded an IgniteLab bursary and used this funding to create a curated concert of works that cross the classical and jazz streams with celebrated pianists Luke Howard and Nat Bartsch. Later in 2016 Jessica was commissioned to write a work for the Ian Potter Museum of Art which was be performed as part of the 'Architectonics' concert.

In the same year, Jessica's curated and had her work performed at 'Composure: Chroma Collective', a concert at Arts Centre Melbourne. In early 2017, Jessica completed the Tilde New Music and Sound Art Academy in Melbourne working with Liza Lim and Chris Dench. Most recently, Jessica's commission 'Cover Me' for Ensemble Goldentree was performed as a part of their 'Con Femine' concert in May 2018.

Jessica’s interests span from intricately written chamber music to largely improvised jazz, from film music to installation soundscapes. The common thread being a search for novel colour palettes and an intrigue for curious textures.

Flora Carbo - Alto Saxophone
Theo Carbo - Guitar
Maddison Carter - Drum Kit
Isaac Gunnoo - Double Bass

bass player x producer - melbourne x sydney

Maddison Carter is following