The Groove Academy

Bringing together one of Australia’s most-respected DJ veterans with a rotating collective of Sydney’s finest improvisational musicians, The Groove Academy have been one of Australia’s most in-demand live/DJ hybrid acts since they came together in 2007. Whether they’re in stripped back DJ/MC mode, bringing the party to the nation’s capitals, Hamilton Island and Fiji with their club-friendly four-piece incarnation, or rocking 1500 fans on the Luna Park dancefloor with an expanded six-piece big band line-up, the results are always the same – a full room satisfied by a multi-skilled excitement machine who can fine-tune their sound to set the perfect mood no matter what the occasion.

In the Club mode that saw them hold an eleven month residency at Sydney’s premier nightspot Ivy, the core trio of DJ Scott Pullen, percussion maestro Grant Naylor and the aptly named Saxter James are joined on vocals by either vivacious electro-funk diva Muma Megs (an Australian festival stage regular) or Australian Idol finalist, Reigan Derry. The group’s recipe for smashing clubs is simple but effective as they deliver a seamless blend of dancefloor anthems and pop hits both past and present – some sounding like carbon replicas of the originals and others familiar only through the vocal hooks. Even then, they’re delivered over an insistent house beat driven along by Andrea’s dynamic percussion and given just the right flavour by Saxter’s sax – and if you’re really lucky, you may even see Muma Megs literally strutting her stuff along the nearest bar top.

The Groove Academy can switch into Cocktail mode with ease if the time and place suits, taking the same philosophy of remaking pop classics and old standards but stripping the sound back to a subtler, more refined core. On these occasions it’s chanteuse Sarah J. Hyland – said by New York’s Hot House Jazz magazine to have the "sultry stylings of Melody Gardot mixed with the jazz sensibilities of Norah Jones" – who works her sophisticated vocal magic over a tasteful musical backing in more intimate settings.

It’s not just the outfit’s Cocktail mode which has seen them become darlings of the corporate sector –they’ve also played functions in their dancefloor-focused incarnation as requested by Optus, Telstra, Diesel, Westpac Bank, Flight Centre, AMP, Lion Nathan, Coca-Cola and more.From there, The Groove Academy’s corporate honour roll continues to read like a Who’s Who of Australia’s top end of town, with the Gentleman Jack Embassy Launch, Qantas Platinum Club Dinner, Paspaley Polo In The City, Melbourne Cup Carnival (The ‘Birdcage’ at Flemington), Seven Network Logies After Party, and the 2011 Sydney Events Showcase After Dark Party just a few of the events they’ve worked their magic at.