The combination of The Vampires’ charismatic young band leader, saxophonist Jeremy Rose, and The Necks’ veteran bassist Lloyd Swanton suggested this might be a very special gig. The addition of Iranian classical music specialist, oud, tar and setar virtuoso Hamed Sadeghi, made this an even more enticing, exotic proposition.

Now, I don’t want to be one of those middle class white people who fetishises world music…but I am, and this was probably the jazz gig of the year for me.

Vazesh, Sydney Opera House UnWrapped. Photo © Prudence Upton

After our rainy commute, an intimate audience collects in the concrete surrounds of the Utzon Room at Sydney Opera House. The blonde wooden chairs and strip of stage lighting are the only theatrical additions to the room. This is almost a bare room, a simple stage on which the trio’s gear is arranged. Rose has three instruments – a tenor saxophone, a soprano saxophone, and a bass clarinet.

Sadeghi has brought a spare tar – his six-stringed, metallic-sounding guitar with a distinctive drone and piercing jangle so specifically associated with music from the Middle East. Swanton’s double bass is amplified through...