Where else but in Australia would you find a band featuring a Sri Lankan born West African percussion master and a Vietnamese traditional musician mixing it with players diversely experienced in western pop, jazz, and classical traditions?

This project presents material from Way Out West’s 2007 release, Old Grooves for New Streets which has received widespread praise since its release. The repertoire extends the dialogue with notions of Australian cultural identity that has inspired the group’s music since its inception. It engages with a range of communities, taking audiences on a journey through musical terrain presented in an accessible manner that encourages new ways of listening.

A chance meeting in 2001 between trumpeter/composer, Peter Knight, and Vietnamese traditional music virtuoso, Dung Nguyen led to the formation of Way Out West, a band that continues to draw inspiration from Australia's cultural vitality and diversity with its new album, Old Grooves for New Streets.

Dung learnt his instruments, including the 16-stringed Vietnamese zither (dan tranh), and dan bau (a single stringed instrument also called the monochord) from his grandfather while growing up in Vietnam, continuing a tradition of many generations. Dung’s fluency in both Vietnamese music and jazz means collaborating with Peter Knight and the rest of the band creates a new sound rather than a pastiche of pre-existing sounds. Many reviews of Way Out West’s first album, Footscray Station, note the unified approach the band achieves.