If Australian multiculturalism has a name in music, Eastwinds could well be it: a 6-piece band with members originating from far-flung corners of the globe-Estonia, Japan, Iran, Australia, and England. Together they play a rich tapestry of sounds from old and new worlds drawing on traditions from Scandinavia through the Balkans to the Middle East, all driven by masterful woodwind playing, a keen devotion to improvisation and the underlying pulse of the didgeridoo. Call it world music, Scand-Iranian Balto-Klezmer or perhaps just call it: a new geography of sound. There’s certainly nothing quite like them in Australia.

The group’s lead singer, Kristiina Maalaps, grew up in the northern Baltic nation of Estonia. Didgeridoo maestro, Sanshi, was born and raised in Japan. Esfandiar Shahmir is a master of the frame drum and a virtuoso on the Iranian flute called the Ney, woodwind player and maker Mark Cain, was born in the Wheatbelt town of Narrogin with a lifetime of experimentation with Balkan, Klezmer and Middle Eastern music. Steve Barnes (originally from England via Canada) plays guitar and bouzouki, and the lineup is completed by the jazz stylings of WAAPA-trained double bassist Kieran Barnes.