A Kawai grand piano sits unassumingly under the ornate staircase of Sydney’s Elizabeth Bay House. Though it’s a much tighter squeeze than a traditional concert space, as the audience packs into various parts of the room, there’s something that feels immensely big about it all.

Piano+Place pairs pianists with a historically-important venue, using music as a pathway into Australian history. Co-curator Jim Moginie gave the first-ever performance in the Australian War Memorial to kick the series off. Avant-jazz legend Chris Abrahams (of The Necks) takes up the challenge, performing a totally improvised set in this heritage-listed trophy home built on Gadigal land for colonial secretary Alexander Macleay. Co-curator Ross Heathcote traces its history before the gig, giving scope to a setting that inevitably, in an Abrahams gig, becomes his duet partner.

Chris Abrahams at Elizabeth Bay House for Piano+Place. Photo © John Fryz

Abrahams begins with a single, winding melody, made sharp with a sparing sustain pedal. There’s no pomp or pride at all, though glimpses of his mastery slip through in expertly manoeuvred runs. He dwells on the changing attack and textures produced on...