There is an emphasis on eco-musicality, spontaneity, site-specificity and collaboration in his work — he sees no clear distinctions between his roles as instrumentalist, improviser and composer.

Jim Denley (b. Bulli, Australia 22/1/57) is interested in what his music instinct might learn from language. From 1989 to 2003 he worked with the text/music group Machine for Making Sense, with Amanda Stewart, Stevie Wishart, Rik Rue and Chris Mann. Jim co-formed 180º with Amanda Stewart and Nick Ashwood to continue this pursuit of text, speech and music. They released their first recording, Submental in 2019.

Denley is deeply involved with the Splinter Orchestra, a large improvising ensemble defined by its radical inclusivity. They have recorded for ABCTV and Radio and developed a number of procedural scores, some of which they performed at Tectonics Festival, Adelaide in 2016. Their second CD, a 3 CD box set recorded at Lake Mungo, MUNGO was released in 2016. In recent years their major work has involved 'in weather' engagement with place.

Through Fire, Crevice and the Hidden Valley (Splitrec CD16) documents his deep engagement with the Budawang Mountains, south of Sydney. His next major project is to undertake a new set of recordings there, which is part of PhD research Denley is currently undertaking at the dept. of Art, Design and Architecture at UNSW.