Big year 2008

Despite the sad demise of White Eagle last year, 2008 is shaping up as a big year for jazz in Canberra. Hippo remains active on Wednesdays with plenty of overseas and interstate visitors. Geoff Page’s Jazz at the Gods series has 9 monthly concerts spread over the year. The Mace Francis Big Band from Perth is visiting in July and Ben Marston is running a series of big band concerts at the Street Theatre. The Street Theatre is also featuring the renowned NY sax/clarinetist Don Byron in May and has recently hosted the Necks. The Jazz School has three more concerts in the first semester, featuring Steve Magnussen from Melbourne, and the US sax player John Gordon. There will be more large ensembles at those concerts. The Moruya Festival (the Canberra jazz family get-together) is in October. For some, there are other festivals: Wangaratta, Merimbula, Wagga, Thredbo. There are several bars and clubs featuring jazz, so there’s something to listen to on most nights. The Julep Lounge in Manuka Seems to be following in the tracks of Hippo with the best local players on Thursday nights. The Belgian Beer Cellar, the Kurrajong, the Casino, Trinity and others have regular jazz. And I fully expect to hear of more events during the year.

I keep CJCalendar up-to-date with everything I hear about, so keep an eye on it. And if you know of any gigs that are missing from the calendar, please advise by email.

If you are a budding music journalist or photographer, I’d be happy to hear from you and I’d welcome your input. It’s looking a busy year for me too, and I can’t get to it all.

BTW, this is CJBlog’s 200th post.

Eric (ed.)