Grand Bar

I’m in Adelaide for Christmas, and last night I came across Georgina Aué playing a piano bar set. And what a strange set of events led to this! When he heard I was going to Adelaide, Miro Bukovsky suggested I look up John Aué. John is the bass teacher at the local jazz school at the Elder Conservatorium. I noticed Georgina’s name in the Advertiser’s gigs list, found a reference on the Net to her jazz trio, guessed that Georgina might be related to John (he's her father), guessed that the “Grand Bar” might be the cocktail bar at the local Stamford Grand and there she was. It was latish and she was finishing her set, so I just caught a few tunes: a Beatles number (was it Day tripper?), September in the rain and Come away with me. I enjoyed the Beatles (who doesn’t?) and was interested by Georgie’s piano on the more jazzy September... Norah Jones is not so much my cup of tea, but it’s popular fodder and Georgina likes her. It’s hard work – a solo gig on piano and voice – and Georgina had just finished a full day’s work at another job, but that’s the muso’s life. This was effective piano bar music - capable voice and piano with a relaxed presence and a popular repertoire - and she got thanks from departing revellers so she was going over well. Nice to meet Georgina and I enjoyed the classy atmosphere, even if my preference is a beer.