tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138920782024-03-18T14:02:43.506+11:00Canberra Jazz blogPromoting modern jazz and other arts in Canberra, AustraliaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2797125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-71572518409963363202024-03-18T12:57:00.004+11:002024-03-18T12:57:42.268+11:00Disappointments
It's not the first disappointing demo I've attended but it was a significant disappointment. It was
held as the local Canberra event, the No to AUKUS Rally for the National action
week against AUKIS, 8.30am outside Parliament House. Some of the same faces were there, although
not a member I had jsut met the night before.
He actually didn't know of it so I wonder Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-75044698978111946722024-03-17T10:28:00.000+11:002024-03-17T10:28:00.236+11:00Calm and storm
It's coming close to Canberra Bach Ensemble attending the
Leipzig Bach Festival mid-year. But this
is Easter so a Bach passion was in store, this time St John. But the program referenced Leipzig and
advised that the CBE program will be three cantatas, BWV 9,107, 178 and
interestingly that they were assigned. I
checked with Andrew afterwards and, yes, they are assigned, partly Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-63939813066515886762024-03-16T16:10:00.007+11:002024-03-17T10:28:32.100+11:00Two gigs two towns
I think Mike called us Gateway to Queanbeyan although this
was a return gig and the first was the week before in Ainslie. So much for geographic precision. But it was a great fun outing. I used to play with Mike and Richard at the
Casino and more but this was just a throwaway outing then a rehash. Mike and Richard and Anthony and me. Just standards but some of our Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-67872566766264603942024-03-14T12:30:00.000+11:002024-03-14T12:30:10.683+11:00Old block new kids
I'd never heard of La Capella Galante before and the
performers were a mix of local celebrities and some that were new to me. Suchlike for the music. They play music somewhere around the late
C18th and with mandolin. It's a
delightful era, dancey, entertaining, and perhaps the mandolin highlights this
aspect. I chatted with John about music
including mandolin and he Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-75474510045045215952024-03-13T10:32:00.003+11:002024-03-13T10:32:40.826+11:00A funky Heaven
If you keep your eyes peeled and know the scene you can
happen on a great event, a visit or gathering, variously social and musical,
that's a memory maker. Peter O'Mara at Smiths
was one of those. It was a small
audience and a decent sized band (6).
There were old mates and influences and shared histories and now mature
skills and notable occupations. James
Greening was Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-22177874865518283182024-03-12T12:59:00.003+11:002024-03-12T12:59:48.855+11:00Vanuatu visitors
As was the way of Europe at the time, France and England both
claimed parts of the archipelago and managed it as the New Hebrides until Vanuatu
took independence as a Republic in 1980so I wasn't at all surprised with a
French-related duo arriving to play at Smiths, although arriving to celebrate
Canberra Day may be another thing. It's
the first outing for joyously named Groovy Banana on Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-92032447128912036002024-03-11T10:15:00.001+11:002024-03-11T10:15:26.130+11:00Sisters are doing it
It was a busy musical day but the main event was opera. The other can await for next week's
repeat. I arrived to park then chat with
a fellow Italian/Veneto-related person who was attending her first opera given
a friend was singing in it. Nice. It's not my favourite musical event but I've
attended a few operas and this was my second Suor Angelica. It was performedUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-78533485743116902422024-03-09T12:23:00.000+11:002024-03-09T12:23:11.515+11:00Leaning to party
John Mackey was playing at the NPC and I was free but in the
end it was more a visit to old friends than a serious jazz gig. Perhaps because the noise was high and
listening was difficult but we could chat in the break and it was happy hour
and there was dark ale. Like a
party. John was playing with Greg so a
tenor/guitar duo, sometimes the pair but often just guitar Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-86613725237448787152024-03-06T16:33:00.002+11:002024-03-06T16:33:56.809+11:00Varitable piano
Jennifer Hou performed solo piano for the Wednesday
lunchtime concert at Wesley. I'd seen
her before but not solo. To put it
mildly, I was blown out! This was
virtuosic playing, interesting selections, loud, insistent, busy, but also
tender with emotions on displayed, then flowing, romantic, melodic, over
screeds of arpeggios or roiling notes, outspoken then pensive in parts Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-48120612245138738992024-03-05T12:17:00.001+11:002024-03-05T12:17:00.152+11:00Recording recorders
I got a last minute request form Margaret Wright to record
the end-of-session concert of the National Eight Foot Pitch Recorder
Orchestra. I'd done an earlier gathering
a few years before. I guess Eight Foot
Pitch refers to the deepest recorders.
These are essentially pitched whistles given the nature of the flute fingering
with the whistle mouthpiece, aka internal duct or Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-24618715779338201902024-03-04T11:31:00.001+11:002024-03-04T15:14:22.125+11:00Bands make parties It's an indulgence, but I like to write up any gigs here
where I've played with new players. Ollie
was on Friday and Liv and Imogene were at a wedding on Saturday. Plus Steve, who we've played with before. The wedding was in a back garden in Hackett
for James K, a singer from In Full Swing big band, no less, so relaxed and
comfortable and a nice place to settle into Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-31661065768574631032024-03-03T14:48:00.003+11:002024-03-03T14:48:57.535+11:00Köln comes
We were in Cologne just before Christmas so I didn't want to
miss the Chamber Philharmonia Cologne when they returned. They are the ones with the red and black posters
all over Manuka and more. It's a common
advertising medium in Europe and I've caught quite a few concerts that way but
not so common here. And I'd seen them
before, in the same location, St Christopher's Manuka,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-12879733404004662402024-03-02T10:27:00.002+11:002024-03-04T12:21:10.660+11:00drum'n'bass
Dave's not been available for a little while for Tilt so
we've been chasing replacement drummers.
Two were due this weekend. First
up was Red Hill Primary School fete.
It's a sentimental favourite gig: relaxed, welcoming, casual with an
appreciative audience of kids and more and decent sausage sandwiches. What's not to like. I went through a string of drummers Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-65314612273941755132024-02-29T13:58:00.002+11:002024-02-29T13:58:35.358+11:00Linus returns
It's always a pleasure to hear Linus Lee on the organ,
not just for the playing and the program but also for the familiarity that we
gain with the music. Not that this music
was so unfamiliar, at least some of it was very familiar. He finished with two movements of Rossini
William Tell Overture and they are cemented in all our brains, but the Malzat,
once thought to be Haydn, wasn'tUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-75325968023121872572024-02-28T10:25:00.000+11:002024-02-28T10:25:04.742+11:00Family matters
It was a nice outing to record a little vocal group for
Leanne McKean at Wesley church the other day.
This was a family event, a recording for her parents to parallel an earlier recording. There
were three singers and piano, 8 songs variously sung by all three singers, or
two or one, and even one unaccompanied original song by Leanne which impressed
no end. This was classical or Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-12260149425397384202024-02-27T19:36:00.006+11:002024-03-09T10:39:27.120+11:00Climate of fear; fear of climate
We all know climate is changing and it's a big political
issue and it's been denied by many in our political classes for matters of
mates' interests or dumb culture wars.
We hear of the lost weekends and the utes for the tradies and the
rest. No mention of the alternative, the
tipping points or the unliveable temperatures or the melted polar ice or the lost
ocean circulations or theUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-34237957165736709722024-02-26T11:39:00.003+11:002024-02-26T11:39:43.090+11:00FringedI've been in Adelaide to visit family for the last week
and the Festival Fringe was on but we didn't go this year and no jazz otherwise
so I was relieved to hear strains of Mozart at the Airport as I was waiting for
the return flight. It was his Turkish March. Then I chatted with the family and got an
encore of JVKE Golden Hour. Both on a
baby grand made available for the publicUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-618779229935698342024-02-15T12:40:00.003+11:002024-02-15T12:40:44.691+11:00It's all music
There's a saying that it's all music and I concur and
I've had a few examples here recently. First
up was SoundOut with its experimental music and free jazz. Another was the first Wesley lunchtime gig of
2024, cellist William Jack. He's trained
at the Sydney Con and in Vienna and now resident in London, but a product of
Adelaide so we see him on tour on a family visit. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-82423073893414237992024-02-11T11:28:00.000+11:002024-02-11T11:28:50.581+11:00Sober on Bacchanalia
There are a string of musical communities in Canberra and
I've touched on just a few in these pages but it can be eye-opening to visit
others. I remember playing with the
Cashews and how overwhelmed I was, and that was a group I'd heard of but not
heard. So the opportunity to visit the
organisers of one community was revelatory.
Shortis and Simpson were running one of their Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-18319060069395109122024-02-08T16:47:00.041+11:002024-02-08T16:47:00.308+11:00SoundOut 2024 / 6
I was mostly busy on Sunday but couldn't miss the first
performance which was my final: two basses and guitar, Clayton Thomas, Helen
Svoboda and Jean-Sebastian Mariage. I've been mightily impressed and often intrigued by the playing of all
these three over this festival. They
were in the smaller room, having starting early so they were playing when
audience entered. Lots Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-86623205873034031462024-02-07T16:38:00.009+11:002024-02-08T09:05:39.420+11:00SoundOut 2024 / 5Then the second half of Saturday session 2. First up an interesting session perhaps led
by Jim Denley. Unlike others, this was a
series of "tunes", each with a theme or approach, seemingly prepared
to be led by one or other performer. It
had me wondering if this was a CD launch!
Performers were Elizabeth Jigalin, Helen Svoboda, Jean-Sebastien
Mariage, Jim Denley and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-88620707864564081272024-02-06T16:38:00.004+11:002024-02-06T16:38:30.418+11:00SoundOut 2024 / 4I feel more informed in this SoundOut festival and maybe
understand it better. I peruse the
program and realise (I think I'm correct) that day 1 has the performers playing
in their normal combinations and later session mix and match for more new
combinations. And like people who have
played together for a time, you see the comfort of the known and the challenge
of the new. All Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-29140121923951567342024-02-05T12:53:00.000+11:002024-02-05T12:53:24.900+11:00SoundOut 2024 / 3
Next was a morning workshop featuring two bassists. How could I not attend? We were in the smaller performance room, bare
walls and very alive, with about 20 attendees.
First part was Helen Svoboda with Maria Moles. They first performed, then discussed their
approach, how they outline their performances and guide their improvisations,
how they interpret an image or themeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-13160932332843505242024-02-04T16:10:00.003+11:002024-02-04T16:10:46.718+11:00SoundOut 2024 / 2
There were three more acts during the SoundOut Friday night
session. First was a very quirky outing
with three performers playing occasional trumpet and flute but mostly various
kids' toys. All rattles and noises and
shakers and whistles. Backing this was a
multimedia-cum-live drawing session projected behind. The falling conga line of penguins was
perhaps the peakUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13892078.post-51125324136978125012024-02-03T16:03:00.008+11:002024-02-04T16:05:32.723+11:00SoundOut 2024 / 1Richard Johnson's SoundOut festival is back for its 15th
incarnation. It's presumably well known
in these pages as an experimental and free jazz festival featuring Canberrans,
Australians and a spattering of internationals.
And for that matter, sadly, just a spattering of audience. This is not the most popular musical style:
eclectic and authentic, yes, but popularity limited.&Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0