Miss Hortense is not amused, and neither is her pussy

Posted on by
Reply

    Wild times on Sunday at a packed  Lizard Lounge and Lunatic Soup  Kitchen, aka The Leinster Arms. Hortense may have been hovering in  the nether regions, as she is wont to do, complaining sotto voce    that there wasn’t enough room to swing a cat. Actually, neither    Hortense nor her pussy have been swinging much of late, ever since    that unfortunate incident when Rotten Ronnie Junior got into a fight    and suffered a nasty blow in the Ballarat region.

    But I digress. Back at the Gold Street Gossip Saloon, another eight    saxophonists turned up, making for a right old shemozzle of an    afternoon’s entertainment. Taariq (bass) was as happy as a pig in    the proverbial, what with getting to play for about three hours    without a break, Rod Murray, Gentlemen John Curtis, Bob and meself    got away with having the piano turned up, Louis, Glen and Andrew    contributed percussively, whilst Fred continued to hammer his    bongos/congas into the ground. Anne H and  Lisbeth did the vocals,    Natalie fluted, Jack the T  threw in a slush pump medley, and the    aforementioned Captain, Keef, Aaron, Tim, Peter, Nick, Ali and Louis    did their reeds thing (Louis and Keef sensibly switched to  clarinet), all in front of a mildly bemused audience, not all of    whom had their 76th birthday, although Di couldn’t resist the    temptation.

    As ever, the music making moved to another level as Al Papa Jazz    strode purposefully to his chair in the corner.  Sadly, he didn’t    stay there, and we were treated to yet  another demonstration of his    drumming ability, which, as avid readers would know, remains in a    class of its own. Not once did Al lose the beat…

    …having craftily elected not to find it in the first place.

    Genius! TW

What’s on at The Grand Hotel

Posted on by
Reply

Next Friday sees the delightful Annie Smith, accompanied by    Sam Izzo on piano, Jules on drums and I am not quite sure who on    bass. There will be a surprise guest appearance by the Captain. The    sublime Miss Smiff never fails to entertain, and draws  a good    crowd. Immaculately prepared, she even turned up with a sketch pad    and pencil last time. Drew a good crowd too.

Saturday: The irrepressible Ruby Rogers singing, meself, Tom    and Avi trying to keep up. RR will be singing a whole bunch of    standards, blues and show tunes, along with more contemporary stuff.    If the audience has half as much fun as she does, it will be quite a    night.

Marion at the Rosstown

Posted on by
Reply

Marion Lustig’s recorder-led band Sweet Ade has a short charity gig this coming Saturday, May 26 at the Rosstown Hotel (corner Dandenong and Koornang Rds) in Carnegie from 4.30-5.45 pm. The musicians are Marion on recorders, Joe Kenyon on sousaphonr, Lyn Thomas on piano, Richard Opat on washboard and drums, Andrew Stephens on banjo, Ray Oliphant on clarinet and Janet Arndt vocals. Lighthearted,  ragtime/jazz with smatterings of folk/eclectic, inspired by Ade Monsbrough’s recorder playing. All welcome!

The Sound – Stan Getz

Posted on by
Reply

The Sound, aka Stan Getz, was the man with the distinctive and beautiful tone.

 “Let’s face it—we’d all sound like that if we could.”  said John Coltrane.

The sound and the playing put him in top of the polls, yet his personal life was turbulent, marred by depression, alcohol and heroin addictions, and violent outbursts. In his book Stan Getz: A Life in Jazz Donald L. Maggin quotes saxophonist Zoot Sims as saying, “Yeah, Stan’s a nice bunch of guys.”

Born on February 2, 1927, and raised in the Bronx, Getz was a handsome, intelligent child who was drawn to music. He began playing harmonica, and in high school he progressed to bass, then bassoon, and demonstrated perfect pitch and a photographic memory. He acquired a beat-up alto saxophone in 1940, played local gigs and saved enough to buy a tenor. In 1943 he quit school and joined the band of trombonist Jack Teagarden which broke up in southern California where Getz settled.

In 1944 he joined the Stan Kenton band and, at eighteen, became its premiere soloist. . . . keep reading

What’s on at the Grand Hotel

Posted on by
Reply

The venue continues to grow in popularity . It is on the corner of Spencer and Flinders, and the cocktail bar is just past the Library on the right. It is all dead posh, except for Friday 5.30 – 8.30 and Saturday 6.00 – 9.00. Drop in and enjoy the groove.

May 19th: Buddy Love sings – lineup still to be advised at this stage. Buddy is a regular at Kojo Brown, and this is his second session at the Grand. Smooth crooner.

From Taariq: Banyule Festival

Posted on by
Reply

From Taariq

Hi

  If any  of you are interested in playing a 45 min.  set  at the  “winter in banyule festival”  Aug 2012  please let  me know.

This is  an   original   jazz tunes only  gig.

 I have  at  least   5 tunes   recorded   and charted  that   would  require  one  rehearsal  max.  to get  together for a  show /gig.

 I can ‘t offer  you   a   great  amount  of money  for this gig , if any , but  you  will be  part  of  something worthwhile and  maybe a  few of you know the  most  recent  stuff I have recorded  because  you  might have played on it. This  could  be  seen as a kind  of CD  launch too, since I have not has one  yet  for my  4th CD.

If you are  interested  or have any  questions please  reply to melbournejazzjammers@gmail.com and your interest will be passed on to Taariq.

Chet Baker

Posted on by
Reply

By 1964, Chet Baker was damaged goods. The ’50s had been a series of ego flights and emotional let downs for the trumpeter. The vulnerable and naturally pretty look he had coolly projected at the start of the decade was lifted by Hollywood in the form of James Dean and Montgomery Clift. By 1958, Baker’s sensitive-victim look was out, replaced by tough guys like Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and Burt Lancaster. Even jazz on the West Coast had lifted much of his moody, melodic style. Baker’s temperament and disposition weren’t helped by his drug addiction in the early ’50s, which set Baker on a life-long crash course . . . (from the website Jazz Wax)

Click here for the full article from Jazz Wax .

What’s on at the Grand Hotel

Posted on by
Reply

The venue continues to grow in popularity . It is on the corner of Spencer and Flinders, and the cocktail bar is just past the Library on the right. It is all dead posh, except for Friday 5.30 – 8.30 and Saturday 6.00 – 9.00. Drop in and enjoy the groove…

Last Friday: John Curtis headed up a smooth quartet   (The Captain (sax), Andy on bass and Danilo on drums) to accompany singer Rachel, before a small but elegant and appreciative crowd.

Saturday: was a noisier affair, as you would expect with Ruby Rose having every bit as much fun as her audience. They came, they stayed, nuff said.

May 11th: Jo Loth is back, swing tunes are the order of the night, Avi, Tom and I will accompany. Jo has a second career as a cabaret artiste and may, or may not, drape herself over the grand piano and sing torch songs in Chisisurru Shona if any Zimbabweans turn up.

May 12th  Gentleman John Curtis will be lending a little class to proceedings, again with Andy Moon on Bass, Danilo on drums and the divine Miss Smiff in charge, always assuming she is not still seeing that Khazakstani Oil Baron or can’t get a daypass from the Correctional Facility, or whatever’ Some of this may not quite be true, but she is a consummate entertainer, and entertains several consummates on a regular basis apparently. Oh, that bit might not be true either. Just turn up, she’s great.

May 18th: Amy Jaulin sings a few funky little numbers,with  meself, Avi (bass) and Tom Doublier (drums). Young Amy draws a goodly crowd, and will be singing a diverse collection of old and even older songs, ranging from Christina, through Aretha to Bessie, stopping off at Norah and Bob Dylan along the way.

May 19th: Buddy Love sings – lineup still to be advised at this stage. Buddy is a regular at Kojo Brown, and this is his second session at the Grand. Smooth crooner.

So you wouldn’t mind a gig at the Grand?

The aim is to put together a singer, drums, piano, bass and a solo instrument to play three sets.. We are trying to pick the musos from the jam sessions who can entertain, and if you are up for a spot, let Col or I know.
TW

Reeding, Writhing and Rhythmatic…

Posted on by
Reply

Reeding, Writhing and Rhythmatic…

Madge from Altona had a busy day. Taking her usual bus from Altona West over the creaking Westgate and on into the seamier parts of Collywobble, where all the men are one eyed, and their womenfolk have less  than three teeth, has always been an exhausting adventure; but this Sunday she  found the Gold Street Tearooms and Gossipshop so full that she could not even get a seat, ( the double doors to that august establishment offering  no easy passage to someone of her stature.)    So, sitting outside, wreathed in the acrid fumes of a rollie, she contented herself with listening to the strains of what could pass for jazz on a dark night, wafting from the Tea Room Orchestra.

She perceived some discontent amongst the orchestral assembly, there being no fewer than 22 changes of personnel as the afternoon wore on. Finally, as the red glow of her 15th rollie arced across the street, she rose from her now severely deformed chair, and with barely a discernible indentation in the tarmac, remounted her bus with every intention of returning it to Altona West before the indigent Altona Bus Lines staff had noticed it missing. Which they hadn’t due to three of them being unable to count, and the other 14 not giving a rat’s in the first place.

So, the busiest jam in a very long time, and some damn good music: eight sax players, two pianists, two percussion, three bass players, a flute,  mellodica, guitar  and three singers – even the Captain admitted to being tired at the end of it all.

Props to The Captain (six bar fours anyone?) Keef, Ali, Rod, Jeff, Peter, Aaron and Roger the Dodger for some the sax battles; Rob Murray for some great piano, Louis the Fly for his usual eclectic mix of mellodica, Stan, Taariq and Kariss for playing bass with some very dodgy charts and in some cases, no chart at all, Don (guitar) and Natalie (flute and small child) , Fred and  Danilo on percussion,  Nicole, Julian and Lisbeth for singing, and meself for remembering at least that many names.

Which means I have forgotten Al Papa Jazz. No easy task, but he was in a class of his own again. . At least he turned up looking resplendent in his second best outfit. Somewhere in Moonee Ponds there is a beige Datsun 120Y with no seat covers.

A number of people have asked after Hortense. It would be more  sensible to ask before.
TW