The Lunatic Soup Lounge: Report from the Captain

23 musicians attended the Leinster on Sunday. Music started with Sam Izzo on keys, Doug on bass, Glen on drums and a lone saxophonist. Lee arrived soon after from Bendigo with his smooth sounding trumpet,with Noel on flute and tenor and Taariq and young Matt on guitar. Michael took over on drums and in walked Elliot with his new trombone, Mihoko with a borrowed double bass and Anthony with his guitar to add to the cacophony.

Sam was replaced by John Curtis, then Bob, then Richard on Keys. Vocals were supplied by Kevin, Debbie, Anne and John. Later arrivals were Chico (guitar) Carson (bass) and Conrad (bass). Last to come through the door was John Calamatta to add some class to the front line.

Col

The Laika Bar and the CCQ

The Laika Bar CCQ Sessions:  Ruby Rogers Returns!

That’s right, long time Jammer Ruby Rogers will be tearing up the Laika this Friday with the Captain Chaos Quartet – Daniel Pickard the lucky bass player, and trumpet virtuoso , well virtuous anyway most of the time, Brae Grimes. I shall be lowering the tone on keys…

Ruby Rogers and Friends, at the Laika Bar, 6 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, Friday 27th^h February from 7.30 – 10.00

 

Castlemaine Jazz Festival Update

The Castlemaine Jazz Festival June 5th – June 7th 2015

Spoke to someone from NSW this week. They were having difficulty booking accommodation in Castlemaine from the 5th June to 7^th June. Already. Good Grief!

The Captain and the Haircut amused themselves at the Grampians Jazz Festival by handing out registration forms for bands, and the applications continue to roll in. Headaches for Hannah the Venues Maestro – we are talking about putting on extra venues…

For the latest goss…

http://castlemainejazzfestival.com.au/

The Leinster Goes Baltic on Sunday

For reasons best known to himself, Glen is featuring a Croatian Luncheon on Sunday, serving fresh and lightly grilled Croatians probably. Anyhoo, give it a whirl, gotta be classier than the music…

Click on the link for more info

Croatian Lunch

 

Jammers At Halls Gap

Annie, Doug Kuhn, John Curtis and Alan Smith

Anne Hayres, Paul Phillips, Doug & the Captain

Angie Strickland, Doug Kuhn, Kevin Blaze

David Ruiz, Anthony Pell, Elliot Joe

Aah, Time for the B Team…and the Jam session gets slightly bent, but not broken

The Ludicrous Arms Hotel, watering hole of the Colliwobble cognoscenti, was in somnolent mood when I got there… Il Duce setting up the drums, Herr Matthews sucking on a reed, John the Voice at the bar, and not a lot going on. Ah, well, wonder how the Halls Gap mob are coping with the heat.

So… might as well get started – a lively jaunt through I Remember Clifford, Noel on sax and Glen at the drums, in walks Taariq, Andy Moon, Lee the Trumpet, John Calamatta on sax, Kevin on tonsils, and away we went, with John in fine voice and a tyro on Killing Me Softly.

By the time we had started indulging Colonel T with some bebop, a fine afternoon had evolved. Well You Needn’t and Cantaloupe Island kept the lads amused.

And by the time Kevin and Andy Moon started Route 66 as a v and b duo, things were really looking good. Quite a revelation to hear restraint at a Jam – all class for sure, and even the saxaphones managed not to join in.

And then, too soon perhaps, it was time to pack up and leave. Which leaves us with time to do it all again next week. There will be Chaos…
TW

The Castlemaine Jazz Festival June 5th – June 7th 2015

Check out the website: a Jazz Train to Maldon! And now we are in discussion with some new venues, designing some posters for Jazz Jammers to plaster all over their part of Melbourne, talking about balloons and trying top get a spot on the radio.

And the band registrations are starting to mount up…

http://castlemainejazzfestival.com.au/

The Laika Bar CCQ Sessions: Rossitto has a load of fun, Sonia is going to do it in French

Stephen Rossitto delivered in style, with a smooth combination of swing toons and trainwrecks – definitely went down well with a goodly crowd, and we will do it again..

This week, Mme Sonia Davoine will bring a touch of Gallic chic to the Laika – gypsy jazz, french and chinese numbers, jazz standards and je ne sais quoi else. Accompanied by the Captain Chaos Quartet, brilliantly under-rehearsed, and with their very own interpretation of Gallic chic.

Sonia Davoine, chanteuse, at the Laika Bar, 6 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, Friday 20^th February from 7.30 – 10.00

The Sevil Sabah Trio at The Laika Bar

This Thursday 19^th February from 8.00pm – 10.30pm

The Laika Bar love her so much, they have given Sevil a regular Thursday night spot, starting this week. Expect to hear some swing, some blues, and, for the first time, Sevil’s magical ways with a ballad or three.

The Trio at the Lakia Bar

Sevil Sabah (v) Doug Kuhn (db) and Ted Woollan (p)

http://www.sevilsabah.com/

From Ade Ish

The ishs/Allen Project is launching their debut album at:
Venue: Paris Cat, 6 Goldie Pl, Melbourne CBD
Date/time: 4 March 2015, 9pm
Ticket: $15 (regular)/$10 (concession)
More info and booking: http://bit.ly/1CvSTkb
Line up: ade ishs: piano and voice, Chelsea Allen: drums and voice, Paul Bonnington: acoustic and electric basses, Ee Shan Pang: trumpet, flugelhorn, and voice
“Often sparse and understated, always elegant, this debut album for The ishs/Allen Project delivers wonderfully complementary pieces, each painted in warm harmonic brushstrokes, framed in thoughtful arrangements, and recorded to perfection.” — Peter Neville (Head of Percussion and New Music Studio, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music)
Sample the album:
Bandcamp: http://tiap.bandcamp.com
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/tiap-itunes
YouTube: http://youtu.be/Xjll0pVg8To
TiAP on the web: http://tiap.info

The ishs/Allen Project is launching their debut album at:
Venue: Paris Cat, 6 Goldie Pl, Melbourne CBD
Date/time: 4 March 2015, 9pm
Ticket: $15 (regular)/$10 (concession)
More info and booking: http://bit.ly/1CvSTkb
Line up:
ade ishs: piano and voice
Chelsea Allen: drums and voice
Paul Bonnington: acoustic and electric basses
Ee Shan Pang: trumpet, flugelhorn, and voice
“Often sparse and understated, always elegant, this debut album for
The ishs/Allen Project delivers wonderfully complementary pieces, each
painted in warm harmonic brushstrokes, framed in thoughtful
arrangements, and recorded to perfection.”
— Peter Neville (Head of Percussion and New Music Studio, Melbourne
Conservatorium of Music)
Sample the album:
Bandcamp: http://tiap.bandcamp.com
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/tiap-itunes
YouTube: http://youtu.be/Xjll0pVg8To
TiAP on the web: http://tiap.info

The Sunday Arvo Jam Session

It was just one of those days, really … rolled up well early for once, to be rewarded with the opportunity of plugging in the piano fiddly wirey bits, before retiring to the bar for a refreshing draught, which a fellow needs as he sits back to watch the Captain pull out all the wirey fiddly bits and put them back in their proper holes..

Further amusement was on hand with the total lack of a bass player requiring the pianists (meself and Sam Izzo at that stage) to play bass lines. Luckily, this can be done with the left hand alone, which means we still had the right hand available for interfering with the melodic line…

Which included Ben the banker on his electrified guitar, Ray the original lounge lizard Hood in fine form, and later on, the Captain, the Keef and a few others too humerous to mention. I seem to remember someone playing a green plastic trombone. Young John, who combines a remarkable voice with almost zero knowledge of songs, tried out Summertime, the A Train and a coupla others, before The Debster sailed through songs old and new, Bob played some nice half stride, and a good time was had by all.

By the time I left, the Divine Miss Smith, having shown as delicate a touch as any on the drums, had resorted to singing – not that she needed the practice. I assume the jam descended into its usual shambles, but wouldn’t really know as I had a tram to catch…

Actually enjoyed this one. – but there is nothing new in that.
TW

The Laika Bar: things is happening…

After last week’s pause for the St Kilda Festival, the CCQ sessions return this Friday with a new singer: Steven Rossitto; a new (to the Laika Bar anyway) bass player Kip Dale, meself on piano, and old Ben Stewart on guitar. You may have realised that the usual suspects will be in Hall’s Gap instead. Despite this profound change in the line-up, we will do our best to maintain the usual frequency of cock-ups, have a bit of fun and murder the Frank Sinatra songbook, the occasional Billy Joel number and a range of jazz standards. Should be an entertaining night – feel free to wander in..

Next week, the Sevil Sabah Trio will be starting a regular Thursday night spot, (with the Captain Chaos Quartet on Fridays). The aim of this is to generate a regular crowd at the Laika who will turn up with the expectation of there being jazz.. stay tooned!