Month / May 2015

by Jazz Jammers

AND . . . The Lunatic Arms, Gold Street, Collingwood

Went off again, as it so often does. Other than that, I can barely remember what happened, the following will hopefully be of interest to 50% of our faithful readership, the other one having probably dozed off in an armchair by now..

So… Saxophonists: the disciples of the Belgian inventor played up as is their wont, ably led by Captain Chaos and his rattly bits.

The pianists were at least in part called Sam Izzo. Like all pianists he is of an intellectual disposition, unlike the guitarists, who can generally count up to their IQ without removing both shoes.

The Charts were magnificent, although POCKOTL did remark that one appeared to be upside down. She was quickly reassured that this made no difference to the music.

The Bass players generally had a spiffingly lugubrious time, and stuck to the task all arvo. Hortense once thought about playing double bass. To save money, she bought a violin but forgot to water it.

The Bar didn’t fall over, but several of us weren’t prepared to risk it and volunteered to prop it up all afternoon.

Ya wouldn’t be dead fer quids. And even if you were, slightly, you would still come down for next week’s jam, which is the last before the Castlemaine Jazz Festival.
TW

by Jazz Jammers

The Castlemaine Jazz Festival: less than three weeks to go…

Next week sees a bunch of us toddle up the road to Castlemaine, to set up a jazz festival. You may have heard of it. You may even be playing in it. Or you may, sesnibly, have opted for the easy option, which entails sitting in either a pub, restaurant, steam train, food barn, artist’s colony or Gaol, and eating and drinking too much whilst the musicians plead with the Stage Managers to let them play just one more song…

The Master Classes
Bob Sedergreen will be giving two master classes, at 12 pm and 3pm on Saturday 6th. His theme is Constructing a Jazz Solo, and the classes are open to anyone with a Festival Pass, and free to School Students. We already know quite a few high school students will be attending, and they will all get a free pass to the rest of the day’s programme in all eight venues.

The Master Classes will be held at the Old Castlemaine Gaol which is a fabulous venue, and you can catch a performance either side of each class.

Castlemaine Gets Invaded
The New South Welshmen arrive on Thursday, the Queenslanders arrive on Friday, and the South Australians will be half an hour late.

The Website
Gets new stuff every day. Go on, click on it to see what hat John Hannah is wearing, and what sort of car he is leaning on, and where, and why this has almost nothing to do with the Jazz Festival.

http://castlemainejazzfestival.com.au/

Then post the link to your Facebook, invite your friends, go crazy if you must.

by Jazz Jammers

The Laika Bar

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Risa Khodani, Kyoto’s finest export

Last week saw the two busiest nights we have had at The Laika – first Ruby Rogers rocked Friday, and then Sevil Sabah sang out of her skin to almost pack the joint on Saturday. Even the Door Security came in and danced.

This week, Risa Khodani did the Friday honours.

Cathy McQuade returns for the Saturday session – singing delicious little latin numbers in Portuguese, with Doug and meself squinting at the IRealB charts and hoping for the best.

Risa’s inaugurul at the Laika, 6 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, Friday 29th May, 7,30 start.

Cathy MacQuade, all legs and latin, Saturday 30th May , 8.00pm start.

by Jazz Jammers

THIS, THAT AND A BIT OF THE OTHER

The Gold Street Gossip Shop

By the time we had ambled in from Castlemaine, the session was, if not full swing, at least rocking gently from side to side. After indulging Colonel T’s penchant for all things bebopped, a full contingent of bass players (Ivan), twangers (Ben and Tom), twitchers (obscure reference to piano players including, Bob, the fabulous Payet, John, whatsisname and meself) boppers (Sam, Spike, Bruce etc.) warblers (Debbie, Kevin, Charles, Chris Manetta, and Oh Dear God, whatever her name was, please not again) all got to accompany the Captain, Sir Roger de Coverley’s third nephew fifteen times removed, and Peter Cole as they played about thirty three thousand four hundred and twenty six solos.

Each.

‘Twas all rather fun, and quite how the Captain still managed to create Chaos (he’s been calling fours again) after a long day on the Jazz Festival Committee is a mystery to me.

As are most things…

See ya this week?
TW

And POCKOTL asks that you click on the Facebook page for more photos, videos

by Jazz Jammers

The Master Classes

Bob Sedergreen will be giving two master classes, at 12 pm and 3pm on Saturday 6th. His theme is Constructing a Jazz Solo, and the classes are open to anyone with a Festival Pass, and free to School Students. We already know quite a few high school students will be attending, and they will all get a free pass to the rest of the day’s programme in all eight venues.

The Master Classes will be held at the Old Castlemaine Gaol which is a fabulous venue, and you can catch a performance either side of each class.

by Jazz Jammers

The Leinster Late Show

We started a little later than usual, on account of all the Colliwobble Mothers having lunch in the Atrium. Having cunningly avoided, thereby, the first three or four train wrecks, the venerable Captain Chaos proceeded to run a tight ship for the duration, ably assisted by a variety of noisemakers whose musical prowess was such that I can barely remember their names, or, in the case of Michael Hirsh esq., promised not to.

There, that’s done it, I’ve used a preposition to end a sentence with. Much like Rotten Ronnie Junior, only in his case it was a proposition and a much longer sentence, the Judge being inordinately fond of whippets, and not much impressed with the cut of Rotten Ronnie’s jib. But that is another story.

There must have been music played, I would suppose, and some memorable cock-ups. No cock was more roundly upped than the rendition of Four.
TW