Blog and news articles

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We’re back at the Hippo Co!

Bella Groove is back at the Hippo Co this Wednesday with some more infectious tunes and rhythms!

I’m excited to be performing with another great line-up of young musos!

There’ll be fabulous Victor Rufus on guitar a.k.a. VRR (Victor Rufus Reverberation), solid bass player Scott Temby (electric and stand-up bass), talented Clare Fitzgerald (keys), Mark Levers, rhythm machine (on drums) and dynamic percussionist Sinuhe Pacheco.

Expect a new kind of beat that’ll get your feet tappin’ and your body groovin’! With some jazz funk, a few standards & some beatnik jazz including some original material by Elise and bass player Scott!

See you there or be square!

 

 

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Bella Groove is playing at Pheast Manuka this Sunday March 15th, we’d love you to see you there!

Come on down for a laid-back afternoon at Pheast with fine food, great company and some cool grooves!

Peter Barta will play bass with some groovy effects pedals. Jonathan Mao will play some bluesy licks on his guitar.

Last but not least, drummer Jon Nourse from The Black Hats Band will set the blues & swing rhythms for the day!

 

 

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It was a pleasant surprise to be mentioned by the Canberra Times!

It was a fun gig at Molly Bar for New Years Eve 2014. Every one dressed up in true 1920’s style for the Gatsby themed evening.

The Bella Groove line-up for this amazing evening included; the talented Sally Greenaway (on keyboard) and John Burgess (on bass) and solid drummer Derrick “Noddy” Brassington. Peter Levans also joined us on a few tunes playing some cool muted trumpet.

The mood of the evening was hard to beat! The crowd sang along and danced to old jazz standards such as: Sing Sing Sing and It Don’t Mean A Thing.

The staff at Molly Bar were friendly and made everybody feel special! Those cocktails were something to write home about too!

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Thanks to Eric Pozza of Canberra Jazz blog for his complimentary post.

Bella Groove certainly had a great time playing at the Hippo Co on the 14th January. It was great to see people get up and dance to our Latin & Jazz blues numbers in the last set!

We tried some new tunes this time, including: Beatrice by Sam Rivers, Stolen Moments by Oliver Nelson, a jazzy interpretation of Temptation by Tom Waits.

Joe Taylor, tenor sax player was an added bonus. He was called in short notice and did a fantastic job.

We look forward to our next gig at the fabulous Hippo Co bar!

 

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Bella Groove will be playing again at Pheast in Manuka this Sunday, January 25th!

Pheast is such a cool layback Sunday afternoon gig. I’m looking forward to playing funky, R&B grooves with Peter Barta (bass), Robert Nesci (drums) and Jonathan Mao sitting-in on guitar!!

So come along, grab a drink or late lunch, early dinner and sit back to Bella Groove’s funky tunes from 3 to 6pm!

It’s also the Australia Day weekend so no excuse not to come down and chill out at Pheast Manuka’s beer garden!

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Life is but a stage!

Workshop program for 8 to 16 year olds

Students get to act, sing, dance and put on a 30-minute show in just 3 days!

Working with experienced vocal coaches, performers, musicians and a dance instructor they will learn lines, sing songs and develop dance routines culminating in one fun and exciting performance for family and friends.

Venue: Canberra Baptist Church Community Hall, Kingston
Cost: $150 per child for 3 days including final performance.
Dates: TBA

In the workshop children will explore & develop:

  • their Imagination and Creativity
  • self Confidence
  • self Awareness
  • and Resilience

Facilitated by Elise of Bella Groove and Queen Juanita Music.

If you’d like to express interest, please fill in the form below. We will contact you and advise when the next workshops will be held.

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Below are a few photos from our End of Year Student Concert. Everyone did a tremendous job performing. The concert was a success. We’ll definitely be holding more student concerts in 2015!

I was proud to present a concert for my students with my friend and colleague Juanita Cucinotta of Queen Juanita Music on the 6 December 2014.

It was a fabulous opportunity for students of all ages to get up and perform in front of family and friends. Some students had already experienced performing in public whilst others had stepped out for the first time!

Regardless of experience, there was a good deal of stage fright on the day. So there was plenty of mutual hugging and supportive comments backstage!

Photographs by Louise Brooks.

 

Elise & Ann-Catherine
Tom -“Maria”
Annie-“You must love me”
Sally -“Jingle Bell Rock”
Daisy-“I can hear the bells”
My Skype student Maya
Acappella group- “Yellow bird”
gospel-blues group
Rory jazzing it up!

 

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We’ve just updated our site with a fresh design and more importantly, more music!

Check out the videos and music. We’ll continue to update the site with music and stuff. If you like, follow us on Facebook, YouTube and Soundcloud.

Please send us an email if you’d like to book us for a gig, or Elise for a lesson.