News and articles about music in general.
City News Review!
Thank you Clinton White of City News for a great review!
It was a fantastic crowd at Smith’s Alternative last Thursday, the 23rd August! It is always wonderful to perform to a listening audience and to see such enthusiasm for live music!
Click here for review:
I’m really looking forward to playing at the Foundry 616 this Thursday 3rd August!
This will also be my first gig in Sydney since the late 90s! So it is a real thrill to be returning to the old stomping ground to play at a top jazz venue.
Most of all, I’m excited to be perform with a great line-up of musicians and play for family and Sydney friends!
So I hope to see a supportive crowd at Foundry 616!
The City Lights album launch in Canberra was filmed with the help of talented videographer, Matt Ong. We’re going to release the videos in the same order as the tracks on the album.
City Lights is the first, we hope you enjoy watching it on YouTube and give us a like and share 🙂
The song City Lights, title of the Bella Groove album, was conceived about 8 years ago!
I wrote the main chorus of City Lights after seeing Dan Sultan perform at the Sydney Opera House.
It was exciting seeing a live band at The Opera House Studio. The Studio theatre, “with its capacity to transform, is a space where the edges of art are not only reached but explored”. I have been fortunate to see a few “bizarre and beautiful” acts perform at the Studio.
So, I was buzzing… walking down the promenade at Circular Quay, heading back to my inner West abode. Suddenly the tune just came to me, beginning with the lyrics:
Come down now, come to the city tonight
There you’ll find brighter skies than you’ll ever see
A full moon out there, full moon out there
Come take a risk with me…
The rest of the lyrics came later. The melody was fixed!
Piano player and arranger, Hugh Barrett, played some cool chords and I figured out the intro! Hugh went away and worked on a horn arrangement, then we had a tune!
Thanks to Matt Ong and James Robinson who assisted Matt with filming the launch.
Due to budget cuts, ABC Radio National has axed a number of it’s music programs.
It’s a sad day indeed.
As of today, these programs will no longer be aired via the analogue signal broadcast.
The programs include; The Daily Planet, The Inside Sleeve, The Live Set, The Rhythm Divine and Jazztrack.
Without these programs, how will ABC Radio National possibly “reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community”?
Watching the amazing bassist Marcus Shelby (video below) play Jitterbug Waltz, evokes childhood memories of my Mum playing the same tune on piano many years ago.
My mum, a former jazz piano player, is my greatest inspiration! She is the reason why I chose to be a jazz musician.
As a jazz lover, mum avidly listened to Mal Stanley’s Jazztrack on ABC.
It is sad that my mum and others like her, particularly those in Regional Australia, will not be tuning in any more to Jazztrack on Radio National.
You can help out by signing the petition on Save RN Music.