The Jazz Jammers Newsletter 19th July 2024
Instrumental Week Jam Session Review: The Cornerstone Bash, July 14th
22 musos rocked up this week: and the standard is edging higher.... The temporary staff at Bendigo Towers, putative world headquarters of the Melbourne Jazz Jammers, are struggling to remember the last time we had such a diversity of instruments - flute and violin amongst the instruments on the go - quite eclipsing the vocalists du jour: Kevin, Rose and Kay.
Drums: devices so awful they need to be assembled with a spanner, and beaten repeatedly with a stick: a welcome return from Andre, Martin his usual reliable self, and the Hirsch for afters.
Pianos: 88 keys, too many choices, all of them wrong: An opening stanza from Mr Curtis, Philip as good as ever, and meself accompanying Kevin, Brian(flute) and Rose.
Guitars: six bits of wire held apart by a flimsy wooden box: you wouldn't think such a contraption could produce such beautiful music, and let's face it, sometimes you would be right. Class line-up this week: Neville (also some bass), Roger (nice solo lines), Vlad (who either didn't sing or didn't play guitar, or both or neither) , and Jim Swanton the pick of them.
Bass: Ivan the Sultanoff, and when he was off, the Debonair Mr Curtis was on...
Flute: Brian, who played without having charts: nice - come again!
Violin: Steve, another new comer, played a smart looking carbon fibre fiddle, and did enough to suggest he is (a) rather competent, and (b) not used to the jam set-up, unlike the rest of us who are not (a) and probably (b). Hope to see him again.
Saxophones: the combination of soprano (Jeff), tenor (the Captain and Keith) and Bari (Laurie) presaged a noisy fiasco, but as it turned out, this combination was the pick of the day.
A rather higher standard of music than is traditional at these jams: and consequently, a satisfying end to the week. Let's do it all again...
The next Jam Session Sunday 21st July
This Sunday, 3.30 to 7.00 (ish), at The Cornerstone , 1 Crockford St, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia.
https://www.thecornerstonepub.com.au/
Saturday Jazz at the Challis Street Fandango 13th July
Megan Slattery, in her first Fandango as a featured soloist, drew a good audience, well deserved, as she waltzed through most of her repertoire and didn't need to draw on the instrumental prowess (hah!) of the Captain Chaos Quartet more than once, or twice... a good start!
Saturday and Sunday Jazz at the Boatshed Cafe
20th, 21st July
Saturday, and the Running Club: If the weather lets us, Katerina Myskova sings, with Don Gula on Bass, and meslef on keys. Last time we did this, well over 100 members of the club stayed to drink coffee and listyento live music
Saturday, 20th July, 10.00 start
Sunday: another class line-up, with Aneta Graham (v), Bruce Packard (double bass), Michael Holt (sax) and meself on keys. This regular Sunday spot seems to draw an eclectic crowd: are they drawn by the music, or do they just like drinking coffee whilst the band has fun? Drop in and find out!
Sunday, 21st July, 10.30am start.
Other Festival News - and news of other Festivals
Inverloch Jazz Festival 2-4 August 2024
Three weeks to go and the Friday schedule is out - check out Warrawee for some Friday night funk.
This is a long established Festival and features some terrific regular bands as well as new acts each year. About 2 hours 15 mins from Melbourne, and recommended.
http://www.inverlochjazzfestival.com/
Wangaratta Jazz Festival, 1-3 November 2024
Excerpt from their latest update email:
Since the middle of February we have been able to raise $44,000. This generous support from large and small individual donors has enabled us to do the following:
-
Appoint Serge Carnovale from Paris Cat as the Festival Artistic Director 2024
-
Contract with Zilla and Brook as our PR Agents for Festival publicity
-
Join forces with Christie Creatives for social media
-
Recruit John Henshall to the board
-
Re-brand the festival with fresh, simple logos.
-
Re-build our website to allow online store capabilities to sell tickets and merchandise. Check out www.wangjazzblues.com.au
-
Lock in Vince Jones as one of our headline acts for 2024
-
Secure 13 + venues for the festival including Brown Brothers
-
There are several other items in progress that we will let you know about very soon
At the moment the tentative program will run from the evening of Friday 1 November through to the evening of Monday 4 November.
https://wangarattajazz.com/
The Australian Jazz Convention, 26-31 Dec 2024
Mildura is going to have a Party! The Australian Jazz Convention is an annual gathering for musicians and jazz lovers to celebrate their music. While the focus is on traditional or “Dixieland” jazz, the convention is also open to groups playing swing, mainstream, bebop, modern, funk, and other jazz genres.Since 1946 the convention has been hosted by different cities and towns across Australia; in 2024 the 78th AJC will be held in Mildura, Victoria, from December 26th to 31st.
https://www.australianjazzconvention.org.au/
About Melbourne Jazz Jammers Inc.
The jam sessions are a side gig run by the Melbourne Jazz Jammers Inc., who, having spent all their time on the 2024 Newport Festival, have now had all the rest they are going to get, and are thinking about 2025.
If you would like to help pack up after the Jam each week, you are unlikely to meet much resistance. Really...
If you would like to throw your hat in the ring for a spot at one of the gigs, contact Col (he needs a new hat), or Ted at the jam sessions.
