All That Jazz

There’s a kind of jazz that features banjos and clarinets. I’m not a huge fan of that style of jazz.

On the other hand, there are many styles of jazz that I could listen to all day and all night.

We experienced both kinds on Saturday.

Our family had the privilege of heading to All That Jazz at Houghton Wines in the Swan Valley for over five hours of jazz. We got there around five in the afternoon while the sun was still blisteringly hot. We placed our blanket not too far from the stage and then found some nearby shade.

The music started with the banjo and clarinet type jazz. The Red Eagles played their New Orleans Dixieland music extremely well but it wasn’t really my style. Next was a group of ‘senior’ jazz musos called The Lazy River Jazz Band featuring vocalist June Smith, one of the blackest sounding white women you’re ever likely to hear. They’ve probably been playing jazz together for the last 50 or so years. They were brilliant and certainly got my feet tapping.

Then it was time for the West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra to step up and show us why they’re acknowledged as the leading youth jazz orchestra in Australia. Libby Hammer and Ali Bodycoat provided the vocals and together they brought the audience to life.

After all the appetisers it was time for the main course.

David Campbell stepped on stage, backed by the West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra and proceeded to completely wow the audience. His performances of standards like Mr Bojangles, Mac the Knife, Call Me Irresponsible and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You had the audience hanging off every word.

Campbell is the complete showman. His banter between songs was entertaining and engaging. He never missed a beat even when he started conversations in the middle of his songs.

He happily told us that his dad, Jimmy Barnes, had sent him a text message 20 minutes before the show to say that he was out of ICU following a scheduled operation to repair a heart valve. He then went on to do a great ‘Barnsey’ impersonation.

While eight year old James has always seemed to have ‘got’ jazz and swing, Emily, who is two years older, has resisted. She is now a huge David Campbell fan. She was standing up against the stage for his whole set and Campbell even jumped off the stage at one point and touched her on the arm. After the concert Emily approached the guys who were packing down the stage and managed to souvenir the towel that David Campbell had been using to wipe the sweat from his face during the concert. Yeck.

The next time David Campbell comes to town I’ll be first in line for tickets.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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3 Comments

  • I love all the types of jazz, especially big band swing, but it’s been years since I’ve been to a live performance. It sounds like you had a great time.

  • oh man – if you like jazz check out http://www.scatjazz.com – brisbane jazz band (gospel) and i think they’re planning on touring sometime soon. They head to the USA in June for summer festivals but on their return i think it’s aussie tour time.

    They won the 2005 Gospel Music award for Jazz in the USA, without ever visiting there!!!!

    Awesome group.

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