Category - Music

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

Technorati Tags: Jazz – David Campbell – Swing

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They’ve still got it.

We went to see one of my all time favourite bands last night.

GANGgajang was playing a free concert beside the Swan River in Victoria Park as the sun was going down so we packed the family in the car, grabbed some food on the way, and had a picnic while listening to the guys performing.

The band formed in the mid eighties and I had the pleasure of seeing them live several times during their early years. Back then they had a string of hits like “Gimme Some Lovin”, “House of Cards”, and the Aussie classic, “Sounds of Then (This is Australia)”.

The thing that always struck me about the band was that they had such a good time on stage. You didn’t just go to their concert to enjoy some great music, you went there to be part of the fun. There was no posturing, falseness or grandstanding, just a group of people having the time of their life and inviting you to be part of it all. They were enjoying themselves so much on stage that you didn’t want to just see the band you wanted to be the band.

The guys are a little older these days (I guess I am too) but they can still play and their performances are still absolutely infectious. You can’t help but smile at a GANGgajang concert.

There was some very entertaining banter between the band members during their performance and ‘Cal’ Callaghan even left the stage and joined the kids dancing in front of the stage for a while. One of the real highlights for me was seeing original band member, Kayellen Bee, join the guys on stage for a couple of songs.

By the way, if you’re not a GANGgajang fan, you probably won’t realise that the title of this post, “Uplifting moments of emotion”, is a line from their song “Giver of Life”. The song is about the power of music. I can assure you that as I was transported back to my twenties by the music last night I experienced several uplifting moments of emotion and it was such a delight to be able to share part of what made me who I am today with my kids. (Don’t tell anyone but I even got up and danced with Emily for the final song, House of Cards.)

Do you have songs that can take you back to your younger days? Have you been able to see a recent performance by a band or artist that was big when you were young? Did they still measure up? Did it bring the memories flooding back? Have you been able to share your favourite music with your kids?

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: GANGgajang – Music – Family

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Pauline and I spent last night watching the 2004 movie Ray on DVD.

Actor Jamie Foxx put in an amazing performance as the remarkably talented Ray Charles. The movie follow Ray’s life story warts and all.

I saw the movie on a plane on the way to India early last year and I’ve been wanting to see it again ever since with a slightly larger screen, with a reasonable sound system, and without the drone of a jet engine for background noise.

Ray Charles attended a screening of the movie when it was first completed but died before it was released into cinemas.

I had the privilege of seeing Ray perform live at Leeuwin Estate with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra back in 1988. He was an amazingly talented man and it was truly a great show.

The movie paints him as a deeply flawed man who struggled to overcome a difficult upbringing, heroin addiction, racism and those who would take advantage of his blindness. He was also very much a womaniser. He married twice and fathered at least 12 children from 7 women.

At times throughout the movie you find it very difficult to like him as a person but I guess it’s a reminder that we don’t always make the right decisions ourselves.

More and more as I grow older I realise that I have no right to point the finger at someone else’s behaviour because I know that I fall so short of who I should be. Maybe I should dedicate 2007 to removing the plank from my eye before worrying about the speck in someone else’s.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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Technorati Tags: Ray Charles – DVD – Movies

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The man who named himself the Godfather of Soul and claimed to be the hardest working man in show business has died at the age of 73.

James Brown was admitted to hospital with pneumonia just a few days ago and at the time was hopeful of meeting his performance commitments next weekend. He died on Christmas Day.

This article from News.com.au tells us he had some amazing achievements during his musical career. “He had more than 119 charting singles and recorded over 50 albums, was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and received a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys in 1992.”

He might have played the part of Reverend Cleophus James in the Blues Brothers but James Brown was no saint. “By 1988 Brown, who had begun his music career in jail as a juvenile offender, was back behind bars, sentenced to six years for drug, weapons and vehicular charges after a high-speed car chase through Georgia and South Carolina which ended with police shooting out the tyres of his truck. He left prison in 1991.”

James Brown was a very talented man and the world of show business will miss him.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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Technorati Tags: James Brown – Music – Godfather of Soul

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If you’re anywhere near Perth you need to put aside some time to hear these guys live.

Adam Hall and the Velvet Playboys is an amazing six piece band. They performed at a wedding we attended on Saturday afternoon and I could have sat and listened to them for two or three days.

Their music can be described as smooth swingin’ jazz, rockin’ blues and good ol’ boogie woogie but that doesn’t go even close to describing just what an experience it is to be in the room when the band strikes up. As well as a lot of old time swing favourites their repotoire features the musical styles usually associated with artists as diverse as James Brown, Ray Charles & Harry Connick Jr.

If you check out their website you’ll find links to some samples of their music. Don’t be fooled. While the samples are pretty good, they don’t do the guys justice.

The band is tight, as you’d expect with the kind of pedigree the guys can boast, but they made it all sound so easy.

I’m used to hearing great musicianship let down by average vocals but Adam Hall is smooth all the way. His bio on their website gives a few hints as to his musical heritage.

Adam studied the craft in America at Berklee College of Music, Boston. Playing since 1990 (from the age of 10), Adam sings and plays Trumpet, Trombone, Alto Sax, Piano, Euphonium, Mellophonium and a little bit of bass and drums for good measure.

So far in his career Adam has played with James Morrison, Darryl Somers, Rolf Harris, Frank Foster (the former leader of the Count Basie orchestra who played with Basie for 45 years), Don Burrows, Shirley Horn’s band, Vanessa Amorossi and Grace Knight to name just a few.

Adam played at the Sydney Olympics, was Artist in Residence at Southbridge Jazz Club (Singapore) and has made tours to Singapore, Boston, New York & New Orleans.

The band has a regular Friday night booking at The Mustang Bar in Northbridge. Let me know if you’re heading down there and I’ll see if I can join you.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Swing – Music – Adam Hall

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