At Colbourne Ave, we have a half-arsed kind of tradition where on the anniversary of the first gig we ever put on (it was Bill Risby) we have a jazz tribute night to a pop band. Kind of like Frisell plays Lennon. Or Eckleberg plays Jackson.

It’s Thursday the 25^th of Feb, and we’re doing Joni Mitchell (almost a year since the aneurysm from which she's still recovering). Three songs per musician, no song twice, more interpretations than covers. There will be moments of genius from :

Spike Mason (and Barney Wakeford)
Leonie Cohen
Bonnie Stewart
Jonny Maddox
Bill Risby
Joseph Zarb

and they'll be playing, in chronological order of publication :

And we leave the last work to Chaka Khan, who in an interview a couple of months ago said :

See, Joni Mitchell, she's actually funky, she just doesn't know it, and I'm bringing that forward. The jazz is in there. You get her, but I've slowed a lot of the stuff down because a lot of the lyrics - she's a very fast singer, so sometimes it's hard to catch her words - but I think she's so relevant

Chris is Australian and French.   To prove the French part, here he is in France with a French flag fluttering behind him.

Chris is another Australian musician who left our shores to find fame and fortune where the grass is greener.  He's back, after 25 years composing and playing piano in Paris (and London, Rome, Algiers, the Brussels Jazz Marathon etc).  In that time he's recorded nine albums of his own, and heaps of composition commissions including one for the Sydney Theatre Company, eight films, plus radio, special events, you know the story.

Chris says:
Having just returned from France, a concert in Paris and the Bastille Day celebrations, we will be playing an exciting mix of originals, standards, and some French pieces including: I love Paris (Cole Porter), La Javanaise by French maestro Serge Gainsbourg, and even some Eric Satie! We re-work the French music to capture the more contemporary sounds and grooves of Paris and the many African and Arab influences. This music is featured on the album we have just recorded, due for release in the  spring. The band has also been invited to perform at Wangaratta.