Gavin's new Brazillian band, Sussurro, will start our year with a sultry mid-january party.  they'll be recording a video clip.  Enjoy classic and innovative readings of the timeless Brazilian songbook - echoes of Jobim, Luis Bonfa, Joao and Astrud Gilberto, Gal Costa, Djavan and others.

Forming the core of Sussurro are Jeanne Bastos (vocals, percussion) Peter Toohey (guitar) and Gavin Ahearn (piano). Jeanne is “the real deal” bringing her heritage from Bahia to down under. Peter continues his decades long love affair with the Brazilian guitar tradition. Gavin is a Colbourne regular. In the engine room are bassist Peter Gray who studied in NY with John Pattituci, and the in-demand and diverse Tim Bradley on percussion/drums. Sussurro are a whisper of Brazil on a sultry summer night in Sydney. Come and enjoy.

Maybe you aren't one of Bri's 1200 facebook friends, maybe you didn't follow her adventures through the jazz capitals of the world last year, culminating in the recording of her first album in New York with Aaron Goldberg, Reuben Rogers, Greg Hutchinson, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Mike Moreno.

but tonight you can hear her beautiful voice fill Colbourne Ave in real life, with a completely different and much more local band - Greg Coffin (piano), Ken Allars (trumpet), James Muller (guitar),Brendan Clarke (bass), Nic Cecire (drums)

I saw these guys in Bellingen.  there was a flood.  thousands of campers stranded, elbowing themselves into the pub, where a little flamenco band expected to be playing to a few Sunday afternoon drinkers, but instead had a whole city of festival refugees.  They held their own.  It was great.  After some negotiating, we have them in the last couple of weeks before they too leave for Europe.  Here's what they say:

Los Monos is a Sydney based group of flamenco loving musicians.  From their origins as three tree climbing companions busking in the tunnels of central station, Los Tres Monos began composing arousing melodies of Spanish and Latin flavors in order to make people yell "ole!" and dance around in circles.

This was all to change when they were approached by a roaming singer from Cadiz and a charming, yet dangerous pianist.  The culmination of musical backgrounds and desire to make people smile and move has resulted in a unique Australian blend of flamenco puro and Latin jazz.  Each of the Monos have impressive musical CV's that include respective bachelors in music and extensive touring nationally and internationally. They are also often joined by renowned Sydney Latin and Flamenco artists.

To see photos, Videos, and to hear their E.P. go to

http://www.facebook.com/losmonosflamenco

Well, we haven't booked anybody this week.

but we'll still be there.

so if you want to come down, hang out, play some tunes, have a drink, Andrew and Barney will be there with you.

As a freelance trumpetplayer and vocalist, Elizabeth has supported James Morrison, Gene Pitney and Harry Secombe and was a feature vocalist and soloist with Swing City before taking up songwriting. After performing her songs extensively in the US and Europe in 2007, Elizabeth released her third album,  'On Patrol With The Jazz Police' and in 2009 her song The Dream won Best Song in international competition IAC and was featured on the American US  Smooth Jazz Compilation Album in 2010.

With Bill Risby and Nic Cicere. Have a listen:

http://www.myspace.com/elizabethgeyer

http://www.elizabethgeyer.com/

Nigel Date (guitar) and John Maddox (bass, vocals, kazoo) have been making music together for over 10 years. They have performed at major international festivals including Montreux, Cork Jazz Festival, New Caledonia Gypsy Guitar Festival,  Edinburgh, Wangaratta Jazz Fest, Oz Manouche, Woodford, Bellingen Jazz, Big Day Out and Bay of Islands. They have been at the core of bands such as their own Straight Back Fellows and Peppermint T. Both are in demand for jazz ensembles through to ‘hip hop’ and pop bands.  They make music that is full of humour and flair, always swinging and with great energy.

On this night, they will be joined by two long-time associates, the talented Tim Bradley on drums and Colbourne Ave’s very own piano maestro Barney Wakeford.

The night promises to be an entertaining ride through music history, from American jazz to Cuban rhythms and French gypsy swing as well their own orchestrations and improvisations.

Back in NZ from several years living in Boston, James Wylie is a saxophonist/clarinetist involved in microtonal music and active in many styles including improvised music and jazz, contemporary classical and bluegrass. In this project he will present a woodwinds/bass/drums trio exploring a program of new and borrowed compos...itions and improvisations hinting at themes from Federico Fellini to Hank Williams.

Joining him will be two of Australian Jazz’s rising stars - Alex Boneham (James Muller Trio, The Vampires, Steven Barry) on bass and James ‘Pug’ Waples (Mike Nock, Bernie McGann, Jackson Harrison Trio) on drums.
www.jameswyliemusic.com

Barney Wakeford on piano, with his conversational approach to standards and his mind-searching originals.  With old friends Jono Brown on bass and Cameron Reid on drums.  It's only a two (or three) day week, come down for the most relaxing gig in town.

Chris Abrahams, James Waples, and Mike Markovski - maybe the most creative improvising trio in Sydney.  totally UN-composed, completely free jazz by three of sydney's free-est improvisors.  Despire their differences in age and history, they clearly understand each other well enough to climb around each others sounds.  ROIL mesmerise you with the way they surge together then careen apart, ramming textures and harmonics against each other in ways that would be totally destructive in less competent hands.

I just found this overview of Mike's playing, by John Clare.  he quotes ROIL's last gig at Colbourne Ave:

"More recently I heard him in Roil ... The room has a wonderful sound, so good in fact that even when Majkowski played glissando patterns by vooming the palms of his hands on the wood of the bass I thought he was using amplification, but they were all playing acoustically. “How do you do that?” I asked. “A lot practice,” he said. “And the room. Actually I’ve done a lot of work on projection.” Using the bow and, simultaneously, rapid fingers down near the bridge, Majkowski created a maze of high notes and interacting harmonics that took my breath away. Also pings, pops and chattering. The instrument was singing and crying like several voices, and in fact he sometimes projected his own voice into it.

As with The Necks, so with Roil- in this regard at least: it is misleading to say there are no solos, but brief focus on one instrument can be the result of the others suddenly dropping in volume rather than the one shouldering itself into prominence. The isolated instrument suddenly has a kind of supernatural presence. There are a number of Australian contemporary jazz bands in which such a “solo” would be entirely in context. Others of course where it would not be seen to be serving the music."

[John Clare, sima.org.au/2010/10/14/profile-2-mike-majkowsk]

and then he quotes Mike:

“In this regard jazz is dead. But when I play with a trio like Roil I feel I am really playing jazz. In our rehearsals we just play. There’s no verbal dialogue, or very little. There’s no leader. No one is worried about playing over anyone else. We are solving the musical problems in the moment. We got together in 2007 and we weren’t talking about playing gigs. We just enjoyed playing together. Playing no one else’s music."

One of our favourite improvisors, local pianist Jonathan Hollowell has a lyrical touch and a joyful approach to all music.  With Barry Klitchet on drums and Ken Roberts on double bass.

"For most of 2009 I had a weekly gig at a club in the city with steve hunter, where we played with various drummers. we drew from an extensive repetoire of songs, ranging from originals through to classic tunes from bill evans, herbie, and chick corea, while also checking out the modern repetoire of joshua redman, pat metheny and kurt rosenwinkel. this trio worked well in a quiet setting, as we had noise restrictions as well, so for this gig ive booked steve hunter and jim piesse, an incredible drummer. it will be very cool."

Judy Bailey, possibly Australia's most influential living jazz musician.  Steven Barry, possibly her most promising student.  We will have two grand pianos and Judy and Steve will trade the solo and duet piano pieces they have prepared for a concert at the conservatorium next month.

From a review of her show at the Adelaide Fringe:

"African American Australian Andreea Kindryd’s ancestors and relatives swum across the Mississippi to move back in to slavery to be with the people they loved; they had families of eight children, all of whom got an education in a time when many people didn’t; they shot men in the Ku Klux Klan and escaped to California; they wrote hit songs for Elvis. Her mother worked as a hairdresser for many stars, including Nat King Cole, and was distressed by Kindryd’s choice to show off her natural kinky hair.

Kindryd didn’t just live through the civil rights era: she spoke on the radio with Malcolm X; she was Martin Luther King’s PA (“okay, for a day” she admits). After college, she moved to New York and worked on a radio station in Harlem, and moving back to California, she was one of two African Americans hired to work for Lucille Ball’s production company Desilu Productions. There she worked on many shows, in particular the original Star Trek, where she worked for producer and inventor of Klingon Gene Coon, and kissed George Takei.

To hear these stories first hand (or second or third hand in a direct ancestral line) in any case would be a privilege, but Kindryd is a generous, funny, loving and exciting storyteller. She not only recounts the stories of her and her family’s lives, she takes on their characters, re-enacting their situations and conversations."

Featuring Carl Dewhurst and Simon Barker, Showa 44 utilise tuned metallic resonances, rhythmic densities and spontaneous invention via electric guitar and percussion to manifest compelling and evocative soundscapes.
Showa 44 are increasingly becoming recognized as one of Australia’s foremost creative ensembles. they say:

Its been a long time since our last outing as Showa 44 but well worth the wait as we finally have the opportunity to perform at Colbourne Ave.
It's the perfect environment both aesthetically and acoustically for us to present some of our more ambient work.
If you haven't been along to this venue before its $20/$10 on the door and you can BYO whatever you like to eat or drink. You can buy things there too.
Anyway we really hope you can make it along as we revisit some of the resonances from our last CD "Orneon"

The iconic UK composer Keith Mansfield will be in conversation at Colbourne avenue this thursday, talking about the art and life of an arranger and playing solo piano along the way.  Keith's big brassy big band style of writing became emblematic of the 60's and 70's, and has been sampled by Quentin Tarantino on his film Kill Bill, by hiphoppers DangerMouse and Gnarles Barkley and Fatboy Slim.  Read and listen here for a great dissection of the way his 1969 "Soul Thing" was sampled by Danger Mouse and MF Doom in 2006. His compositions have become theme songs for westerns (Three bullets for a long gun), BBC programs (Grandstand, Wimbledon) and jazz instrumentalists (Maynard Ferguson).

God knows what else hes done along the way, and thats why you should come and hear the man himself on Thursday

Chase down his history on YouTube.

After many years of touring and performing together, Jake Barden (Sydney) and Louis Stapleton (Germany) formed a great musical bond and deep understanding of each other’s playing. In 2008 and 2009, Louis and Jake toured Europe together playing at Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Jazz a Vienne in France and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy. Since then, Louis has moved to Weimar, Germany where he is studying at the Franz Liszt School of Music and Jake is now studying at the Sydney Conservatorium.  Last year they recorded an album together (Late Nights and City Lights), and while Louis is back in Australia for a couple of months we have the opportunity to hear them together, with Cam Reid on drums and Brendan Clarke on double bass.

“Jake Barden is a very talented musician. I’m sure his name will be widely known among the next generation of top players”
— Don Burrows, 2010
“Louis has strong concepts of voicing, melodic line, complex rhythms and I must say, for his age, his compositions are very advanced”
— Tom O ́Halloran, 2008

check out some youTube at jakebarden.com.au

Gadjo Guitars, the gypsy jazz trio featuring Nigel Date, Jose Zarb from Marsala and Cameron Jones all playing Django-style guitar will for this concert also include special guests Daniel Weltlinger (violin) and John Maddox (acoustic bass).  "Gadjo" is a word gypsies have for non-gypsies, and these three guitarists don't have a drop of gypsy blood in their veins - but their hearts are with Django Reinhardt, the famous French gypsy who, despite having two paralysed fingers on his left hand, developed the most original and virtuostic guitar style in the history of jazz.

Originally from Indonesia (In 2005, she led her quartet in the Jakarta International Java Jazz festival) but currently based in Sydney, Francesca Prihasti is now studying under Mike Nock at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and recently played with Dale Barlow in his sidewomen project.  It's the first time we've had the pleasure of hearing most of these young musicians - James Waples (drums), Alex Boneham (Double bass) , Nic Vardanega (guitar), Chris O Dea (Sax), and Simon Ferenci (trumpet) - it will be a great six piece band plaing Francesca's original compositions and new arrangements of standards

Three singer-sonwriters :

Chelsea Gibson (www.chelseagibson.com)

Drawing from Swedish fiction, unspoken experience, photographers and vintage silhouettes, Chelsea’s brand of indie-folk melodies drift over like a cool breeze on a sultry night.

Songs from her "Drawing Midnight" EP have been shortlisted for the Pie Jam Competition and she is currently working on her second CD.

Renee Jonas (www.facebook.com/renee.jonas1)

One part Honey, two parts Pop, a sprinkling of Jazz with a dash of Folk - as Eva Cassidy meets Celine Dion, in the melting pot that cooks up 100% Renee Jonas. Renee is a singer/songwriter that has been performing for over a decade. Renee has performed in such prestigious venues as the Sydney Opera House and the Melbourne Telstra Dome. Singing songs about life, love and loss, her melifluous vocals and unforgettable songs take you on an intense emotional and melodic explosion of sound, feelings and pure entertainment.

Natasha-Eloise (www.myspace.com/natashaeloise)

Natasha-Eloise is a singer, song writer and multi-instrumentalist. Her music and lyrics a blend of soft rock and popular in style, has a maturity beyond her 16 years with her musical compositions possessing genuine emotion and passion. She brings her music to life with either the guitar or piano and her performances are characterised by the emotion carried by the lyrics, the cadence of the music and sincerity of the message conveyed

Susan Gai changed the way i understand jazz singing.  She's a pillar of the Sydney jazz scene, and her generosity of spirit glows through every song she selects.

Susan will sing with Carl Dewhurst on guitar - an incredibly versatile player of jazz, funk, glitch, grindcore, theatre and anything improvised.  Another great supporter of the jazz community, Carl has played everywhere and with everybody.

And Bernie McGann on saxophone.  A legend of Australian jazz, one of our most awarded, most recognised, most original musicians.  He'll be bringing home fifty years pushing the boundaries of the alto sax.

Three icons of Sydney jazz, distilling decades of experience into their totally distinctive jazz standards and original songs.

The fabulous Date Brothers (Ian and Nigel) return to Colbourne Ave on Dec 1.

This will be their penultimate concert after touring Australia in November.

The brothers are well known for their guitar acrobatics in recreating the vibe and music of Django Reinhardt, the great French gypsy guitarist from the 1930’s.  Ian is regarded as one of the finest guitarists to have emerged from Australia. He has a long history of making music with many of the greatest musicians in the land as well as in Europe, where he is now based.  Nigel, also on guitar, has brought some outstanding bands to Colbourne Ave in recent years.

Howard Cairns, a fantastic double bass player from Melbourne will be playing with the brothers as well as an assortment of very special guests who will be dropping by to jam with the band.

This promises to be an exciting, excellent night of fine, swinging music.

datebrothers.com

The Daryl Pratt Sextet is looking forward to a return visit to Colbourne Ave. Influenced by recent developments in improvised music blending acoustic and electronic sounds, the band's repertoire features new pieces by Daryl designed especially for this outstanding line-up.