GIG: Tuesday, October 4, 7.30pm to 10.30pm, The Apartment, 401 Little Bourke St, Melbourne. Entry $10
Poster art for this gig taken from the original Metheny and Mays album.
If you like big band music — and that undoubtedly includes any who caught the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra’s gig at Stonnington Jazz this year — there are treats in store this week.
The Bennetts Lane Big Band has its regular monthly gig at Bennetts Lane (as you’d expect) on Monday, October 3.
And Tim Hellyer has passed on news that the Blackburn Big Band will be playing the music of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays on Tuesday in Melbourne, using arrangements for big band by Bob Curnow and recorded on the album The Music of Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays.
Tim says the band is an educational venture put together by alumni of Blackburn High School to work with some of Melbourne’s prominent jazz musicians and teachers, such as Shane Gillard, Greg Spence, Geoff Hughes and Eugene Ball.
“If you haven’t heard Bob Curnow’s album, I highly recommend it — absolutely stunning arrangements of some of Metheny’s greatest pieces,” Tim told Ausjazz.
“I haven’t heard of any bands in Melbourne doing a gig of all of the arrangements off this CD so this is sure to be a rare event not to be missed!”
The band, which Tim says features some of Melbourne’s best up and coming musicians and has studied this “exhilarating and emotional music” under the tutelage of professional musicians, will perform all 12 tracks from the album.
This is a once-only performance and not to be missed.
ROGER MITCHELL
Ausjazz Blog 