Paul Grabowsky: Shirley Avenue — Grand Organ Commission The picture below shows the wilds of Shirley Avenue, Glen Waverley, the place that inspired Paul Grabowsky’s composition for the Melbourne Town Hall grand organ or, as he put it, “the street where I grew up”. The Google Maps version lacks historic integrity, but I was inspired to place it here by a post on Miriam Zolin’s … Continue reading Melbourne International Jazz Festival — Day 6
Joshua Redman Trio A nasty cold and sore throat had me laid low all day, so I chose to miss the Zac Hurren Trio and arrive at the Melbourne Recital Centre in time for Redman on saxophones, Reuben Rogers on bass and Greg Hutchinson on drums. A number of words come to mind immediately as fitting descriptions for this trio: slick, polished, precise, elegant, athletic, … Continue reading Melbourne International Jazz Festival — Day 5
IT was a dilemma: the hardly ever serious Actis Dato at BMW Edge or the seriously promoted and popular Katie Noonan’s Blackbird Project at Hamer Hall, along with the boys from FGHR (drummer Daniel Farrugia, guitarist Leonard Grigoryan, pianist Luke Howard and bassist Ben Robertson) in the supporting role. As usual, I timed things badly, dropping in to hear the Italian antics, but leaving in … Continue reading Melbourne International Jazz Festival — Day 2
