This years Australian Jazz Convention at Swan Hill in Victoria continues to be largely an overwhelming success. Without troubling the hard working executive task force, I forecast a tally of close to five hundred musicians and delegates in attendance this year, well up on last years grand total. Day pass users also seem to be in advance of expectations. Some of my highlights of the convention thus far include playing with Donald Mayne yesterday in the Barry Currie led mainstream band Be Sharp. Hailing from Mildura, Don is a most gifted trumpeter and his flying visit for the day will be remembered by all who had the pleasure of listening to his wonderful playing. After the set was completed, Anita Harris asked Don onto the stage to accompany her band to play the majority of tunes in the set. Thank you, Don Mayne! Earlier in proceedings, I had the pleasure of playing with the likes of the wonderful trumpeter Bob Henderson, one of natures true gentlemen. Other players of note that blew me away were Ron Anderson on saxophone and Graham Eames on trumpet. Another event I helped organise, the Steinway Piano Recital, seemingly, went off very well indeed with ten pianists ranging in age from fifteen to over eighty bravely delivering an eclectic mix of styles to a spellbound audience of over one hundred and thirty. The highly credentialed Melbourne pianist and educator Steve Sedergreen made the trip to Swan Hill to play at this event and a small band of jazz lovers were treated to a phenomenal second performance from Steve after the recital where he was joined by the very talented Juliana and James Clark on vocal and double bass respectively for an impromptu set of considerable class. Thats all the news I have time for now. More to come later.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:45:19 +0000
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