Album review: The Monash Sessions with Enrico Rava (Leon Gettler)

The initiative of Associate Professor and Head of School at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash University, and tenor sax artist Robert Burke. This album showcases the talents of the students working with trumpet maestro Enrico Rava, probably Italy’s most renowned jazz musicians who has been around since the 1960s and who has put out something like 50 albums. Rava has toured Australia, appearing at this year’s Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues (it was a long time coming – he was originally booked to play at the festival in1996 but couldn’t secure a visa) so there is a connection.

Album review: Tales To Tell (Alex Pertout and Nilusha Dassenaike) by Leon Gettler

An exceptional album. Their previous album Moments In Time had a folkish feel to it. This one is different; it tells a story, a tale of collaboration between different cultures, South American and Asian, Middle Eastern and European, a blend of jazz, world music, pop and a bit of R&B. The result: a multi-layered cultural mix that can only be Australian