Ewan MacKenzie and Swing Dynamique at the OzManouche Festival

ewan_email smallEwan MacKenzie will be releasing his new album, ‘Ewan MacKenzie and Swing Dynamique’at Brisbane’s favourite Jazz Manouche festival‘OzManouche’ at the Brisbane Jazz Club on 27th November.

(From the Media Release)

As one of the organisers and founders of OzManouche, Ewan MacKenzie has had a huge part to play in the creation of Brisbane’s small but passionate Jazz Manouche scene. This year sees the 10th year of OzManouche and what better occasion for Ewan to release his 20-somethingth album! The album presents Ewan MacKenzie’s new group, Swing Dynamique, which features Dan Cosgrove on clarinet, Jan van Dijk on violin, Miranda Deutsch on rhythm guitar and Rick Caskey on double bass.Most of the songs on the album were written by Ewan MacKenzie and the album also features a song by Dan Cosgrove and a song by Django Reinhardt thrown in for good measure. The album did not come without its challenges for Ewan but in fact the making of it could be seen as a life saver.

Ewan MacKenzie was diagnosed with cancer on the day of Django Reinhardt’s birthday, in January 2015. He had been planning to record an album of new material to follow his 2014 release ‘Ups and Downs’. He faced immense physical difficulties as he received treatment for the cancer. Sometimes unable to play his guitar, when ideas for the new album came to him he recorded them into a software program and sent them off to the band. “I decided that I would continue to work on the album all through the treatment as a way of staying positive and strong”, Ewan says. “Maintaining the motivation during the treatment was hard, but I really felt that some strength in me would falter if I gave up the project, and we all need that inner steel to get through this stuff. Music has always been the core of my being, and I wasn’t going to lose it now”. Ewan responded well to the treatment he received and was soon able to pick up the guitar again and begin rehearsals for the new songs. Once he and the band were up to speed, he recorded and produced the album himself in his tranquil studio at his home in Mt Nebo. “There’s a lot of the peace and space around me in these melodies”, Ewan says of the album.

With over 45 years of performance experience under his belt, Ewan presents a charismatic and gently captivating live show. Complimented by his band and the warmth of the acoustic double bass, clarinet and violin, MacKenzie’s playing has the opportunity to shine with the new group. As Ewan says, “the energy and passion of jazz Manouche guitar is something you have to embrace to play it convincingly. It’s not easy, and that’s what makes it worth it”. Ewan MacKenzie and Swing Dynamique are releasing the album in November at OzManouche and you can also catch them at Woodford Folk Festival later in the year. Their album will be available at gigs as well as online after the 27th November.

LISTEN & PURCHASE

Ewan MacKenzie and Swing Dynamique upcoming gigs:

OzManoucheAlbum Launch

When: 27th November

Where: Brisbane Jazz Club – OzManouche Festival

Time: 7pm Cost: $40 BJC members $45 non members

Tickets available on the Brisbane Jazz Club website.

Woodford Folk Festival

When: 27th – 31st December – see Woodford program for concert times

Where: Woodford Folk Festival Site, Woodford