Category: Concerts and tours

Concerts and tours, Interviews Posted on

Leigh Barker: ‘Objectively speaking, the best repertoire is from the 1920s and 1930s!’

When Leigh Barker moved from Australia to France, a decade ago, our community lost a champion of hot jazz, a dedicated ambassador of the sounds and stylings of early-to-swing-era music. (Actually, we lost two, as he was joined by his partner in life and music, Heather Stewart a spectacular jazz vocalist and violinist in her own right.)

Now the bassist, bandleader, and composer is back, with a new album, Cross Street, and a heavy schedule of performances throughout Victoria, NSW, and ACT. Just before stepping on stage at the Wangaratta Jazz and Blues Festival, he took a moment to talk about his approach to music, his admiration for his talented partner, their life in Paris — and how to close a formal letter addressed to a French person.

Concerts and tours, Interviews Posted on

Liv Andrea Hauge: ‘I’m not a fan of concerts being too strict or formal’

But make no mistake; Liv Andrea Haugue has a voice of her own, her influences — be it jazz, pop, contemporary, everything — seamlessly blended in her compositions, and perfectly displayed through her nuanced, perfectly balanced playing, and her interactions with her trio.
It’s a setting that suits her, and she makes great use of it, combining elements from the classic piano trio jazz albums of the ’50s legacy, to the modern Scandinavian/ Nordic jazz tradition — spacey, serene, classical-music-infused — and more than passing references to Keith Jarrett.

Concerts and tours, Interviews Posted on

Benjamin Creighton Griffiths: ‘If you can think of it, it’s being done on the harp!’

Benjamin Creighton Griffiths: “The explosion of jazz harp has absolutely been noticed — and it’s a long time coming! I have a number of excellent colleagues around the globe striving just like me to bring the harp out of its box and into the jazz clubs, world music festivals, and the mainstream music scene.”