From thrilling and furiously paced numbers to beautifully introspective and tranquil tracks, this concert will be a celebratory performance of Joseph Tawadros 11th album ‘Permission to Evaporate’.  (ARIA award Best World Music 2014.) From a Middle Eastern musical tradition the suite draws its inspiration from a wide variety of styles and sounds – bluegrass to jazz to folk – drawn together by Tawadros’ trademark virtuosity and lyricism and by the stunning musicality of the oud.

The multi award winning Joseph Tawadros is joined by Matt McMahon, one of Australia’s finest jazz pianists, virtuoso percussionist James Tawadros bendir (drum) and req (tamborine like) and Karl Dunnicliff who has been nominated for this year’s National Jazz Award.

At the Blue Mountains Theatre, 104 Macquarie Road, Springwood, Friday April 15, 8pm.  Tickets $35 & $25 concession (plus booking fee).

Tickets available on-line, by phone, in person.  http://bluemountainstheatreandhub.com.au/

A stunning review in the Sydney Morning Herald for the Michelle Nicolle Quartet.  Thanks Michelle, Ronny, Tom and Geoff for a very entertaining and very beautiful night of music.

 http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/michelle-nicolle-review-higher-and-further-than-most-have-gone-before-20160216-gmtk0l.html

Live at the Village welcomes the Michelle Nicolle Quartet back to Springwood.  Travelling up from Melbourne for this one off preview of the award winning Quartet’s forthcoming album, this is the only concert slated for the Sydney region.

Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn classics such as ‘Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me’ and ‘Sophisticated Lady’ will feature in this concert by arguably Australia’s best classic jazz singer.  Getting to the heart of a song, Michelle’s vocal warmth and effortless flow are a fresh take on the old lyrics while the inventive Geoff Hughes (guitar), Ronny Ferella (drums), Tom Lee (bass) and make old favourites sound very new.  

8.00 pm,  Saturday 13th February,  Presbyterian Hall, 160 Macquarie Rd Springwood

“This is the voice Australia should be proud of”  Limelight Magazine

“Michelle Nicolle stands above any other Jazz singer in the country…”  The Australian

TICKETS ON SALE NOW   http://www.trybooking.com/176904  

$35 and $25 from trybooking.com and the Turning Page Bookshop, Springwood – or phone the shop 4751 5171.

Artistically a wonderful year for Live at the Village, starting with the legendary Mike Nock Trio.  Click on the links for reviews of the other shows/album.

Our two concerts in the second half of 2015 couldn’t have been better – nor the reviews.

PRRIM – September 2015 concert

AMBON – June 2015 concert 

And the recording of Sanctuary which was launched by our concert at Riverside Theatres in March was also well received.  Our first commission.

SANCTUARY – March 2015

Tickets:  http://www.trybooking.com/155205

The renowned percussionist Tunji Beier returns to Live at the Village, Springwood, October 3rd with the trio PRRIM.  Tunji is joined by koto virtuoso Satsuki Odamura and bass trombonist and multi instrumentalist Adrian Sherriff to play music starting with south Indian rhythms and drawing from other traditions, with a touch of jazz.   PRRIM means ‘spring’ and ‘native well’ and was chosen by the musicians to describe their approach to improvisation and composition.  

Tunji Beier combines training with western classical, jazz, south Indian classical and African masters into a style of his own.  He performed in Gary Daley’s Sanctuary concert and also at Springwood with Bungarribee.  He has also played with Linsey Pollak and in Europe with Billy Cobham, Zakir Hussain and Trilok Gurtu.   

Satsuki Odamura has inspired a number of Australian composers to write for her ancient Japanese instrument including Peter Sculthorpe and Ross Edwards.  She has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians including Jim Denley and Sandy Evans, Ashok Roy, shakuhachi master Riley Lee, and the ACO. “Odamura’s playing is spell-binding” Limelight magazine.

A member of the Australian Art Orchestra, Adrian Sherriff is Australia’s leading improvising soloist on the bass trombone.  In PRRIM he also plays the shakuhachi and other instruments.  With the influence of a childhood in West Papua, Adrian has studied and performed with master musicians in a variety of cultures.  He and Tunji have strong ties with their respective Indian teachers and PRRIM are opening an arts festival in Bangalore in coming months.

Bookings   http://www.get.al/ambon  or Springwood’s Turning Page Bookshop – phone 4751 5171.

Remembering Ambon in Words and Music.  Scroll down for details of the Blackheath History Forum’s related event in the afternoon, before the concert.  http://blackheathhistoryforum.org.au

The Blackheath History Forum are moving to Springwood for this special event.  They have teamed up with Live at the Village to present a late afternoon event in which Joan’s talk on the Ambon POW camp sets the scene for the world premiere that evening of Lloyd Swanton’s stunning tribute to the POWs.

This beautiful music can be purchased via garydaley.com.au, CD or download tracks, and through the Turning Page Bookshop, Springwood, Megalong Books, Leura and Lamdha Books, Wentworth Falls.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH LIVE AT THE VILLAGE

SANCTUARY – An extended music work in six parts by GARY DALEY

Sunday March 15th, 3.00pm, Riverside Theatre, Parramatta

For more details and bookings

 http://riversideparramatta.com.au/show/gary-daleys-sanctuary/

 Nine of Australia’s leading jazz, classical and world music players will join together on 15^th March at Riverside Theatres for the concert and CD launch of Sanctuary – a work that plays between traditional folk elements and contemporary jazz improvisation. Described as a mesmerising dreamscape, which at times sounds almost like a chamber music ensemble, the unusual combination of cello, sax, accordion, clarinet, electric and lap steel guitars, piano, mandolin and bass, achieves the sonic embodiment of a Sanctuary.   

The Sanctuary Album

The recording company Mir Creation (Ross A’Hern and Ben Gurton) felt that the lush composition and spiritual aspects of the suite would lend themselves to recording in a space that allowed the music to breath and sing.   Ben Gurton said “We recorded in the Cerretti Chapel in Manly.  It is the sort of space that allows the ensemble to ‘mix’ the album themselves, to play with the reverb in the space and duck and weave in and out of the composition as in a performance.” The combination of surround sound, high-resolution recording, the best equipment available, and the lack of post-production studio manipulation translates to a recording that faithfully captures the sound of Sanctuary as it sounded in the beautiful Cerretti Chapel. This is a unique approach to recording jazz that allows the musicians to record in spaces that allow their instruments to sound as they should in performance spaces and then places the listener at the very centre of the performance.