More talk than usual...

There was a bit of a different feel to the show this week with two interviews taking up most of the first hour of the program. I think it was justified though, with Kaz Mitchell from The Women Zone bringing Ann Vriend to the attention of Bent Notes. I have to admit that I didn't know much about Ann before the show but her music is great (it has a real fusion feel to it) and her gig at Manchester Lane on January 22nd will be well worth going to.
The second interview was with Sophie Brous, Program Director of the 2009 Melbourne Jazz Festival. Sophie is one of the most interesting (and busy!) people that I have interviewed and her energy and passion for music gives me a real sense that this year's festival may well go far to redeeming the disappointment of last year's. No news on the artists yet (even off air) but Sophie will be back as soon as the program is launched to talk in more detail. Apart from all that, Sophie has a gig this Saturday (24th January) at Bennett's Lane with the Stephen Magnusson Trio. The sample she played on the show was beautiful and I look forward to hearing more.
Apart from the interviews on the show, I managed to catch up with Tina Harrod earlier on on Sunday evening, so listen out this Sunday for that interview and the chance to win tickets to her Melbourne gigs.

When I finally did get around to playing some music I had a bit of a Mulgrew Miller theme which allowed me the chance to play some Robert Glasper, Cassandra Wilson and Oscar Peterson - it's amazing where jazz can take you...

Feelin' Good?

There was quite a lot of new music on the show on Sunday. We featured Tina Harrod's award winning album Worksongs and had a good discussion on (and off) air about how hard it is to cover standards that Nina Simone made her own. Have a listen to the album and make up your own mind but I think that as an artist she has a sound that is distinctly her own and this allows her to more than take on songs like Feelin' Good. Aside from the Simone standards, my personal favourite is Glory Box (having always had a fondness for Portishead) which feels fresh and funky in the album. Listen to the show on the 25th of January for an interview with Tina and some ticket give-aways for her gigs at Bennetts Lane.
Another new album which I loved playing was from The Kristin Berardi Band. A very different kind of album from Tina Harrod's, this one is almost entirely composed and arranged by Kristin and features some great interplay between Berardi and her band (Mike Nock, James Muller, David Theak, Mike Majowski amd Tim Frith). The album sounds very immediate and that's probably a lot to do with the production of Chris Vallejo and his decision to record the whole session over two days straight to analog with no edits or overdubs. If you like the sound of the album, check out Kristin live on the 22nd February at Argyle Square (off Lygon Street) as part of Summer Fun in the City (free too!).


I'm also enjoying(and playing) amongst others...
Andrea Keller's Footprints, Mike Nock Trio's Andrew Klippel Compositions, Etype's Square Peg, Nichaud Fitzgibbon (who has an album due out soon), The Conglomerate (anything from them!) and an alarming amount of Herbie Hancock's back catalogue.