Gentle Jazz Chronicles

Jazz Chronicles February 2010

2010-02-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

Gentlejazz Chronicles No 6 February 2010

Things have been busy again over the season so it seems that the recession is slowly disappearing. My computer was invaded by a virus, which was, to say the least, gastronomically challenging, but we are happily up and running again.

Work is progressing rather slowly on the next CD "You must remember this" but I will keep you informed on the progress.

Gigs of a gentlejazz nature around town in the near future are as follows:

I will be at Catharinas Restaurant at Steenberg for two Sundays in March – dates not yet finalised.

Due to popular request, CJ's in Somerset West, where I play periodically, will be having another fun-filled music evening, so if you want to hear some of your old favourites from way back when, CJ's is where you want to be on the 13 February.

Your ticket price includes a variety of complimentary platters to fill the empty spots. A cash bar is available for the evening. This is generally a fun, sophisticated evening for music lovers by music lovers. Sometimes tapping your feet is not enough, so feel free to get up and shake what yo' mamma gave ya (my chairs just aren't strong enough).

Sugar & Spice band members are: Vernon Varty (guitar, banjo, harmonica), Eddie Kirkwood (keyboard)
Wesley Rustin (double bass) Derek Chilton (drums) and Cecily Pepler (vocals)

Where: CJ's on the Square
When: Saturday 13 February 2010
Time: 7 - 11 pm
Price: R150 pp (booking essential)
I hope that you can join us. To make your booking, please email Cecily at rawtech@cis.co.za or call her on 082 768 2005 or (021) 852 8527. She is the owner of CJ's as well as the vocalist!

The Guinea Fowl Restaurant on the Saxenburg Estate will also host "Sugar & Spice with Something Nice"
Jazz Lunch
Date : Saturday 27 February 2010
Time : 12:00 – 15:00
Price : R250 pp
We invite you to come and enjoy the easy listening, smooth jazz sounds of
local jazz outfit “Sugar & Spice”, lead by sensational vocalist, Cecily Pepler, backed by Eddie Kirkwood on keyboards, Vernon Varty on bass and Derek Chilton on drums - fused with Chef Leo’s buffet of familiar favourites.
A glass of Guinea Fowl Rosé on arrival will set the mood for what is
guaranteed to be a day of excellent music complimented by tantalizing food
in a breath-taking setting.
Bookings are essential, and we have limited space available, so call now.
+27 (0) 21 906-5232
restaurant@saxenburg.com
www.saxenburg.com

Casablanca plays every Thursday night at Chaplans Restaurant in Table View.
The lineup is: Vernon Varty (bass) Eddie Kirkwood (keyboards) Ron Munro (drums and vocals) Mike Laatz(saxes). Mainly jazz standards, but some commercial golden oldies as well. For information about the restaurant, click here

On Sundays, from 10.30 am to 1.30pm, there will be live music at Dunes (1 Beach road, Hout Bay), but this depends on the weather. Mike Laatz on saxes and drums, with Eddie Kirkwood on keyboards and Vernon Varty on bass. For some nice pics, directions and info, click here
If you're on the Kalk Bay side of town, you'll find Keith Macfarlane playing at the Brass Bell at lunchtime 12.00 – 3.00pm. Click here for info.

Every Sunday at the Village Bakery & Bistro, Kommetjie Main Rd, Kommetjie, Lunch time Jazz & blues with Rob Drake & Trish Bailey 12 – 3pm.

From six, you can catch the Riverboat Jazz Band at Ferrymans at V&A Waterfront, weather permitting. For info about Ferrymans, click here

Also on Sunday, from about 5.30, there's live jazz at Simon's, Groot Constantia, with Andrew Ford and co.

There's live jazz every Monday night at Swingers, Wetton, from about 9.30pm.

The Rainbow Room (in town) now has regular jazz on Mondays and Saturdays, usually with a younger band doing the first set, followed by a headline act featuring more seasoned musicians. You can get all the information by clicking here

Please feel free to pass these “chronicles” on to anyone who may be interested. Anyone who would like to receive news on an infrequent basis, just send me an email HERE

And finally – don't forget that music is much too important to be left entirely in the hands of professionals!

Cheers for now,
Eddie

For bands or duo/trio combinations, visit my website www.gentlejazz.net
For CD’s or to listen to our music clips, visit www.gentlejazzmp3store.com
All previous Chronicles can be viewed on our Blog at http://gentlejazz.blogspot.com

Jazz Chronicles - November 2009

2009-11-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

It has been a long, long time since my last Gentlejazz “chronicle” and for this I apologise.

I have not been idle though and have created and published two websites and a Blog to do with the music we play.
The website is www.gentlejazz.net which has been created, in simple format, to advertise the various band combinations we can offer – from duo upwards. We are a musically incestuous bunch and draw on the same “family” of about 8 musicians, whether for a duo or an 8-piece function band. All are highly proficient, dependable and reliable and we all enjoy what we do.

(Don’t forget that we have ideal duo’s for your special birthday or anniversary which just adds that final touch to the event at an affordable cost.)
The other website is www.gentlejazzmp3store.com which has been created to sell our CD’s both locally and abroad and includes the facility to buy and download individual MP3 tracks at about R7 each. The CD ‘s are likewise by the same bunch of musicians.

The Blog is at http://gentlejazz.blogspot.com and will feature these chronicles as well as any other immediate or interesting news.

Creating these websites, especially at my age, has been challenging but rewarding. Much help was received on the IT side from Trish Bailey who is also a fine jazz bass player and with whom I work regularly. The websites have been designed to be simple to navigate, and to download quickly without any bells and whistles. I hope you like them. Please feel free to let me have your comments.

I ran a survey last year for selecting songs and a title for a new CD I am making. The title finally selected if you recall, was “You Must Remember This” and I have now started recording and doing the artwork for the CD cover. The songs will be from the 30’s and 40’s – easily recognisable and relaxed as always. I will keep you informed of the progress.
I have presently done the bass and drum tracks and there will be 18 songs.

We no longer play at Jakes restaurants and its obvious that the economic downturn has affected most restaurants (and musicians). The Riverboat Jazz Band of which I am a member, has just started the 11th summer season at Ferrymans Tavern in the Waterfront. We have been rehearsing about 20 new songs over the last few months – good rollicking foot-tapping songs. We are there every Sunday evening from 6-9 pm – weather and amphitheatre permitting. We often have (and welcome) guest artists which makes the evening even more interesting – some very good, some good and some frightful!

I will be at Catharina’s Restaurant at Steenberg on Sundays from 12 noon to 3 pm, on 15th and 29th November and again on 3rd, 17th and 31st January.
I will also be at the Mount Nelson with our trio called “Velvet” playing background music for their Christmas Day lunch from about 12 noon to 4 pm. This will feature Trish Bailey on bass and Jeff Weiner on vocals.

I am also quite busy again with private corporate functions now that the summer season is here (sort of!) but will keep you informed of any public gigs we are doing.
Please feel free to pass these “chronicles” to anyone who may be interested. Anyone who would like to receive news on an infrequent basis, just send me an email HERE

And finally, remember that change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
Cheers for now
Eddie

May 2008 Gentle Jazz newsletter

2008-05-10T02:16:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of creating a Gentle Jazz website and will post my progress periodically.
I am using BlueVoda to create the website which, being technically challenged, I find easy to use (and affordable to host)

Here follows my latest newsletter. You are welcome to post any comments to help improve this blog and in the future, my website.

Ed’s Newsletter May 2008.

Firstly, please accept my apologies for the long delay in publishing this newsletter. I will do my best to be more consistent in the future. I have been spending a large amount of time coming to grips with website construction, blogs, social networking, and a host of other internet stuff which I hope will be of future interest. This advanced “computer stuff” is not for the faint-hearted.

I am in the process of constructing a Gentlejazz website which will hopefully go live within a few weeks, plus a blog for ongoing news and information. The ultimate aim of the Gentlejazz website will be to record and promote local jazz artists and to sell their CD’s. The accent will always be on middle-of-the-road listenable jazz standards which will appeal to a broad spectrum of devotees.

I was playing at Catharina’s Restaurant at Steenberg last month and was pleased to see our old friends Jeremy and Jackie Martin and their friends. We have played at their homes a few times and experienced much hospitality. I hope to be at Catharina’s again on a few dates in June.

I also work with the Riverboat Jazz Band which band has been at Ferrymans Tavern in the Waterfront for the last nine years. We work there usually from November to end April, always weather and arena concerts permitting. Needless to say, we have just finished our season there and hope to be back in summer for a tenth season. A fun band ably led by Vernon Varty on guitar and banjo.

Many of you will know sax player Willie van Zyl and classical guitarist/bass player Gary Deacon who work with us sometimes at Catharina’s and other gigs. The following YouTube clips may be of interest: This one is Willie van Zyl on pennywhistle with the full navy band on their recent trip to Berlin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbLKHTe-d80 (You may have to cut and paste to your browser)

And Gary who sent me the following e-mail:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“ I thought I'd share another brief clip, just uploaded onto You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y9hdtv6upU

This one was recorded live at The Guitar Summit in Johannesburg a while ago and is a little more flashy with some

two handed tapping - another original composition entitiled "Brazilian Flight". The concert featured guitarists Herb Ellis, Alan Kwela and Johnny Fourie.

Revisiting the brief "spotlight moment" brought back memories of being somewhat petrified and wondering how I was going to play on a live concert with various TV cameras with three legendary guitarists listening behind me at the same time ! “

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gary Deacon plays on Mondays evenings at the Cape Colony Restaurant at the Mount Nelson Hotel.

I am still at Jakes Restaurant in Steenberg Village on Thursday nights (phone 021 7013272) and at Jakes in Kenilworth on Saturday nights, (phone 021 7970366), together with Mike Laatz on saxophone. The vibe, food and service at both places, is really good and it’s a gig we both enjoy – real laid-back jazz and the patrons seem to enjoy the non-intrusive music. Both branches cultivate attention to detail e.g. soft and tasteful background music, attentive staff and soft lighting. Booking is essential as they are often fully-booked.

The band Evergreen, with Mike Hill (bass) Gilbert Lang (keyboards) Vernon Varty (guitar) and Mike Laatz on sax and drums appear at Coffee Junction at the Tyger Valley Shopping every fortnight with guest artists as follows:

9^th May Jeff Weiner, 23^rd May Erica Lundy, 6^th June Laney Boonzaaier, 20^th June Jeff Weiner and 4^th July Erica Lundy.

Both Vernon and Mike present jazz programmes on FMR 101.3 Mike on Tuesdays 1-2pm and 7-8pm and Vernon on Wednesdays 7-8 pm. They both periodically play songs from my CD’s for which I am always grateful.

The legendary jam sessions continue every Monday at Swingers in Wetton (phone 021 762 2443.) They have recently renovated their premises– the food is good and reasonably-priced. It’s one of my favourite spots.

This must be one of Cape Town’s best-kept secrets as there are always top-class local artists appearing and often one can see well-known international stars, who just pop in to jam The host band is Alvin Dyers who is a superb jazz guitarist – no cover charge either.

Although this newsletter is jazz orientated, I make a few exceptions. One is rock and roll which I grew up with. I worked for a while with the 6-piece band Slowbone who will be performing on Friday 9^th May at Bergvliet Sports Club starting at about 8:15 pm. No cover charge, drinks reasonable. Lotsa fun! They seem to have been adopted by the Harley Davidson Club and play at most of their functions. Check out their website at: www.slowbone.co.za

I will be playing at Winchester Mansions on Sunday 1^st June from 11 – 2 with Zelda Benjamen, Morris Gawronsky and Gary Kriel. I love working with Zelda – she sounds and phrases just like that legendary but tragic singer Billy Holiday – one of my favourite female vocalists.

Programme for Winchester Mansions:

Sunday11th May James and Natasha

Sunday 18^th May Andrew Ford trio featuringChina

Sunday 25th May Maurice Gawronsky trio featuring Nikki Shrire

Sunday 1^stJune Eddie Kirkwood trio featuring Zelda Benjamin

Sunday 8th June Andrew ford trio featuring Cliffie Benton

Sunday 15^th June Andrew Lilley trio featuring Amanda Tiffin

Sunday 22 Derek Hutton trio featuring Jeff Weiner

Talking of Billy Holiday, the Billie Holiday Story is being presented at the Green Dophin - 4^th 5^th 9^th – 12^th July. This poignant dedication to possibly the most influential singer known to the jazz world features the vocal talents of the fantastic Tina Schouw. Tina delves into the spirit and life of Billie Holiday completely. Musical Direction – Andrew Lilley

Also at the Green Dolphin, one of my favourite performers Amanda Tiffin again presenting her show Piano in my Pocket -13^th 14^th 18^th - 21^stJune. Amanda Tiffin guides us through an uplifting and joyous homage to the crème de la crème of contemporary pianist of our time

Lots happening at Fogey’s in Muizenberg – some of the highlights:

Saturday 10 May Boulevard Blues Band 8:30 pm

Sunday 11 May John Russel Trio featuring Erin Clarke lunchtime jazz

Sunday 18 May Cliff Benton Quartet (Cliff sings with the Jonnie Cooper Big Band. I will be on keyboards

Sunday 25^th May Len, Gary and Jeff - Len Richey, Gary Deacon and Jeff Weiner

Sunday 1^st June John Russel Trio featuring Abigail Petersen

Sunday 8^th June Rob Drake Duo - I will be working with Rob Drake

Mike Laatz and I did a freebie fundraiser on Tuesday 20^th April to launch an organisation called Smiling One for the rehabilitation of prisoners. It was an eye-opener of what some people do to assist others. Have a look at their website:

http://smilingone-undraising.blogspot.com/

I have put them in touch with my old Rotary club and hopefully some good will result.

Welcome to all my old travel friends (yes I mean old!) who have joined my mailing list.

Finally, don’t forget to listen to Eric Alan’s Jazz Rendezvous on Radio 2000 97.2 to 100.2 FM on Sundays from 5-8 pm. Eric is a great supporter and promoter of local musicians.

WISDOM IN ABSURDITY
Whenever I think of the past, it brings back so many memories... - Steven Wright

Cheers for now

Eddie Kirkwood