Friday, May 24, 2013
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Witnessing musical democracy in action?

I finally bought a copy of Beck’s new album; now I’m trying to work out what to do with it. Yes, I’m an old-fashioned sort of guy. I buy albums. Despite ever dwindling space in the music room there’s something in me that still responds to having a physical product in my hands. And there are some people whose albums I always buy....

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Music and food a Kiwi obsession

If we’re to believe what we see on television at the moment, New Zealand is obsessed by the twin lures of music and food. Since this isn’t a cooking column I guess it’s okay to ‘fess up and admit that here at the Watusi Country Club we’re glued to “that hopeless little screen” (as Leonard Cohen put it, obviously...

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Remembering past musical heroes

Last week was a bad one for musicians; every time I turned on the news it seemed like one of my heroes had died. On April 22 Richie Havens passed away. The world is, I think, split up into two sorts of people: people who love Richie Havens’ music and people who haven’t heard it yet. He was a unique talent, who created unique music and his...

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A load of action this week

Okay. There’s a lot of stuff to get through this week. Let’s get straight to it. There are gigs this weekend, which I should probably have written about last week to give you a chance to prepare. I’ll run down a few of those first in case you want to immediately dash out of the house and hear some groovy music.Firstly, bluesman Watermelon...

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Tauranga’s regular talents keep city’s musical flame burning

Whilst big gigs might steal the limelight it’s the regular activities of organisations like music clubs and societies that keep the musical flame burning on a week to week basis. It can be something that happens on an informal level such as the monthly blues jams at Driver’s Bar or regular jams at Mount Mellick, Armazem and other venues...

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New Zealand media failing to pick up international news

I keep a close watch on news from around the world; you gotta keep up with important international events.Which isn’t to say that nothing significant happens in New Zealand. Far from it. It was good to see this week that every television network and national newspaper picked up on the fact that Benji Marshall had hurt his toe.  Not being...

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Jazz Festival returns: almost everything

A lot of people, myself included, had their eye on the jazz festival this year; I thought the event got pretty much everything right.It was widely touted as a smaller festival this time out, which indeed it was in some aspects, but describing it that way does rather a disservice to what a huge event it actually was. Five days of music, participants...

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Reasons to be cheerful - part 11

What will you be doing at Easter? Winston turns his cheerful eye to the Jazz Festival. There’s a lot of it... 75) Opening night! The opening night of the Jazz Festival is always a blast, and it’s the only night where it’s pretty much locals only. This year is a doozy, a swing show that sold out at last year’s Manawatu Jazz Festival,...

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Reasons to be cheerful - Part 10

We continue the occasional series wherein Winston expounds on things that currently make him happy...70) The high Kiwi dollar! So this may seem odd and it’s certainly a bit of a bugger for exporters. But the high New Zealand dollar is one reason that so many international acts are visiting the country during March and April. Rodriguez, Taj Mahal,...

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Never a quiet moment

Once again there’s so much to mention, so little space. And that’s without the weather, the cats, the asset sales or my favourite cocktail this week. What we do have is a Tauranga band heading off for a tour in England, a special offer from the Jazz Festival, and exciting news for film buffs. We’ll start with the music... Brilleaux,...

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