NAIDOC at NORPA
With a massive program of events to celebrate NAIDOC, NORPA are putting on a free, family-friendly event running over two days this Friday and Saturday with local and national artists highlighting cultural matters.
NAIDOC at NORPA at Lismore City Hall will feature a performance by electronic/roots sensation OKA as well as local musicians Billy Smith, Teddy Lewis King and Tom Avery; danadjalung Nini Nahri-Gali and Muggerah; Black Screen films; music workshops with Darren Compton from Move it Mob Style; basket-weaving workshops; elders storytelling and conversation panels. Uncle Mick and Aunty Thelma will be providing delicious bush-tucker on both days including damper, crocodile and kangaroo curries.
‘We want to provide an experience highlighting the stories of our region that many Australians have not heard,’ says NAIDOC at NORPA executive producer Rhoda Roberts. ‘This is hands-on engagement that assists in closing the assumptions and the gaps, while nurturing an exchange of knowledge and respect from an Aboriginal perspective.’
Back in action
Since releasing their first EP in 2000, hip-hop trio Bliss n Eso have traced a zig-zag trajectory across the charts and the planet, with multi-platinum, ARIA-award wins along the way. The band based in Sydney have now, after three years of laying low, and then facing a much-publicised tragedy earlier this year during the filming of the music video for Friend Like You, released their sixth studio album Off the Grid. The album includes singles Dopamine and Friend Like You.
More than halfway through a mammoth Aussie tour before heading to NZ then Canada, Bliss n Eso will be playing a sold out gig on Friday at the Hotel Great Northern. Visit www.blissneso.com for tour info.
Bellowin’ about the Bello below
In 2015, the inaugural Bello Winter Music Festival presented a heart-warming selection of acts to bring alive the picturesque town of Bellingen during the coldest months of the year.
The returned in 2016 with the addition of two new venues and the reappearance of street theatre, workshops, the ever-popular magic bus and, of course, another stellar lineup.
The festival uses existing infrastructure within the town, reinforcing the community vibe and reflecting the sustainability consciousness of the organisers. It also runs Bellingen LeaF – a sustainability-focused program of timetabled workshops available at no extra cost to festival-goers.
The Winter Music festival organisers are also very passionate about the Youth Mentorship program, where young aspiring musicians are given the opportunity to be mentored by selected artists appearing on the bill, and to then perform as a part of the festival lineup.
BELLO Winter Music is dedicated to programming an exciting and eclectic mix of new and emerging artists – local, national and international – while showcasing everything that Bellingen has to offer.
Bello Winter Music is the perfect excuse to get away for a weekend and shake off the winter blues.
Thursday 6 till Sunday 9. www.bellowintermusic.com
They give me fever
It’s Saturday Night Fever every night with The Australian Bee Gees Show – A Tribute to the Bee Gees. One of the most successful and adored acts in musical history is recreated on the Vegas stage in a 75-minute multi-media concert event.
You’ll hear hits including Staying Alive, You Should Be Dancing, How Deep Is Your Love and Jive Talkin’.
The performers’ authentic take on the trio’s clothes, style and moves showcases five decades of the Brothers Gibb’s success as rock and disco legends, while audiences groove to their memorable music and are immersed in the disco era.
The president of the Bee Gees Fan Club USA has said, ‘In my opinion they are the best Bee Gees tribute in the world!’
The Las Vegas Review Journal has named them Best Tribute Show for 2015.
You should be dancing on 23 August, Park Lane Theatre – Lennox Head. Phone 6687 6291 to book.
Don’t panic, it’s Pandamic
Pandamic are a punk indie rock band who originally hail from Rockhampton.
Rhys and Joe started out playing local pubs and festivals as a duo. Later down the track, remembering this long-haired, metal-blasting beating dingo Rangi, who had always talked about starting a band one day!
Many jams and skate sessions later they met Lyle, the perfect candidate to complete the four-piece.
The boys began to compose tunes together for months. Finally deciding to go for it and self-record their first debut EP Scumbag in Joe’s family shed with the help of good friend Jack Rynswoud. The EP quickly gained attention and Triple J airplay.
Since this point Pandamic have toured locally and abroad supporting the likes of Dune Rats, Guantanamo Baywatch, Columbus, The Pinheads and The Vanns to name few, and have played Groovin’ The Moo and El Grande Festival.
Their recently recorded new EP Archer was released last month. You can see then in Byron this weekend at the Hotel Great Northern on Saturday.
Home again
After three years living in Germany and playing yearly piano-bar residencies in Phuket, Thailand, Kent Eastwood has returned to call Australia home. A multi-instrumentalist, Eastwood plays piano, guitar, harmonica, banjo and mandolin. Eastwood’s songwriting has been compared with the world’s finest. Before returning to Australia, Eastwood hit the studio in Berlin to record his third solo studio album, titled New Beginnings.
See Kent at the Club Lennox 4pm Sunday.
Reinhardt and Stenhouse in Bangalow
In early 2016, European gypsy guitar great Lulo Reinhardt and emerging Australian world jazz fusion guitarist Bart Stenhouse decided to join forces to tour Australia together in 2017.
Lulo Reinhardt is one of the foremost authentic and distinctive musical voices in gypsy music today. He is from a long line of musicians; the great-nephew of jazz legend Django Reinhardt. After travelling all over the world and playing with musicians from Brazil, Spain, and Africa, he defined his own style of playing which he called Latin Swing. His name and style have achieved international acclaim.
Northern rivers-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Bart Stenhouse has a deep interest in jazz, world, fusion and improvisational styles of music, and specialises in the guitar, bass guitar and electric mandolin.
His playing style blends different cultures and styles to redefine musical genres and experiment with sonic landscapes. Inspired by his travels across North America, India and Spain, Bart’s music explores the signature harmonies, rhythms and instrumental identities of different world music cultures.
In their joint Australian performances they will be drawing from Lulo’s vast back catalogue (exploring both his Latin Swing and manouche material) and Bart’s past three original world jazz albums (which combine heavy influences from Spanish flamenco, North Indian classical and modern jazz traditions) – performing in solo and duo formations as well as together with the shared bassist and drummer/percussionist.
Lulo Reinhardt and Bart Stenhouse will be performing locally for one night only at the
A&I Hall, Bangalow on Thursday.
Tickets are $35 and are available from https://bookings.bangalowtheatre.com.au.
For northern rivers musicians, Lulo is also running a special one-off masterclass on Friday from 11am–1pm, at the A&I Hall, to share his vast knowledge and experience with participants!
Tickets are $30 (+ online booking fee) and are available at www.bartstenhouse.com/events.
Andrey Gugnin in Byron
Andrey Gugnin was born in 1987. He graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory where he studied under Professor Vera Gornostayeva. Upon his graduation from the conservatory he was invited to be a regular participant of the Moscow Philharmonic Society program for promising young artists, The 21st Century Stars. Since 2016, he has been studying at the International Piano Academy Lake Como with Stanislav Ioudenitch and William Naboré.
Andrey was the prizewinner at the Allegro Vivo International Competition in San Marino (Italy, 2008), the International Competition in Cantù (1st prize, 2009), the International Stančić Competition in Zagreb (2nd prize and two special prizes, Croatia, 2011), the Ludwig van Beethoven International Piano Competition in Vienna (Austria, 2013) and the Valsesia Musica International Competition in Italy (1st prize, 2014), Cidade de Ferrol competition in Spain (1st prize, 2015). In June 2014, he won the Gold Medal and the Audience Award at the XVI International Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in Salt Lake City (USA).
In 2016, Andrey won first prize in the Sydney International Piano Competition, also taking the accolades for best overall concerto, best 19th- or 20th-century concerto, best violin and piano sonata, and best preliminaries round one recital. Subsequently, he received a number of concert engagements, including concerts with Valery Gergiev, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and was invited to record with Hyperion.
Andrey will play in Byron this weekend. The program includes:
Bach Adagio in G Major BWV 968
Franz Liszt from Transcendental Études S.139 No. 9 Ricordanza, No. 4 Mazeppa
Alexey Kurbatov Poem (2015)
Michael Kieran Harvey 48 Fugues for Frank Zappa No. 6: G-Spot Tornado (2009)
Stravinsky Trois Mouvements de Pétrouchka.
This Friday 6.30pm at the Byron Theatre.