Friday, March 25, 2011

Jazz in Sydney....Friday 1st April-Bridge City Jazz Band combines with Black Mountain JB to play at Club Ashfield...The Black Mountain, Bridge City Connection.....

 We had a great night with Bill Dudley, Gary Walford and Joel Davis last Friday...look out for them in future gigs with us.......
This coming Friday 1st April features two bands combining to form the Black Mountain, Bridge City connection....
We've played together over several years now and the group come together like a well oiled machine...
Traditional Jazz at its best with a tendency to the New Orleans tradition...well we feature jazz standards from the earlier New Orleans repetoire....
Band leader is of course Tony Thomas on trumpet and vocals, Ron Cook on piano, both come up from Canberra for the night and on the drums is Ian Hill from way down the coast at Mossy Point.
The Bridge City side of things are the usual Colin Beal on clarinet and alto, John Bates on vocals and trombone, Colin Davies on double bass and band organiser Dennis Quinlan on banjo....
Left click on the images to enlarge...
The band will play together in numerous other out of Sydney gigs throughout the year....read the chart further down this blog...
Ian Hill with Tony Thomas....
Ron Cook......

Colin Beal...
 John Bates....
Tony Thomas....
Where is Club Ashfield.....
Colin Davies.....

Dennis Quinlan
Ian Hill.....



Saturday, March 19, 2011

Jazz in Sydney....Bridge City Jazz Band at Club Ashfield Friday 25th March 2011....Bill Dudley's back!

Bill Dudley's back at Club Ashfield this Friday 25th March....
A popular band leader in his own right with a long residency at the Strawberry Hills Hotel in Devonshire St., Surrey Hills with his New Orleaneans Sunday afternoons 4-7pm, Bill leads the Bridge city Jazz band with Gary Walford on piano and Joel Davis on drums as our other special guests.
The usual band members make up the only regular seven piece traditional Jazz band playing in Sydney....
Colin Beal reeds, John Bates, trombone and vocals, Colin Davies double Bass and Dennis Quinlan on banjo.....
Be some night....
Last Fridays birthday bash for Paul Baker would be hard to beat...what a night... a near full house with muso friends in abundence sitting in for some great Jazz and three singers to complement the night lead by evergreen Kate Dunbar OAM and two of her singers workshop ladies...Jeannie Aarts and Sue James....
Left click on the photos to enlarge.....
 Bill Dudley "in full flight" at The Strawb. during partial renovations.
Gary Walford plays with Geoff Bull's Olympia Jazz Band....
Joel Davis in action......


The regular Bridge City band members....




Jazz in Sydney....Bridge City Jazz Band plays at The Pines, Dural this Sunday 20th March 12.30pm-4pm....

REGRETABLY...rained off...!!
We had a great night at Club Ashfield last Friday 18th March with our special birthday bash for banjoist Paul Baker...also playing on the night were Paul Furniss, who led the band with Viv Carter on drums....
The Bridge City JB has the gig this Sunday at The Pines some 200 metres out of Dural , on the road to Wiseman's Ferry on the north western outskirts of Sydney.
It's a picnic venue with an admission charge which I think is $10/head...tables and chairs set out under massive Norfolk Island pines make a great setting for a picnic lunch and BYO....
Downside is it is weather dependant and the decision to cancel if wet is usually taken around 10am..all I can suggest if you must telephone somebody, perhaps me DQ 0407.250.692...but endeavor to find out other ways first to prevent me being inundated with 'phone inquiries....
The band has as special guests....Paul Furniss leading on soprano saxophone and other reeds, Rachel Hamilton on piano and Viv Carter on drums with John Bates trombone and vocals, Colin Davies double bass, Dennis Quinlan banjo and Colin Beal reeds.....
Left click on the images to enlarge....
Aerial view of The Pines in relation to Dural on the Old Northern Road....
It's about 200-300 metres....
Close-up of the venue....


General map showing Dural on Old northern road, take the left fork on towards Wisemans Ferry and exit into the car-park some hundreds of metres later.....
John Bates, trombone....
Paul Furniss, clarinet.....

 Colin Beal, Dennis Quinlan and Colin Davies....
Viv Carter looking menacingly on drums....
Rachel Hamilton on piano.....

Friday, March 11, 2011

Jazz in Sydney....Bridge City Jazz Band at Club Ashfield Friday 18th March 2011....A big Birthday Bash for Banjoist Paul Baker....

This coming Friday the 18th March is another of the big birthday bashes the Bridge City Jazz Band has run for musicians of note , celebrating a "milestone" birthday.
Paul Baker is 65.... he is a world class banjo player and has played with Paul Furniss' San Francisco JB for many years as well as other bands, trios and as a solo performer in nursing and aged care facilities....
So he's in "the banjo chair" on the night.... leading the band initially is Paul Furniss on soprano sax and other reeds, with Frank Watts on piano and Viv Carter on drums  and with John Bates from the Bridge City JB on trombone  it's almost all of the Paul Furniss' San Francisco Jazz Band......
Club Ashfield...5 Charlotte Street, Ashfield, right by Ashfield railway station on the north side...
In the upstairs bistro area....7.30pm to 10.30pm....
There will be selected sit in for musos, a large birthday card to sign and a large birthday cake shared with the audience during the night...
What more do you need?....Get your "glad rags on" and come along.....
Left click on the images to enlarge....










We did a 60th for Paul 5 years ago....
Plus the regular Bridge City Jazz band.....









Thursday, March 10, 2011

Jazz in Sydney....Bridge City Jazz Band at Club Ashfield Friday 11th March 2011....

Great day at the Squaddies gig on Wednesday, the SJC is to be commended for this gig...next month is the second anniversary of it and it continues to be a packed house affair...no different on Wed.9th when we played...
But on to this coming Friday 11th March....
Was to have been the English trumpet player Chas. McDevitt, resident in Sydney for the foreseeable future and he plays for us throughout the year.
Chas. had to cancel out due to family issues midweek and I'm pleased to tell you Geoff Bull is in the trumpet chair, leading the band....
Monique Lysiak..."unique Monique" is on piano and evergreen Jim Morrell is on drums.....
Plan to come see us....
Unsual suspects for the rest of the band...see below...
Left click on the images to enlarge....












John Bates at another SJC midwek gig at Squaddies
DQ and Colin Davies
Colin Beal....at Merimbula Jazz Festival
Club Ashfield...right by Ashfield Railway Station on the north side...