John Shand Posts

November 26, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

YAKIYA (Tall Poppies) 8/10 This is hair-curling stuff. Bass trombonist Adrian Sherriff, bass guitarist Jonathan Dimond and drummer Adam King share a keen interest in rhythmic complexities, whether by way of superimposing one rhythm atop another or incorporating metric modulation, intricate cycles or other options. The detailed liner-notes provide explanations…

November 25, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Reginald Theatre, November 9 9/10 When Jen Shyu was last here 15 months ago I suggested her eclectic, multifaceted, mind-bending performances could become even more exhilarating were she to reach the point where idiom – that outmoded and redundant concept – was discarded altogether. This time she was indeed closer…

November 22, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Lawson Mechanics Institute, November 4 8/10 They look like so many clowns who have run away from the circus: refugees from making people laugh who have turned, instead, to music and the fine art of brewing jubilation. Among the plethora of bands playing Balkan and Gypsy music in Australia these…