John Shand Posts

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…

November 19, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

GREAT (MGM/Planet) 7.5/10 This could have been the great album its title suggests, but then Fred Smith is not the first artist to mistake a single album’s worth of material for a double. Unexpectedly (given he is as Australian as an emu), Smith has given all the songs American settings,…

November 18, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

The Studio, October 30 7.5/10 This could be cast as a win for composition over improvisation, although one could attend Freedman Jazz happily oblivious to its being a competition at all, and simply enjoy a celebration of creative music. This 15th edition again emphasised the diversity of music performed under…