The Jamm Jam Sessions

While YouTubing a few nights ago I came across a clip of one of my musical heroes that I hadn’t seen before at a series of events that was immediately added to my bucket list. The Jamm Jam events are a part of the Jamcard network. Jamcard is a social network for music professionals to let the music fraternity know availability and the movements of virtually any full-time music professional. Their website is pretty interesting for those interested.

Salt – A New Masterpiece from Wendy Oldfield

I did a mini-feature about Wendy Oldfield in August last year and have been inspired to write another by the release of her new album. Salt, her 7th album was released at the end of April and I spent a very happy evening last night immersed in it. Two singles were pre-released earlier this year and received airplay, but the whole album deserves a hearing.

Mini-Feature – Crowded House

I have always been a fan of Crowded House’s music and so many of their songs became a part of the soundtrack of my life, particularly the 1985 – 96 period when they produced hit after hit. Today I’ve decided to share a couple of my favourite tracks and a little backstory behind the band.

A Tribute to Colin Shamley

We received the sad news of the passing of Colin Shamley this week. Although Colin’s wasn’t a well known name to many, he was a leading voice during the apartheid years of South African music and well known, particularly on the folk music scene of the 70s.

Mini-Feature: Dax Butler

Early last year I shared the smouldering, bluesy track ‘My Friend Kevin’ from Dax Butler. Unless you were involved in local music in the 70’s and 80’s, you may not remember his name, and that’s a shame. Today it is my aim to rectify that with a few tracks from his first album since the release ‘Drink in Everything’ in 2012. This is thanks to a heads-up from our friends at Cape Town’s Shoreline Music.

Lake Street Dive – A Fun Place to Be

I first became aware of Lake Street Dive when I saw a clip of them performing The Kink’s Lola live about 18 months ago. Since them I have made a point of getting to know them a little better and got the heads-up that they had released a new album in March of this year. It’s time to share some tracks and a bit of background from an extremely talented of Jazz musicians who took their music beyond just that.