City News Review!
Thank you Clinton White of City News for a great review!
It was a fantastic crowd at Smith’s Alternative last Thursday, the 23rd August! It is always wonderful to perform to a listening audience and to see such enthusiasm for live music!
Click here for review:
I was thrilled to receive a Music Award from the Canberra Critics’ Circle for my “…leadership as a vocalist, flautist and songwriter of the jazz band Bella Groove and for the…” entertaining launch of the new album City Lights at Ainslie Arts Centre”.
It was inspiring to witness other amazing local artists receive recognition such as the talented musician and composer Sally Greenaway.
On April 9, an enthusiastic crowed filled the main hall at the Ainslie Arts Centre! It was great to see such a supportive audience turn up for live music on a stormy Canberra day.
Thanks to Helen Musa, City News and Eric Pozza, Canberra Jazz, for such wonderful reviews!
The afternoon was a success, more than I could have ever envisaged!
Thanks to all those involved in this project including; my fellow musicians, my partner, my mum, my family, friends, HiHat Music Studio and Andrew Edgson at Studios 301.
The Bella Groove album, City Lights is now available on bandcamp!
You can purchase the CD and buy the streaming digital album or single tracks on Bandcamp.
It’s also on iTunes, Google Play and soon to Amazon, Pandora, Deezer, Tidal, YouTube, Microsoft Groove, ClaroMusica, Saavn, MediaNet, and Shazam!
I hope you enjoy this album.
It is said that bass players provide the link between the rhythm and melody of a song.
The amazing Eric Ajaye and the talented John Burgess are the bass players on the Bella Groove debut album.
I was so excited when Eric agreed to play on my album. Not only is Eric deeply respected amongst fellow musicians in Canberra, he is a widely respected player worldwide!
Eric has toured many parts of the world with acclaimed musicians such as; Freddie Hubbard, Taj Mahal, Nancy Wilson, James Morrison, Bob Sedergreen, Paul Grabowsky and Sandy Evans. He has also worked as a session musician on several film and TV projects in the U.S. and recorded for artists such as Chaka Khan and Bill Cosby.
John has been playing bass for 20 years. Eric was his teacher and mentor at the ANU Jazz school. According to Eric, John is the “poster boy” for the upright Steinberger electric bass. He produces such a unique tone and plays awesome solos too!
John has been my ‘go-to’ bass player in Canberra since Bella Groove formed in 2012. So it made sense for John to play on my debut jazz album!
Woo hoo! The album is now ready for mastering!
Thanks to Greg Stott and Mark Sutton, of Hi Hat Music Studio for doing a fabulous job editing and mixing the album!
Thanks especially to Greg Stott for the amount of hours dedicated to mixing 12 tunes!
I thoroughly recommend anyone to Hi Hat Music Studio. Greg and Mark are the loveliest guys to deal with, they’re so easy going! The quality of their work is paramount.
Now I’ll be handing over the tunes to be mastered by Andrew Edgson, from Studios 301. Thanks to Bob Scott‘s recommendation.
The band is back at the Hippo Co this week and what a line-up!
This time we have two special guests:
Esteemed Australian trumpeter Miroslav Bukovsky and National Jazz Award finalist for keyboard, Hugh Barrett, will be playing with Bella Groove for the first time at Hippo Co!
The remainder of the Bella Groove line-up are; the talented John Burgess on electric bass and the amazingly versatile drummer Steve Fitzgerald (also the drummer for the Brass Knuckle Band).
We’ll be aiming to get the groove on this Wednesday!
The set list includes some upbeat favourites by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Horace Silver, including a tribute to Al Jarreau, who recently passed away.
I’m also looking forward to trying some of my new original tunes that were arranged by the amazing Hugh Barrett!
Look forward to seeing you there!
Bella Groove is playing at Pheast Manuka this Sunday March 15th, we’d love you to see you there!
Come on down for a laid-back afternoon at Pheast with fine food, great company and some cool grooves!
Peter Barta will play bass with some groovy effects pedals. Jonathan Mao will play some bluesy licks on his guitar.
Last but not least, drummer Jon Nourse from The Black Hats Band will set the blues & swing rhythms for the day!
Thanks to Eric Pozza of Canberra Jazz blog for his complimentary post.
Bella Groove certainly had a great time playing at the Hippo Co on the 14th January. It was great to see people get up and dance to our Latin & Jazz blues numbers in the last set!
We tried some new tunes this time, including: Beatrice by Sam Rivers, Stolen Moments by Oliver Nelson, a jazzy interpretation of Temptation by Tom Waits.
Joe Taylor, tenor sax player was an added bonus. He was called in short notice and did a fantastic job.
We look forward to our next gig at the fabulous Hippo Co bar!