Last night I went to 505 in Surrey Hills. It was incredible, a Jazz bar that has live music 6 nights a week. It had such a feeling of 'The Great Gatsby' Era, or something from "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac...I could picture bootleggers in there, sipping whisky, puffs of cigarette smoke in the air, Nina on the mic, crooning the night away. It was beautiful. The walls are painted in murals, the lights dimmed, nothing on stage but a long black curtain, a grand piano and a solitary lamp.
The first artist was called Ngairre, who hailed from PNG. I was listening to her last night, trying to find a simile for her voice....caramel butter. She sang jazz while another musician (I forget his name) played keys. He was an incredible artist, really meant his music, to be cliche, he was one with the music.
My friend (she added me on fb so i'm officially in now...) also sang a song, I really enjoyed it. Her name's Charmian, look up 'Hello Vera" on myspace, she has such a different voice, gentle but strong and not like everything else you hear. Simple, beautiful.
Afterwards the lead singer of Thirsty Merc came on...to play jazz? I was confused but told by Em and Charmian that he was an incredible pianist. They were right. Not quite the same as Ngairre, as he was playing and laughing and being a bit of a stoner. But very good. The quote that won was "yeah so I was at a mate's birthday last night, we were a bit stoned, and we wrote this song....*plays for a minute*...yeah, that's all I have so far." Then he bought up Ngairre where they free styled the blues, where Ngairre was clearly awkward, didn't want to join in, but instead sang about voting (the NSW elections were yesterday) and how she hated singing the blues. Good fun, all of them very talented musicians.
A very good night and a place I plan to visit more regularly.
The first artist was called Ngairre, who hailed from PNG. I was listening to her last night, trying to find a simile for her voice....caramel butter. She sang jazz while another musician (I forget his name) played keys. He was an incredible artist, really meant his music, to be cliche, he was one with the music.
My friend (she added me on fb so i'm officially in now...) also sang a song, I really enjoyed it. Her name's Charmian, look up 'Hello Vera" on myspace, she has such a different voice, gentle but strong and not like everything else you hear. Simple, beautiful.
Afterwards the lead singer of Thirsty Merc came on...to play jazz? I was confused but told by Em and Charmian that he was an incredible pianist. They were right. Not quite the same as Ngairre, as he was playing and laughing and being a bit of a stoner. But very good. The quote that won was "yeah so I was at a mate's birthday last night, we were a bit stoned, and we wrote this song....*plays for a minute*...yeah, that's all I have so far." Then he bought up Ngairre where they free styled the blues, where Ngairre was clearly awkward, didn't want to join in, but instead sang about voting (the NSW elections were yesterday) and how she hated singing the blues. Good fun, all of them very talented musicians.
A very good night and a place I plan to visit more regularly.
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