By Wendy Johnson
CityNews

There was snow on the mountains and the air was crisp, but Thredbo Village was hot with a full spectrum of dazzling jazz at last weekend’s music festival.

The lineup for the 17th festival included the authentic fiery jazz of New Orleans, swing, boogie-woogie, lounge, and classical jazz. Eighteen acts, four roving acts and five special guests entertained lovers of music until the wee hours of the morning 7-9 May.

Several favorite acts that have been part of the Thredbo jazz scene forever and a day were on hand—including the Louisiana Shakers, George Washingmachine and the Craig Schneider Trio—as were new additions from last year.

Bridie and the Boogie Kings had the crowds dancing on the table tops. A top-notch blues pianist, Bridie has a permanent residency at The Bridge Hotel in Sydney and has been playing a powerful mix of blues, barrelhouse, R&B, and boogie-woogie since 1997. Their energy levels are infectious.

Just as infectious is Jeff Duff who returned to the festival for the second year in a row by popular demand. Jeff has been singing professionally since he was 17 and just seven months ago formed a new band—Duffo—with some of the hottest musicians in Sydney. They launched their debut album ‘Ground control to Frank Sinatra’ at the festival—an exquisite mix of Frank Sinatra songs played in David Bowie style and Bowie songs played in Sinatra style. Jeff is not only a powerful singer, he’s a marvelous entertainer, always drawing his audience in with his wicked and delightful sense of humor.

Louise Perriman returned this year with her own band. An award-winning songwriter, Louise has four soul/rhythm and blues albums to her credit and was recently named in the Top 5 New Artists and Top 20 Soul CD Releases for 2003 by Soul-Patrol. With her sultry voice she sang favorites from her latest album ‘Whisper My Name’.

And from the ACT, the delightful Black Mountain Jazz Band, formed 20 years ago by Tony Thomas, cranked out jazz New Orleans style. And Canberra’s Rhythm Syndicate Inc., a semi-professional group of 21 men and women, showed their true love of singing and performing.

And because jazz and wine are always a good match it was most appropriate that this year several wineries sponsored the festival, including Yalumba, Mad Fish, and Peter Lehmann, who held wine tastings during and in-between gigs.

So mark the second weekend in May in your calendar for 2005, head to picturesque Thredbo and surround yourself with some of the finest jazz Australia has to offer.

And as a last note: take Monday off so you can enjoy the festival’s final jam and late night sessions without worrying about how to get home

"Muso Magic" by Wendy Johnson

Thredbo put on its dancing shoes and got jazzy this past weekend, with more than 100 hours of non stop live entertainment from some of Australia’s best in the business.

The Alpine village was alive with lovers of music of all ages who could not get enough of the full spectrum of jazz. Fifteen bands and 10 special guests and roving performers got toes tapping almost around the clock, from Friday when the first bands charged up at 7:30 p.m. to the early hours of Monday morning.

The Moods Band, RAAF ‘Swing Wing’ Big Band, E-Type Jazz, The Matt Baker Trio, and the Down South Quartet are a few of the performers who transformed tiny Thredbo into a jazz extravaganza.

There were many magic moments throughout the 16th annual festival, including Phil Pryor, from Jiri’s Harlem Swing Band, who miraculously played the soprano and tenor saxophones at the same time. Dan Barnett, head of a lively quintet, played several different sizes of Conch shells, and Melbourne’s definitive New Orleans jazz band, the six-member Louisiana Shakers, who have been at Thredbo every year since 1996, played for the first time with well-known soulful blues singer Lee Gunness.

A new act, and one that blew the roof off, was Andrew Oh and the band ‘Oh-Zone’, featuring some of Sydney’s most prominent musicians. The band collaborated for the first time with the eccentric and hugely talented, Jeff Duff, a fabulous singer and engaging entertainer. He had the dance floor shaking for its life.

Ray ‘Jr’ Beadle and the Vipers returned to the Festival this year with their strong repertoire of jump/blues and swing. Ray, one of Australia’s youngest and most talented acoustic guitar players, began playing and singing at nine years old and is going from strength to strength. He and his guitar are utterly at one.

The second half of Sunday’s Festival Concert featured a cast of Thredbo All Stars, starting off with the Andrew Dickeson Trio. Andrew is one of the ‘first call’ drummers for many jazz gigs on the Sydney scene and is regularly engaged for visiting, international artists.

The thousands of visitors and musicians were a welcome relief to Thredbo, especially after bushfires forced the cancellation of the blues festival in January. Restaurants and bars were packed and the shops pleased that the village was alive with people.

And besides the jazz, Thredbo offered other ways to keep entertained. Much of the Alpine wilderness remains stunning despite the fires. Many enjoyed the gondola ride to, and breathtaking views from, Australia’s highest restaurant, the Eagles Nest. Others enjoyed the picture perfect weather by walking, playing golf or tennis, or beating the bush on mountain bikes.

One thing is for sure—a fabulous time was had by all.

And all that Jazz… A review of the 2003 Jazz Festival

Thredbo put on its dancing shoes and turned on the sunny weather for 2-4 May 2003 when the village hosted the 16th annual Lite White Thredbo Jazz Festival.

The festival kicked off on Thursday evening in Jindabyne with a forerunner held at Horizons Resort to give local residents a taste of Thredbo Jazz with band Louisiana Shakers and enticed them to experience more of the festival over the weekend in Thredbo.

From Friday afternoon right through until the wee hours of Monday morning Thredbo was certainly alive with lovers of music of all kinds who were ready to enjoy the weekend program that was filled with a wide spectrum of Jazz and also some Blues.

Festival Organiser Jo Hearne commented on the electric vibe that seemed to be in the air all weekend.

“There were smiling faces everywhere and I think that the great weather had a lot to do with that, coupled with the varied and interesting music program that was on offer,” she said.

“Tourism Thredbo are happy with the attendance levels of approximately 1500 over the weekend and all restaurants were booked out on the Saturday evening,” she added.

“The festival was a successful end to Tourism Thredbo’s summer of music festivals and the energy that was around certainly made up for the devastating loss of the Blues Festival in January due to bushfires.”

There were many highlights over the weekend including The Moods at Eagles Nest Restaurant who blended their engaging mix of straight ahead Jazz, Latin and Blues with humour and obvious enjoyment. Other crowd favourites were E Type Jazz, The RAAF Swing Wing Band, The Matt Baker Trio and Jiris Harlem Swing.

A new act, and one that blew the roof off, was Andrew Oh and the band ‘Oh-Zone’, featuring some of Sydney’s most prominent musicians. The band collaborated for the first time with the eccentric and hugely talented, Jeff Duff, who had the Keller Bar dance floor shaking!

Roving band Down South Quartet and Dan Barnett and Friends, a lively quintet, who played several different sizes of Conch shells, had audiences captured in the Village Square as they drank their morning coffees outside Snowflakes Bakery. Outside gigs are always a favourite at the festivals and coupled with the many roving bands during the weekend added to the atmosphere of Thredbo’s transformation into a Jazz Town.

The festival attracted 15 bands and 6 special guest performers who played over 100 hours of continuous live Jazz and Blues at 17 separate venues and there were many magic moments including Phil Pryor, from Jiri’s Harlem Swing Band, who miraculously played the soprano and tenor saxophones at the same time. All these festival experiences contributed to the festival being one to remember.