Author: Jan Preston

Hello Boogie Friends,

Huge thanks to all who came out through cold, heat, terrorist events, general elections and more to attend our concerts throughout Australia and NZ this year.

We barely touched base in Sydney through 2019, so are delighted to be finally spending Christmas at home. Today we are frantically purchasing for the whanau, with the 6 year-old grandson’s present needing to be EXACTLY the right lego. Despite the Sydney smoke (crazy) I am experiencing a burst of songwriting ideas for our new CD which I’m cautiously excited about. Whether they are lasting songs of genius, or tunes to be performed a couple of times and quickly buried, remains to be seen. 

You, the audience, will be the judge.

Our first shows for 2020 are in January at the fabulous Illawarra Folk Festival where Mike and I will be joined by brilliant double bass player Chris Mawer, followed by early February at the Australian Blues Festival in Goulburn, then a short tour down the NSW South Coast to Merimbula, Tathra and Moruya.

Unfortunately we will be missing some special friends this year; vale Graham Hayward, Neil Hughes, and Martin Armiger. 

Some of you may remember the super talented Martin as a member of Melbourne rock band The Sports? He was also a prominent Film and TV composer, and a great mentor and teacher who left behind a body of fabulous music including the Theme to the ABC News. 

And no, I didn’t win the Film Award in NZ, but hugely worthy winner Don McGlashan acknowledged all us nominees, and my sister Gaylene and I had one of the best party/eating/laughing nights of our entire lives. 

So in a word, it was worth it!

Btw did you know that “White Christmas” is the most recorded and biggest selling Xmas song of all time and was written by Irving Berlin in the middle of a heat wave?

Ah, the peculiarities of songwriting!

In boogie and blues,

Jan and Mike (who is telling me a typically stupid joke during the attempted selfie pic)

Hello boogie friends,

Having apparently driven to the stage in a 1909 Riley Sportsman at the Halswell Estate in Chrisctchurch, and added a painted piano to our show in Hanmer, we finished our current series of NZ concerts to a packed house in my beloved hometown of Greymouth this afternoon.

We now return to Australia for our next show with the extraordinary piano player and singer, Don Hopkins, at the music lounge of the Wollongong Town Hall next Friday May 31^st.
Don and I played together at the Australian Blues Music festival in February this year and produced such an exciting pianistic sound and groove we wanted to perform together again. I’ll be “live in concert” on the lovely Nick Rheinberger’s show on ABC Radio Wollongong on Friday morning as well. He’s not only adored by his listeners, but is a fine musician who has recently, believe it or not, made a slide guitar out of a cricket bat!

June has a mix of concerts; first up on Wednesday June 5^th at the Art Gallery of NSW performing my original score to the Australian Silent Classic “The Cheaters” for the Sydney Film Festival, a film made in Sydney in 1929 by the iconic early pioneers of Australian film, the 3 McDonagh sisters. The grand piano being moved into the Art Gallery theatre for the performance is provided by Australian piano maker and designer, Ron Overs, and will be given a workout. Not boogie this time! For this music score I even play the inside of the piano with a mallet, and Mike has a range of orchestral percussion.

We finish June with another performance of “The Cheaters” at the NFSA’s Arc Cinema in Canberra as part of their “Australian Women Directors” Series on Friday June 28^th, and a unique collaboration with the exceptionally talented guitarist Shane Pacey (Bondi Cigars) and singer extraordinaire Sally King, for the Sydney Blues Society’s Harbour Cruise on June 30^th.

And somewhere, somehow, I will have celebrated another birthday with all other Geminis such as Charlie Watts who shares the same day!

Yours in boogie,
Jan

Hello Boogie friends,

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to our show at the Frankston Arts Centre and also the Lomond Hotel in Melbourne. Both concerts were fabulous. I’m still on a high from the special musical moments with Nick Charles, he’s amazing to play with!

We go to NZ tomorrow for 2 concerts in Christchurch; this Sat May 18th at a private concert in Greendale, and Sunday May 19th at the amazing Halswell Estate.

We then move on to Hanmer for “88 Pianos I Have Known” on Friday May 24, before ending in my beloved home town of Greymouth on Sunday May 26^th.

Our last concert for May is in NSW with the extraordinary rhythm and blues piano player Don Hopkins on Friday May 31^st in Wollongong. This will be a blast!

Recently I wrote the music for a documentary called “Border Politics”, presented by Julian Burnside, about refugees around the world. It’s a brilliant, entertaining and informative film that has had great success in cinemas throughout Australia. The filmmakers have just released “The Burnside Interviews”, a series of 16 fascinating interviews with a fabulous range of people, prominent public figures and ordinary people. I would urge you to view these online at    Rymerchilds.com .

They are simply inspirational.

On a personal note, I’m so excited to be attending my sister Gaylene’s investiture at Government House in Auckland on Wednesday. To see my sister being made a Dame for her services to NZ film will be a once in a lifetime moment. She really deserves this and I cannot tell you how proud we are of her. Her 7 attendees have been encouraged by Gaylene to wear any of our own medalss and my friend Janice Wood has decorated this Maori kete especially for me to take. Isn’t it brill?

In blues and boogie,

Jan

Hello boogie friends,

Are you finding it as impossible as I am to stop consuming chocolate this Easter? Honestly I’ve had so much my jeans are bursting!

Here’s a short reminder of next Sunday’s show at the Frankston Arts Centre, Wonderful Winnie Atwell in which I recount her fascinating life’s story and perform her boogie and ragtime piano hits.

After many tours back and forth from the UK through the 1950’s, Winifred Atwell and her husband emigrated to Australia. The show’s accompanying images, many from the Australian National Library, are fascinating from a personal and also a social history point of view and, of course, the music is thrilling. I’ve been practicing hard!

Here’s a short excerpt on Youtube ;  Click here

You can book through the Arts Centre here ;   and tickets are selling now……

And the wine? Ah, that’s available together with wonderful food at the glorious Amulet Winery in Beechworth, Victoria.

We’ll be playing our show 88 Pianos I Have Known there on the following Sunday May 5^th @ 3pm.

For the rest of May we go back to my beloved South Island of NZ  (hopefully in less dramatic circumstances than last month) for a few concerts in Christchurch, Greymouth and Hanmer; all details will be on my website.

In boogie and blues,

Jan

 

Hello Boogie Friends,

We have emerged from our NZ tour tired, ecstatic and slightly crazy as you can see in the selfie of the band on our last night. About 1000 people overall turned up to our concerts throughout the North and South Islands, and my heartfelt thanks to the wonderful audiences who have supported us, some for many years.

Mike and I go back to Sydney, and from there to Queensland and onto Melbourne, a special event being one performance of Wonderful Winnie Atwell at the Frankston Arts Centre on Sunday afternoon April 28^th. This is my show about West Indian born honky tonk piano great, Winifred Atwell, who emigrated to Australia in 1966. The Australian National Library projected images from the 1950’s 60’s and early 70’s are totally fascinating, together with Winnie’s amazing life story and, of course, her vibrant boogie and ragtime piano music. The Frankston Arts Centre’s Cube 37 is an intimate 200 seat theatre, has a grand piano and great acoustics as well.

But before that we are excited to be returning over Easter to the funky PopUp Bar at the Palace heritage Hotel in Queensland’s Warwick. This room is an experience you can’t have anywhere else, believe me! Lyndall and her brilliant team decorate in mid century style what is a charmingly untouched environment, only open to the public on rare occasions. 

Lastly, for the people who came to 88 Pianos I Have Known in NZ, were you not blown away by the sudden appearance of talented double bassist Nigel Masters at the piano? Playing 4 handed boogie woogie with Nigel had audiences screaming, the same reaction at every concert – it was extraordinary!

Yours in Autumnal boogie and blues,

Jan

Hello Boogie Friends and welcome to this Year of the Pig!

I hope you had a welcome break over the Christmas hols, alas all too soon forgotten as we charge into 2019, during which Mike and I will test out our fast disappearing Kiwi accents on an extensive tour of NZ.

We’ll be there for the whole month of March and I’m greatly looking forward to it, in particular touring places in the South Island we’ve never played such as, believe it or not, Queenstown.

Here are the shows; all on-line bookings are available either through Eventfinda or the venue website, except Napier, Wellington and the Cambridge Autumn Festival, which will appear this week.
March 10^th The PumpHouse             Auckland
March 14^th Mussel Inn                      Takaka
March 16^th Playhouse Theatre          Nelson
March 17^th Live @ Orange                Christchurch
March 20^th Memorial Centre              Queenstown
March 21^st 50 Dundas                        Dunedin
March 23^rd Century Theatre               Napier
March 24^th Meow                               Wellington
March 27^th Autumn Festival               Cambridge

The show I’m performing is called 88 PIANOS I have known with extraordinary images of pianos (yes 88 of them) and personal anecdotes, as well as new songs (Same Sky, Olds on the Loose) and a new killer version of a tune called Nutrocker, based on Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite played in fast boogie style. I’ve been practising this a lot and my left hand is threatening to seize…….well hopefully not until the end of the tour.

But before all that, this coming weekend my trio are playing at the Australian Blues Music Festival in Goulburn, a delightful small festival which is close to my heart. This was the first Australian festival I ever played (decades ago) and I’ve been playing there on and off ever since. The format is changing for 2020, so I’d advise you to come along and support Australian musicians next weekend, in the hope this lovely festival doesn’t disappear. Local tip is to “rock on down to the Paragon Café” (yes, it even sounds like a song) for breakfast where we all go. The Paragon is one of the few remaining old style cafes in Australia, still run independently, waitresses with small pads writing orders down at the tables, and the best home cooked breakfast you will ever eat amongst the surroundings of the spotlessly clean original décor. You won’t find a sun dried tomato or marble benchtop in the place.

So I hope you can come along to one of our 2019 concerts,

Yours in boogie,

Jan

Hello Boogie Friends,

I have an exciting upcoming collaboration with the wonderful Sydney soul singer Sally King, and guitarist Shane Pacey from iconic blues band the Bondi Cigars.

Hope you can make it along to Petersham Bowling Club on Sunday Oct 21^st, my special Boogie Circus show complete with saxophone and a short tribute to Aretha Franklin! Wonderful venue (community owned and operated), great sound system and food.

We then charge off down the coast to Tathra, Merimbula and Moruya, it’s been too long since playing down there, so looking forward to it.

Through storms and rain we play on!

Yours in boogie and blues,

Jan

Hello boogie friends,

Big news this month is the release of a tutoring book called SHE PLAYS Boogie-woogie and Blues Piano which I co-wrote with my German friend Ulrike Gaate.
This book is particularly helpful for women or girls with small hands, and takes the reader through many boogie left hand grooves from simple to more advanced, as well as how to improvise and incorporate licks in the right hand. We’ve included a history of Women boogie piano players, both past and present, with exciting candid photos from the vibrant boogie scene in Europe. (With an estimated 3000 boogie piano players in Germany, it’s often referred to as Boogieland.)

So if you’ve taken piano lessons in the past and want to get super excited and reinvigorated musically, this is the book for you! It’s published through German company Tredition and can be ordered through them, from Amazon, or from my website  http://www.janpreston.com/product/she-plays-boogie-and-blues-piano/ The book contains links to audio downloads for people who don’t read music well and find it easier to learn “by ear.”

Right now Mike and I are off to Jumpers and Jazz in July at Warwick in Queensland to play 2 shows. Check out this festival online, it has the most extraordinary art, mostly knitted or with a craft element, that I have ever seen.  The streets of Warwick are transformed during this 2 week festival, and some of the wearable art from passerbys is gobsmacking.

Next month is not just busy, but more what you would call frantic! Highlights are a performance of my original score for the Australian Silent movie The Cheaters at the Melbourne International Film Festival, concerts in Cootamundra and Canberra, and a weekend jazz festival at the Bay Of Many Coves in NZ’s beautiful Marlborough Sounds.

In the meantime my head is in composition mode; one hour and 20 minutes of original music for The Cheaters is no small job, just a tiny bit scary!

Yours from pianoland,

Jan

Hello Boogie Friends,

Winter has snuck up on us here in Sydney, and we are (wisely) touring north for 2 concerts in Northern NSW, before ending up at the fabulous “Blues on Broadbeach” festival on the Gold Coast.

Our concerts in NZ this month were brilliant. Tauranga Jazz Festival outdoor stage was magical, Waihi Beach divine, and the Dome Room at the Poverty Bay Club in Gisborne is one of the most interesting venues I’ve ever played. I felt like I was somewhere in Berlin or New York, and I would urge people to check it out. It has a unique funky vibe, also operating as an arthouse cinema.

Speaking of cinemas, I am very excited to begin composing for the Australian Silent Film “The Cheaters” for a performance at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August. More about that soon!

I’ve also recently completed music for a short film about the Suffragettes for the Auckland Museum; an inspirational film made by my sister Gaylene, using interviews from women recounting their achievement of getting the right to vote in NZ.

I had no idea what these women went through!

We hope you can come along to one of our concerts in Brisbane, Melbourne, Geelong, Canberra, Perisher, Cootamundra, Adelaide, Marlborough Sounds NZ, Sydney, the Gold Coast and more.

Yours in boogie and blues!

Jan