This is prolific composer and bandleader Sean Wayland’s 12^th release since 2000.

Here he is with long time colleagues Jochen Rueckert (pronounce Yokin Rookit) on drums and Matt Penman on bass, playing a mix of originals and inventive covers.

Including versions of Lennon and McCartney’s “Strawberry Fields Forever”, Michael Jackson’s “Pretty Young Thing” (PYT) and Bernie McGann’s “D-Day”.

The music is mostly swinging and sonically very pleasing, having been recorded live in NewYork’s Avatar and Sear Sound studios.

“The show must go on” is available now on SEED records.

Stay listening this month for your chance to win a copy of The Show Must Go On

AUGUST – Microphones by Mr Percival

Mr Percival is one of Australia’s most exciting live performers.

His new studio album Microphones captures all the energy, the brilliance and the spontaneity of an artist whose only instruments are his voice, some microphones and a boundless imagination.

With a little help from guests Katie Noonan and Mahalia Barnes, Mr Percival combines his original compositions with classics by Lennon and McCartney, Radiohead, and a startling reworking of Eddy Grant’s Electric Avenue.

Ken Done call’s this “art for the ears”!

Mr Percival’s unique creations blend elements of soul, funk, electronic and folk.

Microphones is out now through MGM Distribution

Stay tuned during Drive (weekdays 4-6pm) for your chance to win yourself a copy!

James Ryan  – “The Subterraneans”

The Subterraneans is his fourth release, following Bittersweet (ABC Classics, 2009), Long Way Home (Jazzgroove Records, 2006) and James Ryan Quartet (Independent, 1997).

The initial concept of blending jazz and rock some 42 years ago was inspired but the fusion was soon hijacked by the come-upstairs-and-see-my-technique brigade and bombast came to replace groove and imagination.

James Ryan’s Subterraneans – the name of both the band and album – actually fulfils the concept’s original promise, with sophisticated improvising and lithe melodies harnessed to raw power and savage riffs. The band is one of Sydney’s strongest live acts and this brilliant studio debut catches all that excitement and delivers it with a mighty sonic punch.

Ryan’s tenor saxophone is burly, coarse-grained and bullying (in the instrument’s best tradition), with a sweeter temper periodically glimpsed through the pugnacity. He needs all those qualities to share his music’s foreground with James Muller, one of the finest electric guitarists alive.

Unleashing his most stunning recorded work to date, Muller’s every solo is an explosion of ideas, realised with the sinuousness of jazz and the muscle of hard rock.

The rhythm section echoes those qualities. Bassist Steve Hunter is all suppleness as he rounds the music’s edges and adds delicious little counterpoints. Drummer James Hauptmann ensures the grooves crunch with enough power to satisfy a strident rock audience, without forsaking a more pliable sense of groove.

To find out more visit http://www.myspace.com/thesubterraneansoz

Live at the Reservoir is the first ever album released from Eastside Radio and was recorded in October 2009 at the newly renovated Paddington Reservoir at the East Village Jazz Festival,  a free outdoor concert as part of Art & About, Sydney’s biggest public arts festival.

Four Eastside presenters performed on this beautiful sunny day including Lily Dior, The Susan Gai Dowling Quartet, Ben Fink and The Bob Bertles Quintet. Amongst each ensemble were some of Sydney’s best known and loved jazz players including amongst others Bernie McGann, Matt McMahon, Lloyd Swanton, Col Nolan, Carl Dewhurst and Cameron Undy.

Without question this live album is smoking as is expected from the community station that has helped prop up the Sydney jazz scene for over 25 years. In time it be will another valuable record that preserves the strength of Australian jazz similar to those from previous decades.

A limited number of these albums can be purchased online at the Eastside Radio website or by contacting the station directly.

Bonnie J Jensen – “Shimmer”

“S H I M M E R is the most personal and intimate of Bonnie’s 4 releases to date.  Her trademarks are all there, the smoky timbre of her voice, the pitch perfect accuracy, the lovely way she controls her lower register.  And as with her other albums, her songs are blessed with superb backups, in this case Matt McMahon, James Muller and Graham Jesse whose solos in particular, perfectly complement the melodies.”

High points include the searing Muller solo on Mose Alison’s “Everybody’s Crying Mercy”, the rich lyrical imagery and a luscious chord change in the standout track, Bonnie’s own  “Without A Word”, and the deceptive simplicity of Rodgers’ “My Romance”, which in fact was one of his own favourites and shows off some lovely restrained playing by a mature James Morrison.

The variety in this CD is another strength, calling upon the tunes of Stevie Wonder and Sting to complement a couple of deliciously seductive bossas.  Throughout it has the contemporary feel that was just hinted at in her excellent earlier CDs.  This is a logical next step for an artist who clearly has a vision for her craft and knows where she is going.  It’ll be fun to tag along for the ride.

To find out more visit Bonnie J Jensen

The Hipstones – “Dreamers”

New York based The Hipstones are on a musical odyssey that has taken them from the clubs and music festivals of their home town Sydney (Australia) to the recording studios of the Big Apple. It’s just another chapter in a truly international story that began in Tokyo when the group’s two founders Mark Palmer (keys/lead vox) and Anthea White (lead vox) formed their unique partnership in a high rise in the world’s most populous city.

In June of 2009 Anthea White and Mark Palmer of The Hipstones assembled some of Australia’s finest young jazz and session musicians in Sydney’s 301 Studios to begin recording their second album. Thus began a remarkable musical journey that was to take Anthea and Mark to New York, bringing them closer to their musical roots and their great love of the American soul, funk and jazz traditions.

Whilst they gigged and soaked up the amazing diversity of music that NYC offers the album was being mixed by Helik Hadar in Los Angeles. The result Dreamers is a further continuation of the unique harmonic soul sound that the group have stamped their own. It’s music defined by Mark and Anthea’s rich and highly evocative vocals, reinforced with hip horn lines and always that infectious groove to the beat.

To find out more visit The Hipstones

Kim Lawson Trio – “Alive & Kicking“

Formed in 2008, The Kim Lawson Trio is fast becoming one of Sydney’s most unique trio voices. Featuring renowned bassist Steve Hunter and powerhouse drummer James Hauptmann, they have just released their debut album Alive and Kicking.

The Trio delivers a set of meticulous compositions, each piece having its own identity, being tightly framed and concise, yet with space built-in for improvisation and the expression of each member of the trio. Although drawing from jazz, classical, funk and various other sources, with new compositions, a diversity of textures and emotionally dynamic playing, the trio succeeds completely in having its own sound.

Kim Lawson on saxophones, originally from Cairns, is quickly establishing a reputation for his tenacious and inventive improvising and huge sound. Lawson has been playing, recording and touring in and around Sydney for over 7 years in a number of musical settings ranging from swinging jazz, Latin and funk ensembles to 18-piece big bands, here and in New York.

Steve Hunter has been a renowned bass player and composer in the Australian and international jazz scene for over 20 years. He has released 8 albums as a leader and has over 100 of his compositions released on albums by other artists as well as his own. He has played and recorded with many of Australia’s finest players as well as with some of the world’s jazz stars such as Chick Corea, Billy Cobham, Bobby Previte among others.

James Hauptmann is one of the most in demand drummers in Sydney. A professional Sydney-based drummer originally from Canberra, he completed a BMus Jazz degree in 2003 at the ANU.

Kim Lawson (saxophones) Steve Hunter (electric bass) James Hauptmann (drums)

To find out more visit Jazzgroove Records

There are plenty of thrilling solar flairs in this complete live performance, recorded with energy and ecstatic crowd reactions intact. Who is the sergeant major who shouts “Yes! Yes sir!” through the second set? He is often at The Sound Lounge. On this special double CD you are too.

When superb tenor saxophonist Roger Manins made one of his return trips from New Zealand to Sydney, his second home, he was asked if he wanted to play as guest with the great Bernie McGann Quartet. ‘Bernie is my hero’, he replied. And both saxophonists are right up there throughout this performance. Their solos are tough, fiery and inventive and their overlapping lines are like heated conversations.

And so is the superb rhythm team of bassist Lloyd Swanton and drummer John Pochée up there. Free, interactive, erupting in all the right places, pulsing and driving at all times: a curious pairing of personalities who have given us some of the most exciting music of the past twenty years.

This is also some of the very best of trumpeter Warwick Alder on record. His flying runs, high torrid repetitions and surprise skips and jabs are deployed with a feverish edge.

There are some great McGann tunes and everything you could want from a live jazz performance: the McGann originals — Birthday Blues, Spirit Song, D. Day, Blues for Pablo Too and Salaam – and a Ballad Medley — Lover Man (Oh, where can you be?) Jimmy Davis, Roger ‘Ram’ Ramirez, Jimmy Sherman, Where are you? Jimmy McHugh, My Old Flame Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow.

To find out more, visit Rufus Records

Stu Hunter – “The gathering”

“The blasting final theme of The Gathering is as powerful as anything to be encountered in Australia’s performing arts. Let’s call it a masterwork and be done with it.” John Shand SMH

The gathering is the highly anticipated new release from pianist/composer Stu Hunter.

A stunning and compelling sensory journey of dynamic themes and sweeping improvisations featuring some of Australia’s most creative musicians.

Written and performed as a suite, this is an hour of music to feed the imagination and replenish the soul.

Alongside Stu Hunter The gathering also features Matt Keegan and Julien Wilson on tenor sax, James Greening on trombone and pocket trumpet, Cameron Undy on bass and Simon Barker on drums.

To find out more, visit vitamin records.

Casa Da Boa Vida – “The View from Madeleine’s Couch”

Casa Da Boa Vida (House of the Good Life in Portugeuse) is the second CD release from OzBrazilian group The View from Madeleine’s Couch.  

The Brisbane based band’s original compositions are joyous and danceable. Their music is born out of a love for the brilliant rhythms and harmonies of Brazil: samba, bossa nova, forro, batucada with a little reggae for good measure.

Anje West’s vocals are sublime, as warm and romantic as a summer evening. The rest of the band are Kym Ambrose on vibraphone, Owen Newcomb bass, Mark Henman drums and Jamie Clark on guitar.

To find out more details visit the website http://www.madeleinescouch.com.au/

Enjoy this summer album throughout December on Eastside 89.7FM!