Ok, I’m a little late with the new year but for those of us who teach at university the new year starts next week when our new students show up for O week. I’m currently under the impression that I’m pretty well prepared for lectures the week after but I’m ready to be proven wrong come approximately Tuesday week.
December and January provided a fair bit of beach time for Ken and me, although our last long weekend at Coolangatta coincided with some windy stormy weather. It was when the really hot weather started in Brisbane so it was still good not to be home, but the weather has stuck around – even up on the hill in Toowoomba it’s been hot and muggy.
I also managed a quick trip to Melbourne to catch up with a few old friends, which is always fun. I got to see my mate Carita Farrer-Spencer performing in the wonderful new Australian musical “Ladies in Black”, with music by Tim Finn – luckily, as it turned out, since it has sold out since! I also braved my holiday chops and sat in with the wonderful Michelle Nicole at her weekly Brunswick Green gig – thanks to Frank DiSario for letting me play his bass, and always a treat to be on stage with the venerable Paul Williamson.
Speaking of holiday chops, it’s almost time for my first gig of the year, after a particularly quiet January/Feb! On Friday night I’ll be playing with a quartet under my name at JMI live – yes, this year JMI is putting on gigs 2 nights a week. Jamie Clark, Steve Russell and Nathan Goldman will be joining me for kind of retrospective of repertoire that has previously been attempted by the forgoing, and it’s turned out to be a pretty interesting list! We start at 8 and do 2 sets, with the usual jam before & after and a $10 entry. We’d love to see you there.