Album review: CODA - There is a Way to Fly

LABEL Silent Recordings SIL002

Review copy supplied by Abels Music, Canberra.

Reviewed by Tony Magee

This one is brand new and delightfully different. Coda features six musicians who play a variety of instruments including Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Marimba, Djembe, Drums, Percussion, Vibes and more.

This is world music and features influences from France, Japan, South America, The Middle East and USA amongst others. Some tracks are driving, pulsating and rhythmic, whilst others are wistful, thoughtful and almost meditative.

The driving force behind most of the tracks is the string section. If you think Electric Light Orchestra without vocals, but massively updated and with a broader global approach, you would be heading in the right direction.

Another interesting feature of this album is that each track has a story to it, which is explained in the liner notes. In the music world, this is referred to as a “program”. It is very interesting to first read the story and then listen to how the music unfolds, or alternatively, listen to the music first, make your own judgements and then read the suggested story.

There are many surprises along the way too. Track 10 for example, entitled Lucky 7, offers a challenging but appropriate change of pace with driving rock grooves, which adds further to the premise that this album is certainly not predictable. If you think your patrons might like a constantly changing listening environment, then this could be a CD to check out.

First published in Restaurant and Catering Magazine, Nov 2001

Album Review: ESPIRITO DO BRASIL - CICILIA KEMEZYS, Independent, CK9901-2, Reviewed by Tony Magee

Here is a great CD featuring the music of Brazil, as played by Canberra based Lithuanian flute virtuoso Cicilia Kemezys and guests.

The album was actually recorded in Rio de Janeiro, during Carnival February 1999, and there are many Brazilian musicians featured on it.

The album opens with a beautiful and haunting flute introduction, which melds smoothly into the uplifting and awakening samba, Berimbau, with full band. What a fantastic piece this is, and so brilliantly played

Five of the tracks are originals and this is a reflection of Kemezys time in Brazil with guitarist composer Steve Scott, who has also written tunes for this CD, and the incredible influences they have absorbed and re-created. For example the Scott/Kemezys composition Bairro Peixoto (track 2 on the CD), features a recording of a RIO street carnival at the beginning and then bursts into the most sublime and yet lively Samba with a wonderfully intriguing melody. By contrast, the following track, The First Spring, starts as a warm and gentle ballad with a hint of slow beguine underneath, moving to a samba and finally changing feel again to bossa nova.

Other selections include the wonderful Antonio Carlos Jobim tunes Agua De Beber (Water to Drink) and Triste (Sad). Gershwin’s Summertime receives the Latin treatment.

I see smart lunchtime sidewalk cafes; I see sophisticated cocktail functions; I see ritzy hotel restaurants; and most of all, I see thousands of eateries of all multicultural persuasions enjoying this music immensely. 

First published in Restaurant and Catering Magazine, September 2001

Album Review: DIG DEEPER - DIG (Directions in Groove), Phonogram 5186092, Reviewed by Tony Magee

My choice this month is not a new release, however it is one of the classic Australian jazz/funk albums of the mid 1990’s.

The group is called DIG (Directions in Groove) and features a unique blend of original jazz, funk, rock, indigenous and even world music influences, expertly played by Scott Saunders on Hammond, rhodes, pianos and vocals, Tim Rollinson on guitar, Rick Robertson on saxophones and flute, Terepai Richmond on drums and percussion and Cameron Undy and Alex Hewetson sharing electric and acoustic bass.

The opening track, Two Way Dreamtime, is a fantastic combination of ethereal aboriginal sounds moving into a solid funky jazz/rock groove. This would make an ideal opening number for an evening where the atmosphere needs to be really funky and cool.

From there, we hear the up tempo grooves of The Favourite, Hip Replacement, Terrified From Dizzy Heights, the brassy sound of Pythonicity and the medium funk of The Dig theme (really nice) and Re-invent Yourself. Then there are cool laid back tracks such as Gil, Shelf Life and Inner Blue Funk.

Along the way, the main music tracks are punctuated with smaller “interlude” tracks, which act as a sort of transition point between the many different musical styles featured on this CD. A clever and innovative idea that works very well, and once again makes this CD ideal for playing in restaurants, bars and cafes. It is particularly suited to establishments that are cool, funky and groovy, with a hip staff and décor and menu to match.

First published in Restaurant and Catering Magazine, Aug 2001

My beautiful and much loved Grandmothers

We lost both our Grandmothers in 2001 at grand ages.

Grandma - Mrs Eileen Boston - passed February 14, aged 94.

Gran - Mrs Eileen Magee - passed July 7, aged 96.

The Sydney Morning Herald

The Canberra Times

Grandma, myself and Gran, on the occasion of Mum and Dad's 50th birthday dinner,
Ron Murray's MV City of Canberra, Lake Burley Griffin, 1983.

Grandma at my house in Torrens, with Charlotte the cat, June 3, 1997.

Myself with Gran circa 1998.

Album review: SINCE I LEFT YOU - THE AVALANCHES. Modular MODCD009 (through EMI). Reviewed by Tony Magee

Since I Left You, by Melbourne artists The Avalanches, is a hip, funky and “now” CD, ideal for eateries of the same persuasion. This CD may set the trend for the overall style of the decade and could easily be used for interesting and stimulating listening or even dance.

Influences and inspiration for each track come from tiny music samples (included in each piece) from other performing artists and composers too numerous to mention here – suffice to say that they range in diversity and style from Madonna to Debbie Reynolds, Sergio Mendez, The Isley Brothers and many, many more.

The album is curiously done so that no one theme is really allowed to become too established, but you still get a satisfying taste of all the concepts, whilst being swept along in a sort of wonderland of sound experiences. There are no breaks between each track, however the pieces all have their own individual musical style and atmosphere.

The music is very visually evocative too.

This new music product is exciting, alternative and unique and should provide a wonderful accompaniment to establishments who wish to give their diners and patrons something different and occasionally a little challenging.

First published in Restaurant and Catering Magazine, June 2001

Stuart Magee plays Angels Guard Thee (from a CD) - the music soaring out near Teresa Langworthy's grave

Stuart Magee

In my Dad’s book The Clyde River and Batemans Bay, he found himself poking about a cemetery, piecing together some history of the people in the region.

“I was driving out of the place when I noticed a grave on its own on the other side of the road. There was a lady there. Teresa Langworthy buried in 1903 at the age of 58, with only one sentiment endorsed on her headstone – “Waiting”. Why was Teresa in such a lonely spot and for what was she waiting? As I stood looking, the CD in the car was just reaching a track where the great Scots tenor, Kenneth McKellar sings, as only he can, the beautiful song “Angels Guard Thee”. It seemed not inappropriate to the occasion. So I opened all the doors and tailgate, and turned up the volume flat chat. The music streamed out over all the graves, soared up through the treetops, and it seemed to be well received by the audience.”

This story makes the family smile, as we can all easily imagine this moment as a very typical Stuart Magee thing to do.

Angels guard thee

as sung by Kenneth Mcellar

Beneath the quiv’ring leaves, where shelter comes at last,
All sadness sinks to rest, or glides into the past;
Her sweet eyes prison’d now, in their soft silken bars,
O! my love, calm she sleeps beneath the trembling stars.

Ah! wake not yet from thy repose,
A fair dream spirit hovers near thee,
Weaving a web of gold and rose,
Through dream land’s happy isles to bear thee!
Sleep, love, it is not yet the dawn,
Angels guard thee, sweet love, til morn!

Far from the noisy throng, by song birds lulled to rest,
Where rock the branches high by breezes soft carres’d;
Softly the days go on, by sorrow all unharm’d,
Thus may life be to thee a sweet existence charm’d.

The Clyde River and Batemans Bay

Published 2001, by Stuart Magee

Copyright, all rights reserved

ISBN: 0-646-40938-7

Stuart Magee: May 18, 1933 - February 24, 2022

Album Review: WANDERLUST, ABC Jazz 518 650-2, reviewed by Tony Magee

My offering for this month is for establishments whose menus are designed to challenge their diners just a little and therefore whose musical selections might also match, whist at the same time being perfectly accessible and highly rewarding.

The album is the debut by Australian modern jazz sextet Wanderlust, however since this release the band has followed through with three more.

Starting with the lively and driving Bronte Café, the selection continues with the ethereal and hypnotic Dakar, which demonstrates influences of music from all over the world, as indeed do all the tracks. This is a world music album. There are seven more excellent tracks.

Instruments include trumpet and flugelhorn (both played by Miroslav Bukovsky, who wrote seven of the nine compositions on the album), alto sax, clarinet, trombone, didgeridoo, double bass, drums and percussion, keyboards, guitar and voice.

One of the most impressionable things about Wanderlust is the extremely high quality of playing and the beautiful freedom and space within the ensemble playing, whilst still retaining complete tightness and direction.

Wait till about 9pm, put this album on, starting with track two, and see what happens.

First published in Restaurant and Catering Magazine, April 2001

Obituary: Luiz Bonfá

Photo: Edivaldo Ferreira November 25, 1991 / Agência O Globo

By Alex Bellos

In the United States, the bossa nova tunes of the guitarist Luiz Bonfá, who has died aged 78, were recorded by Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson and Elvis Presley, yet he never achieved equivalent success in his Brazilian homeland.

His best-known works were Orpheus's Samba and Morning Of Carnival, which became jazz classics - the latter was the world's most played bossa nova until Antonio Carlos Jobim's Girl From Ipanema in 1963. For Jobim himself, Bonfá's guitar was "a little orchestra". Those two tunes had been written for Black Orpheus, the 1959 Cannes Palme D'Or winner, which brought Rio de Janeiro's carnival to an international audience, and turned Bonfá into an ambassador for suave Brazilian jazz in the northern hemisphere.

Living in the US in the 1960s, he recorded with, among others, Quincy Jones, George Benson and Sinatra (on My Way). He was also recorded by Nana Mouskouri, Julio Iglesias and Placido Domingo.

Bonfá started playing the guitar as a child in the Rio de Janeiro suburbs; as a seven-year-old, he was a regular performer at family parties. In his teens, he studied classical guitar. By the 1940s, he was a member of the Quitandinha Serenaders, one of the most popular groups of the era. One of the most technically proficient players of his generation, his refined interpretations of samba were the base for bossa nova's launch in the late 1950s.

Bonfá returned to Rio in the 1970s, where he was respected and liked, but he never achieved the domestic success of other bossa nova stars, like Joao Gilberto and Baden Powell. Many of his records were never even released in Brazil.

In recent years, his productivity slowed. His last major release, The Bonfá Magic, was recorded in 1991. In 1997, he recorded an album, Almost In Love, with the Brazilian singer Ithamara Koorax, only available over the internet.

He is survived by his third wife, and a son.

Luiz Bonfá, musician, born October 17 1922; died January 12 2001.

First published at The Guardian Australia, April 7, 2001

Album review: COOKIN' ON THREE BURNERS - Steamed Up

New Market Music NEW 3064.2

Review copy supplied by Abels Music, Canberra

Reviewed by Tony Magee

A very cool selection of mostly original tunes is presented on this album by Jake Mason (Hammond organ), Matt Kirsch (guitar) and Ivan Khatchoyan (drums), with percussion on some tracks from Andrew Swann.

The distinctive drawbar sound of the Hammond, combined with it’s excellent breathy bass pedals is becoming a lost art and it is very refreshing indeed to hear this revived and played so well, particularly when combined with extremely tasteful guitar work and well punctuated rhythm.

Funky blues numbers include Humpback and Rusty Meat, whilst the title track, Steamed Up, is a funk-rock piece. The guitar is featured in the beautiful ballad Song for Sarah and the rather ethereal slow blues, The Lost World.

There are also swingin’ tracks like Hiding From Tyler and the bouncy Rev. Moses, plus a vibrant treatment of the Romberg song Softly as in a Morning Sunrise.

If you want to get your guests tapping and grooving, then I would highly recommend this one.

First published in Restaurant and Catering Magazine, February 2001

Album review: DAZ NUANCE - Divaria

Seratone, SERA001

Review copy supplied by Abels Music, Canberra ACT

Reviewed by Tony Magee

This is the sort of CD that many guests will inquire about during the course of dining.

Divaria is an intriguing collection of originals and famous operatic arias arranged in a kind of jazz / funk / pop meld by Australian composer Andrew Thomas Wilson.

This CD would suit many different kinds of restaurants I feel, from trendy cafes to funky eateries, certainly alternative establishments and even quite up-market places.

Some purists will say that they prefer the original versions of the opera selections, which is perfectly valid, however Wilson’s treatment of them and the sparkling performances given by him and his chosen players and singers are a treat and certainly not offered as “improvements” – just an alternative approach.

Included are: Massenet’s Le Poeme De La Mer, Caccini’s Ave Maria, Puccini’s Nessum Dorma as well as five Wilson originals, which are all notable and one track by contralto Justine Bradley. Karen Cummings supplies the soaring soprano realisations on many of the tracks.

Do have a listen. Fabulous stuff.

First published in Restaurant and Catering magazine, January 2001

Album Review: COMME CI, COMME CA - Janet Seidel, La Brava Music LB 0033, reviewed by Tony Magee

On this gorgeous CD, Janet Seidel sings a beautiful collection of songs with a French influence, including a good dose of Michel Legrand, Johnny Mercer and many others. An almost Doris Day touch to her vocal delivery sets this album up as superb lounge style listening and definitely an excellent choice for cocktails, dinner, or late night romance.

Nice to hear familiar, but now rarely performed, movie theme classics such as A Man and A Woman, The Summer of 42, Windmills of your Mind, I Will Wait for You and others. In fact some of these tunes are not usually heard with the lyric at all, and when Seidel sings them in her sensuous French they come to life again in an even more delectable way.

Other songs are sung in English or sometimes both languages and include C’est si Bon, And the Angels Sing, I Wish You Love, These Foolish Things and lots more.

Backing is provided tastefully by a small band headed up by Kevin Hunt on piano, harking back to early Nina Simone accompaniments and even the classic Ella and Louis sounds, ranging through cool swing, bossa nova and ballads.

Not to say that this album is a re-creation of those previous artists – it isn’t. Seidel and the band have established a fine and distinctive style of their own with this new release, and I urge all listeners interested in lounge, jazz and film scores to get a copy. It’s a lovely portrayal of some of the best songs ever written.

First published in Restaurant and Catering Australia magazine, Jan 2001

‘My Favorite Martian’ Star Ray Walston Dies at 86

Award-winning thespian leaves behind film, TV legacy

By Doug Galloway

Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

Tony- and Emmy-winning character actor Ray Walston, who achieved success on the Broadway stage in the mid-1950s as the devil in “Damn Yankees” and later found popularity on the small screen as the lovable extraterrestrial in the 1960s sitcom “My Favorite Martian,” died January 1, 2001 of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 86.

Walston was also known to audiences as the irascible Poopdeck Pappy in Robert Altman’s live-action film “Popeye” in 1980, and as the crusty, slacker-hating teacher Mr. Hand in the 1982 teen comedy “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

Walston returned to television in 1992 for the CBS series “Picket Fences,” playing Judge Bone. He earned three Emmy nominations for the role and won twice, in 1995 and 1996.

In “My Favorite Martian,” Walston played opposite Bill Bixby as a Martian explorer stranded on Earth. His antennae-sprouting alien character masqueraded as Bixby’s “Uncle Martin” and spent most of the episodes trying to conceal his identity from curious Earthlings.

Despite its popularity, the role of Uncle Martin actually slowed Walston’s Hollywood career. When the series went off the air in 1966 after a three-year run, the typecast actor returned to the stage for several years before re-emerging with a succession of solid supporting roles in movies and television.

But it took Walston decades to receive award recognition from the Hollywood community: “I have 30 seconds to tell you I have been waiting 60 years to get on this stage,” he said in his 1995 Emmy acceptance speech.

A New Orleans native, Walston began his acting career in 1939 with the Margo Jones Community Players in Houston, Texas. He then spent two seasons with the Cleveland Playhouse before relocating to New York with a job in a production of “Hamlet” starring Maurice Evans.

He worked regularly over the next few years and received important nods from the theater community: the Clarence Dervent Award as best supporting actor of the season and selection as most promising young actor in the Variety Drama Critics’ Poll.

In 1949, Walston began a 20-year association with legendary legit director George Abbott, performing in five of Abbott’s productions. He also stepped into more formidable roles with the Chicago production of “South Pacific.” He later reprised the role of the hustling Seabee Luther Bills in the London production starring Mary Martin, playing it again in the film version.

Walston hit paydirt in 1955 when he created his second great role and perhaps most memorable one beside “Uncle Martin” as the devil in Broadway’s “Damn Yankees.” His role as Mr. Applegate garnered him the Tony Award as best male musical comedy star. The show also won a Tony for best musical and introduced Gwen Verdon to Broadway fans as the devil’s sexy assistant.

With his Broadway career in full swing, Walston went to Hollywood and re-created his stage roles in “South Pacific” and “Damn Yankees” with equal success. He also co-starred with Bing Crosby in “Say One for Me” and appeared in several films, including the 1957 movie “Kiss Them for Me,” with Cary Grant, and “The Apartment.” He also had a supporting role in the Billy Wilder-helmed Dean Martin starrer “Kiss Me, Stupid.”

Later, he appeared in the film version of “Paint Your Wagon,” starring Lee Marvin along with such pics as “The Sting,” “Silver Streak” and “Stephen King’s The Stand.”

In 1999, Walston made a cameo appearance in the feature film version of “My Favorite Martian,” which starred Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Martin and Jeff Daniels in Bixby’s role as the alien’s beleaguered partner.

In a 1996 interview, Walston said he had recently turned down a request to appear on a television news report on the possibility of life on Mars.

“Would you believe they were planning a sequence featuring two of the world’s most distinguished scientists evaluating this monumental discovery, and they wanted to sandwich me in as sort of comedy relief?” Walston said. “Of course, I said no.”

He is survived by his wife Ruth, a daughter and two children.

A private service will be held at noon on Saturday at Westwood (Calif.) Village Mortuary.

First published at Variety, January 1, 2001