Front Page Archive

A few weeks ago I was fortunate to experience the precise but full-blooded playing of Australia’s Slava Grigoryan in trio with US guitar magus Ralph Towner and German jazzman Wolfgang Muthspiel. At the time I was reminded of a particular beauty inherent …

Protesters demanding action on the disappearance of 43 missing students in Azotzipana, Mexico, took advantage of the G20 Summit of world leaders with peaceful demonstrations in seven Australian cities on Saturday, November 15. The night of September 26, the Mexican army and local …

Imagine if your favourite bar band – the one you see swaggering and rocking at your local most Saturday nights – won some fabulous lottery. And with that money they could mount the most amazingly huge and perfectly produced show they could conceive. The venue …

  In today’s Sicily the Mafia might seem like ancient history but I discovered that it is alive and well in the heartland of the fictional Italian detective series about the life and investigations of Inspector Salvo Montalbano. First of all, a confession. I am a …

The first trailer of the Minions 3D animated movie was released yesterday and has already chalked up over 5 million views in 24 hours. Meanwhile, the Minions movie Facebook page has close to 26 million ‘Likes’. Are these signs of impending minion madness even before the …

In my early twenties, I lived in a flat with my (much hipper) cousin David. The music that wafted from his room was an education in itself. To my Glam-rock gilded ears the exotic and alien sounds of jazz and Prog were …

Sometimes the magic is just right there in front of you … and it nearly always involves a bike! I’m doing a few ‘bike-about’ stories and I’m hoping you’ll come along for the ride … There was a fresh chiselled sheen to …

Whirling dervishes may not commonly be associated with the baroque chamber repertoire, but the versatile Brandenburg Orchestra invited a troupe from Southern Turkey to tour Australia as part of its project to explore the musical traditions of other cultures across the 16th, …

If classical saxophonist Amy Dickson’s new album was a Hollywood movie it would be set in the 1960s on the Mediterranean and its leading lady would be lounging by the pool in a long gown with her hair done and a cocktail …

It’s a cool spring day in Robertson, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. As I walk along the rows of trees, even though the sun is shining I’m glad to be wearing extra layers. My friend Jet, the Blue Heeler, …