bentenlaughing

In The Gardens he sees all the dull statue splashed green adored by the fountain the young couple eating chicken, the roaming delighted licking dog and the lonely man with his loaf of bread pigeons' claws on his wrist like a woman's fingernails himself a scavenger poisoned by tossed crumbs of laughter seeing all, a passionate sparrow crowns himself emperor - John Ellison Davies

  Thank you for featuring Tempest on your blog. You asked about the inspiration behind the poem, and in many ways it was born from my fascination with the archetype of the dark feminine. The central figure in Tempest draws heavily from the idea of the femme fatale — a woman whose beauty, charm, and magnetism conceal a far more dangerous nature. Throughout literature, mythology, and folklore, these figures often embody temptation, chaos, and destruction, not through brute force but through subtle influence and seduction. I wanted to explore that tension between allure and peril. The poem was also influenced by the lineage of mythological women who have shaped the archetype of the dark feminine throughout history. Figures such as Lilith, Circe, Medea, The Morrígan, and Morgan le Fay embody a feminine power that is at once captivating and unsettling, creative and destructive. These women and goddesses exist on the threshold between wisdom and danger, attraction and ruin, often challen...

Janice: Judy, who was active on the scene when you started playing and singing and were there specific venues that were favoured? For example when I began going to hear music as a teenager I'd go with my cousins to small folk clubs in the city or the Trad Jazz venues like the Iron Workers Building which I think was in George Street. Judy: When I started playing in the Sydney folk scene in 1973, there were 2 major folk clubs in the city that I was aware of. One was Cellar Folk (which may still have been called PACT Folk then), which was on Friday nights in the basement of the old YWCA building in Liverpool Street and where the music was pretty much contemporary folk (ie acoustic singer-songwriters or singers who sang the acoustic songs that were on the radio eg those of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan etc).  The main performers I remember from that part of the scene were Mike McLellan, Marion Henderson, Doug Ashdown, Bob Hudson, Margret RoadKnight, Kate Delaney, Alan Ward, D...

Janice:  Bruce, I can't quite remember when you mentioned to me that you played bass on a track of Essra Mohawk's 1970 'Primordial Lovers' album, but I was blown away as it was given to me by Joy Yates when we worked together in London.  It became one of my most loved albums.  Your intro on Í Have Been Here Before' is exquisite Bruce; this track is out of this world...such fabulous vocals and musicianship from all.  Far far ahead of its time...gorgeous melodic lines, profound lyrics and a mix of genres.....I almost weep every time I hear it.  Was the session in Elektra Studios in LA?  Bruce:  Can't remember which studio. The recording date was late 1969. My connection was drummer James Zitro who was on that track.  Mike Cohen was keyboard, Kenny Jenkins was the electric bass, I was the Arco Bass player, don't remember who the others were. Essra sang while we played on that take as I recall. Essra, had me do another session with just her and I....

Janice: Gwen, I'm guessing your first connection with the music scene was in Brisbane? If not; where and who was it that took your imagination to become involved? Gwen: Good question! It was most definitely Brisbane but not really so much in a "who inspired me" way. I was doing Psychology at University of Queensland, 1st year, and around halfway through the year I did some "prac" observations at a place called The Open Door, which was run by an ex Minister of Religion Hayden Sargent, who was on talk back radio, and was involved in many things. My plan for my degree was to work with Drug Addiction, hence the connection to the Open Door He created this venue as a "Drop In Centre" for kids who needed a place to talk. Counsellors etc were on board and he also introduced regular gigs to attract the age group he was aiming for.  Friday night was "Blues" night, Saturday night was mainstream "Pop?" music with interstate guests who the loca...

Janice: Do you begin recording with a basic guitar and vocals track?  Gina: The way Mark and I work is that he will create an instrumental backing track and I will write the vocal part to fit the track. Sometimes I already have a set of lyrics that I wrote independent of music and it will fit the track, usually with some rearranging/tweaking. Other times I will write the lyrics as I listen over and over to the instrumental.  Janice: Are you both in cohorts in developing the  ambience and layering of the backing track?  Gina: The ambience and layering I leave entirely to Mark. After I've added my vocals to the mix, he will further play around with the instrumentation and create the final song. Sometimes he will consult me about something he's done, whether or not I like it. Sometimes I will notice something in the mix that doesn't seem to enhance the song and I'll mention it. But basically, I trust his experience and judgement and I like to allow him the freedom to ex...

  Janice: Before you've put pen to paper or whichever medium you're working with, do you have a good idea of the end result?   Jan Melville:  I do not always know the end result of some of my works, mostly the ones that I know are my etchings as I do sketches of the ideas before making the plates to work on. I seem to get the ideas in my mind and when working them up into sketches, I can change parts of it as I go. Or even start all over again if not happy with how the end result is looking.  Janice: Which are your favorite mediums to work with?  Jan Melville:  I like to work with collage, mixed media and etchings. I like the freedom that say collage and mixed media bring. When working with them they allow me to be a lot looser when I work, as against when I work in printmaking I get tighter as there is only the one go to get the work right.  Janice:  Your work resonates with a connection to nature. Has this always played a part in the themes...

Janice: Gina, I'm listening to your new album, Wheels in an Elsewhere. Your winsome vocals and seamless marriage of lyric and music allow one to enter a spaciousness...where are you taking us? Gina:  Interesting that you mentioned spaciousness, as the album is largely about the spaciousness of being apart from worldly life, troubles, insanities and the treadmill… in the sense of being something more like pure spirit. Not trying to paint our lives as a bleak picture but it can certainly seem like that at times for many of us, I believe. And we’ve all at times thought “stop the planet I want to get off”! Now the phrase wheels in an elsewhere is taken from the fourth song on the album which was inspired by my randomly pondering what death might be like. In the song the elsewhere is the world you leave behind. And the wheels of course are just the material matters of life including cars, work business. problems and the ongoing nature of it all. It is quite a philosophical a...

Jan:   Davy, when did you first experience Frankie's music? Was it live or on record? Davy:  In 1956, our family had moved to a very large housing scheme on the outskirts of Edinburgh, where I attended the local primary school, where football was the main focus. Then in 1965, when all my football friends joined the local Secondary School, I went to a Senior Secondary in town (Boroughmuir), where one was able to study up to A Level standard. One of the exciting aspects was that I was immediately thrown into a “melting pot”of different young people from all over the city. Over the next couple of years and from a musical point of view, 2 stood out. Gordon McIntosh and Billy Lyall. Gordon was a guitarist in a local band called Leathur Soul then found fame with Bilbo Baggins. Billy Lyall was in the Bay City Rollers then moved to Pilot with David Paton. They had huge hits with ” Magic” and “January”. So from 1967 onwards, these two were mainly responsible for introducing me to the ...

  Maeve was warm and sunny on the inside. Hard exterior when she had to be. Maeve's beauty was not her destination. Not a face that would entertain Playboy's editors or gather dust in doctors' antechambers. Her face spelled out the proverbial eye in the beholder. Round and unpretentious without makeup. Maeve was not looking for the middle way. Life more than not took her into danger. She drove a red deluxe taxi. When she did her face up for late-night rides into dives where jazz musos laid down what was below the belt and pulsed the mathematics of jazz, Maeve's beauty was in-your-face intelligence. The first woman tenor jazz player to kick ass at the Conservatorium of Music. Paid her dues playing scales on the saxophone. Long hot afternoons on a rented terrace in Newtown. Two socialite sisters owned this row of tenacious Victorian tenements. Maeve shared this jewel in the crown of bindi-eyed Newtown with two other jazz musicians. One played his horn in a padded cell to ...

  Jan: my first memory of you Judy is playing in sessions; you were with Tommy Tycho right? What were those years like for you? Were they predominantly you playing, doing a lot of session work and doing your own gigs as well? Judy: I spent something like eight years pretty well non-stop in the Television Studios and the amount of actual night time playing say jazz work I used to have average 1 2 nights a week.  That was all though. Most of my work, was studio work and I didn’t go near a club until I was expecting my daughter and I had my first foray into the clubs with Barry Crocker.  (Interruption of sexy voice French waiter and friend of Judy’s on tape) Jan: So those years were really like you were into that studio thing.  Judy: Great learning, great learning years, because I'd never ever done anything like that, that was the first time in my life and then when I was expecting Lisette. I was playing and went with Barry Crocker, I was his MD musical director aro...

Sung by Louella Jolly.  (Feat: Henry Jolly) https://open.spotify.com/track/0UWF6RwjuBFlcWHI76gNUj?si=c8e27f8ed4584482 https://youtu.be/6Qq1BtVyFAU?si=g3nHTx2qtKDVWePW ℗ Louella Jolly Released on: 2025-07-09 Featured Artist: Henry Jolly Lead Guitar: Henry Jolly Lead Vocals: Louella Jolly Sound Engineer: Henry Jolly Composer: Louella Jolly; Janice Slater; Cyna Slater https://music.apple.com/au/album/our-star-feat-henry-jolly-single/1823983251 Thanks everyone for listening!  https://amrap.org.au/artist/louella-jolly-1

Julie:  I want to begin this interview on the Holland Road, Shepherd's Bush, London, 1971. What were you doing at that time? Julie:  I was working with the Mike Holly band at the Empire Ballroom in London Janice:  Tell me about the repertoire you did with the Mike Holly Band?  Julie:  We did all covers!  I remember doing Tears of a Clown and Rescue Me and my Sweet Lord! Oh the memories!  It was a regular Saturday afternoon at the Empire Ballroom. Janice: We go back before London to Sydney, Australia where we were both doing gigs with Tony Gaha''s The In People' at Chequer's Nite Club .   Can you expand on that for me?  How that gig came about for you? Julie:  My agent got me a gig opening for Oliver at Chequers and also with Sammy Davis Jnr and sharing the opening with you and also with Billy Preston. I also worked with Barry Crocker on variety shows.  Also did the Don Lane Tonight Show as well as Graham Kennedy Show in Melbour...

  Indie. Dream pop. Shoegaze. Vocals. Cyna Slater. Music composition & artwork. D. k. A. Spencer. From the original music,  on.soundcloud.com/MsTESiuipe3vNzMT9  CRUEL LOVE, (Harry & Cyna Slater. Lyrics: Russell L Slater, Janice Slater True Love’s on Its Way. (Feat: Coco & Haze https://on.soundcloud.com/b8ii1p6Ek9ZSBSGR6

  Jan:  What about development of craft? Judy:  Do you mean that whole business of combining awareness of technique, awareness of phrasing, awareness of...the musical ways to move throughout a progression, rather than the clever ways, the overall architecture of the piece.  To me that's a very important ingredient. I think it's vital to be aware of and have your students become aware of the importance of looking at the overall structure rather than going along beat by beat, bar by bar, till you get to the end. To try and develop a way of looking at a piece in its entirety, so that when you're improvising for instance, you can retain what you've already played, it's as 'though you've recorded it.  You've got you've got your little tape recorder in the back of your head and you can retain a memory of what you've played, what you're playing now and where you're going to so that you're building from what you've started with and you br...