Monday, May 21, 2018

A Port Fairy feast

Warrnambool Standard 6th June 2002 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard  2002 All rights reserved

The Dead Livers: a portion of this weekend's musical festival at Port Fairy.
 A SUMPTUOUS feast of art and music will be served up over the weekend in Port Fairy, with the menu featuring Dead Livers, Ellington and Eggs and perhaps even a glass onion. Jazz, rock, country, blues, swing and Irish music will all be dished out to fans, while the real cuisine on offer includes wine and beer tastings, champagne break-fasts and carvery lunches. One of the many highlights of the sonic smorgasbord will be the Ellington and Eggs breakfast at JD's Cafe. Commencing at 10am on Sunday, there will be plenty of jazz to go with the cooked breakfast, fresh coffee and chilled champagne. Pianist Gavin Franklin, who recently received his PhD in music, will join saxophonist Al Leishman and drummer Skeeter Camera for the performance, with the possibility of a bass player joining in on the day. “It'll be at least a trio or possibly a quartet,” Franklin laughed. Whatever the line-up, he said he always enjoyed working with Leishman, with the pair having played together for about 15 years now. “He's a super im-proviser,” Franklin said of Leishman. “He still surprises me — you never hear the same thing twice. It's like having somebody different playing every time.” The pair met when Franklin was filling in as a solo pianist one night at Warrnambool's Western Hotel, when Leishman asked if he could sit in on sax. “He played everything. He knows the same stuff as I do.” The music side of the Ellington and Eggs breakfast will include jazz standards by Thelonius Monk, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and, of course, Duke Ellington. Another major drawcard of the festival will be cult country-rockers The Dead Livers, who will perform on Saturday afternoon at the Royal Oak Hotel [correction - Stump Hotel]. The band achieved notoriety in 1981 with their Willie Nelson tribute I'd Love To Have A Joint With Willie and since then they have blazed a trail around the country, earning a huge following. Outside of Rhapsody In June, The Dead Livers will perform on Saturday night at Mickey Bourke's Koroit Hotel under the name Bits Of Liver — due to some members expected to be unavailable — and on Sunday in Warrnambool at the Cally Hotel. On Friday night and Sunday afternoon, restaurant Glass Onion will feature performances by its staff members under the name Looking Through A Glass Onion. There will be plenty of Beatles and John Lennon covers, plus songs by the Eagles, Ben Harper and Eric Clapton, with Louie And The Rustlers expected to perform also. The rest of the musical line-up is massive. Friday night aslo features Tim and Gary at the Caledonian Inn, a jam session at the Royal Oak Hotel and Mal Hill and Friends performing at Ginger Nuts. On Saturday afternoon Mal Hill and Friends will return to Ginger Nuts and 21st Century Ox will do an acoustic set at JD's Cafe. That night, the Victoria Hotel hosts the jazz and blues of Lyn Eales and John Hudson, the Caledonian features Glovebox, Danny Grigg and Band will appear at the Royal Oak, while piano, flute and clarinet will combine for Swings The Thing at the Star Of The West. The final day begins with Ellington and Eggs. Lost In Suburbia will play at the Caledonian, Logan's Heroes' afternoon set at the Royal Oak will be followed by a night of karaoke and Dublin House will feature Irish tunes by pianist Julie McErlain.

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