solmates

Garry Lee & Ian McGregor have returned to Café Sol, Stirling Hwy, Nedlands, after a short break during January, where they have been playing together since 1998. They first met in 1984 after Garry moved to Perth from Sydney.

Ian organized annual guitar concerts for the Perth Jazz Society and in 1989 they co-founded the Jazz Guitar Society of Western Australia. Thereafter the concerts became fund-raisers to help finance the bi-monthly newsletter that Ian has edited ever since.

There is no doubt Ian is a world authority on jazz guitar and jazz guitarists. He has spent decades collecting and collating the recordings of jazz guitarists from around the world and has made many friends and contacts in the process.

Thanks to him the Jazz Guitar Society has members worldwide. Since starting at Café Sol in 1998 many leading guitarists have “sat-in” including John Pisano, John Etheridge, Dave Smith, Steve Brien, Lenny Parker, Graham Cox and Ray Walker. Garry has mainly played the vibraphone on his previous recordings so it was a challenge for him to play only guitar on this project. The idea of making this recording is to allow listeners to experience the sort of music they can expect to hear at Café Sol every Thursday evening.

The music should speak for itself and hopefully reflects the legacy of great jazz guitarists including Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Grant Green and Jimmy Raney.

The bonus track was included from their last fund-raising concert and includes Sam Anning double bass and Michael Perkins drums. Blues For WW is a tribute to Sydney jazz promoter/broadcaster Wally Wrightman who has often promoted jazz guitar concerts in Australia. The solo rendition of I Remember You is based on my memory of an arrangement great Sydney guitarist George Golla taught me in 1976. Hope you enjoy the mix of standards and originals.

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Hash Varsani is the owner of The Jazz Directory, a network of sites related to jazz, travel and everything else he loves. He also runs a selection of jazz related sites including Jazz Club Jury, a jazz club and festival review site. Check out his Google+ Profile, to see what else he's up to...probably setting up another website from one of his many passions.

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