Blue Train

Blue Train Gig!

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2009-09-27T16:50:07+13:00

That's right - we have a Blue Train gig Oct 7 at the Creative Jazz Club in Ponsonby!
Venue details on the front page of this site, but it should be fun. It's been quite a while since we played together, and played some of the old material, so it will be exciting. We'll also be adding plenty of new material in there too, so it may inspire us to get our act together and organise some gigs and/or a recording...

Jazz Festivals

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2009-04-19T11:38:13+12:00

Thanks to all who came to the Tauranga and/or Christchurch festivals recently. We had a great time! The Grand Central Band went off on the Friday night, and we had a huge crowd for the Alan Brown Trio in the Red Square on the Saturday. Sold heaps of CDs, too.

Christchurch was fun - a difficult venue for the trio, though. It was a rock-type venue - huge stage, huge PA, lights etc. However, the gig went well although the numbers were down a little. There were a number of events on that night, including the main international act, so I think we did well all things considered! The festival was extremely well-organised though, and we found some local jazzers at a small, but excellent bar after the gig. It was great to be able to play both festivals - now to find some local venues for the AB Trio...

Feb update & Chick Corea concert

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2009-02-24T19:03:14+13:00

I know it's been quite a while since a blog post - my apologies. I'll try to keep things a bit more up-to-date. :-)

On the music news front - still busy with Grand Central Band, and we're still on track to record a new CD. There have been a few delays with getting rehearsals together, and finalising a recording date, but I hope to give some firm news soon.

MAINZ has started back so right into teaching mode again! I enjoy the teaching but it can be quite draining at times. I'm going to start some Post Grad studies at Massey Uni (NZ School Of Music) this year, and will also be teaching a few piano students there, so it's going to be a busy year! I'm looking forward to it all, though.

On that note, (pardon the pun), I do intend to start Blue Train rehearsals again in 2009. It's been too long - I guess I got put off by getting turned down for a Creative NZ grant, but I plan to do things a little different. Rather than necessarily producing a CD, we may just do the online thing, and release tracks as we get them finished! We'll see, but it might be quite fun (and less pressure - and cost!)

Anyway, I went to the 5 Peace band concert the other night - Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride & Brian Blade. What an awesome experience! Having the chance to see these guys live was enough in itself, but the incredible music and intensity the band produced was simply amazing. A night I will never forget...

And if you want something COMPLETELY different, I've produced a recording of Jewish music with a couple of friends which you may be interested in checking out here: www.simcha.co.nz

Rave review of AB Trio!

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2008-12-05T14:31:53+13:00

Check out the front page for a great review of the AB Trio at the recent Whangamata Jazz Festival. We played a set on our own there, and then a set with the wonderful Caitlin Smith. We’ve got some great gigs coming up - Grand Central band at Nelson Jazz Festival, along with Tauranga, and AB Trio at Tauranga & Christchurch festivals. Looking forward to a busy 2009!

Tauranga Easter Jazz Festival

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2008-03-25T18:37:30+13:00

Well the festival was great! Awesome crowd and a lot of fun. Saturday afternoon with Grand Central was incredible. Good energy and an enthusiastic audience. We played as the Alan Brown Trio later that night which also was amazing. The crowd was smaller but no less enthusiastic! The band was amazing and the tunes took on a life of their own.

I used a new Nord C1 combo organ kindly donated by Music Planet, in conjunction with my 145 Leslie. What a sound! I'm very impressed with the Nord - the sound is the closest I've heard, the two manuals 'feel' like a Hammond, and it's very light!!! I'm sure, once my budget allows, that I would purchase one of these (even the on-board leslie effect is good!).

Reviews & Jazz Festival

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2008-03-04T15:48:10+13:00

It's been a while since the last entry, so some updates for you. There are a couple of excellent album reviews on the ABTrio page - waiting on a few more to come through soon.

We have a spot at the Tauranga Jazz Festival in Easter, along with the Grand Central Band. We are on the "Bravo Stage" - Grand Central from 1-4pm on the Saturday and Alan Brown Trio from 7-10pm that night. It's a great festival and promises to be as much fun as ever! See you there...

Album Release Gig

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-11-12T17:04:09+13:00

For those who missed it, the album release gig went extremely well on the 6th. Thanks to all who attended, and we had a great time! As for further gigs, I am in the process of sorting out some venues, and I'll be posting these when they are confirmed.

As well as being available for purchase in downloadable format, the CD can be purchased through SmokeCDs.com, and they handle local as well as international orders.

iTunes

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-10-25T17:37:09+13:00

Alan Brown Trio now on iTunes! CD available for purchase here as well. It's sounding great, and I'm very pleased with the final product. Check it out now, and watch this space, as there will be a release concert very soon...

Txttunes

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-09-10T19:16:51+12:00

The songs listed on txttunes.com are now available for purchase in the US!! Follow these links: Blue Train & Mistake Theory. A great way to purchase songs and growing ever more popular by the day.

The Alan Brown Trio album is shortly going to manufacture and will be available to purchase here soon after. Songs will also be available on txttunes.com as well as iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster etc.

Alan Brown Trio online!

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-08-24T16:08:30+12:00

OK, not quite FULLY online, as the distribution details are still being sorted out. However, I have put a new page online (Alan Brown Trio), and put up a couple of tracks for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Album Mixed

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-07-29T09:45:45+12:00

The Hammond Trio Album is now mixed (pending a few tweaks), and will soon be mastered. It's sounding great and I hope to put some teaser samples online soon.

The album will go under the name 'Alan Brown Trio' and will be titled 'About That Time'. I want to make the album available for purchase online as soon as possible (at least in a downloadable format), so subscribe to this blog to be kept informed as to the progress.

Recording completed!

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-07-16T19:57:33+12:00

After an intensive weekend session, we have finished the Hammond trio recording, managing to lay down 12 tracks in just two days! Absolutely shattered as a result though... However I'm really pleased with the result - the band sounds great. Mixing is this weekend so look out for an update (and possibly some samples), very soon.

Hammond Trio recording

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-07-09T22:37:33+12:00

The trio album is full steam ahead. Recording takes place the weekend of July 14 & 15 with mixing the following weekend. I hope to give you some (rough) samples soon after that. Really looking forward to this and working with exceptional musicians Josh Sorenson and Dixon Nacey, especially in this setting. The tunes are all pretty much ready, but I'm purposely keeping some of the arrangements and feels open-ended to give room for spontaneity in the studio.

All quiet!!

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-06-01T15:39:09+12:00

The gig scene is pretty quiet at the moment. Having lost our Sky City Sunday night gig, our only regular gig is at Grand Central bar every second Thursday!! I have been doing a little freelance as well, but it's rather a desert at the moment.

Anyway, full steam ahead for my Hammond album. Recording is now taking place on the weekend of July 14 & 15. I'm really looking forward to this and have finalised the tunes. They will be all originals apart from my arrangement of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage", and Bjork's "All Is Full Of Love". The latter choice may seem a bit different, but I love her music and this song is a perfect vehicle for this trio...

I almost forgot - there is another cover - an old Klezmer tune called Odessa Bulgar. We're going to have fun with this one, maybe give it a ska flavour. We'll see...

Hammond Trio

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-05-01T11:49:18+12:00

The latest news is that I am set to record a Hammond Trio album sometime within the next couple of months. This will feature Josh Sorenson on drums and Dixon Nacey on guitar. This is a project I have been wanting to do for some time, ever since the "Organic" album back in 1997. This current album will be much more groove oriented, however, with a lot of room for interpretation!

Watch this space for details, and I hope to have some preview samples online soon.

Tauranga Jazz Festival

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2007-04-11T10:32:58+12:00

I must apologise for my slackness in keeping this blog regular! I promise to be more onto it...

This last weekend, Grand Central Band was playing in Tauranga, as part of the Easter Jazz Festival. We had a great time - good crowds and the band were really firing. Sold heaps of CDs too. Some pics are on the Grand Central Band page (scroll along the pic viewer - the last 4 pics are the ones).

We are looking at getting into the studio soon for another album. On that front, a new Blue Train album hasn't disappeared, but it has been hard to get everyone together for rehearsals. I hope to record SOMETHING decent this year!!

I also am very keen on doing a Hammond trio project - just Hammond Organ, drums & guitar but in a soul/funk/jazz style. This 'sound' is back in vogue right now, so it's a good time to get it happening. Shouldn't take much - I just need to write a bunch of tunes, and then we can get into the studios at MAINZ (where I teach). Maybe, hopefully ALSO this year!!!

Latest news...

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-11-29T15:39:17+13:00

No podcast this time, as we haven't been rehearsing due to this being a crazy time of year, especially for those of us who teach! We missed out on a Creative NZ grant, which was a little disappointing, but not too unexpected. It's a bit of a lottery - in fact, in this latest round, there were no handouts for ANY contemporary music new works!!!

In any case, we will still record new songs. What I hope to be able to do, is record a buch at a time, as we have more than a CDs worth now, and release them online. iTunes store is rumoured to start in NZ any day now, so hopefully we can get on that bandwagon, as well as sites like txttunes.com (only local at this stage).

One idea is to also make a physical product to order, and possibly have the option of users selecting from the catalogue of tracks to include on the CD. Watch this space...!

Podcast Number 8

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-10-03T15:50:47+13:00

It's been a while, but here are rehearsal recordings of three new tunes! The first is a tune I wrote for a University composition assignment, which had to be in the style of an existing composer. The tune is called "Chick's Career" for obvious reasons! The second tune is as yet untitled, but is also for an assignment, but I've written this in a drum n' bass style. The final one is a brand new tune from Steve called "Back It Up". This is a very cool, very funky tune, sure to make it on to the new album!

We should be hearing this month as to whether our Creative NZ grant application was successful - in any case, we hope to record in November. Also be sure to check out George FM on Sunday October 8 from 2-4pm (georgefm.co.nz), as I'll be interviewed by Mark Robinson and be playing some tracks - it should be fun!!

Rehearsal 7

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-08-21T16:51:08+12:00

Ok, still moving on with the rehearsals. This one features the as-yet untitled tune from Steve, another new one from Jason, and Alan's "This Time". Now we will just work away on these tunes until we hear something from Creative NZ in October. In the meantime, we'll be also sending out demos to various potential distributors.

Bar 3 is still going well on a Sunday night with Grand Central Band. We're keeping it fairly mellow in terms of volume, but some great jazz going down nonetheless! Come on up if you're in the neighbourhood as we don't know how long the gig will keep going for...

BTW, if your iTunes is having trouble getting these, you may want to try removing the podcasts from iTunes and re-subscribing. There have been some issues with the xml RSS feed.

Demo recordings available!

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-07-21T17:06:36+12:00

We finally managed to record a 4-track demo of four of our new tunes. You can listen to them here. We're really pleased with the quality of the recordings considering they were basically just recorded live in the studio, along with leakage, buzzes, sqwarks and wrong notes! We will include them in our Creative NZ grant application which has to be in this week, as well as sending copies to possible distributors.

The rehearsals will meanwhile continue, so stay tuned for more podcasts...

Number 6

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-07-07T14:39:44+12:00

Getting closer now! Three songs in this rehearsal: 'You Just Know', 'Waiting Game' & 'Warmer Still' (along with some more craziness...). We will be recording most of these songs as a demo next Friday (14th), so I'll be able to give you a better quality preview soon after that. Spending time at the moment getting our Creative NZ application into some semblance of order as it needs to be in before the end of July. I will let you know how that all progresses. BTW, check out the MP3s on the Grand Central Band page. There's a playlist called 'Bar 3' which was recorded one Sunday night recently at Sky City. The quality wasn't too bad so I've thrown the files up on the site for your listening pleasure. This showcases how we turn cover songs into Grand Central Band styles...

Rehearsal 5...

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-06-20T10:42:08+12:00

This podcast is a little shorter in length as it features only two songs: 'State Of Mind' and 'In Fluence'. What we are doing now is finalising arrangements, so we are working on 2-3 songs per rehearsal. Very soon (in a few weeks time) we will be recording them all as a studio demo so that we can try and get funding and/or a record deal - ideally both!! :)
Grand Central Band is still going strong on Sunday nights at Bar 3 in Sky City, Auckland. Our sound tech there has recorded some of the performances from the desk and they sound pretty darn good. I will put some of these up on the Grand Central page mp3 player soon.

Number 4!

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-05-23T11:30:30+12:00

At last! A new podcast of our rehearsal! Ok, so it's been a little delayed, but hopefully worth the wait...!

Rehearsal 3

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-04-26T10:15:55+12:00

Well here we have another rehearsal for your listening pleasure! This one is rather longer, giving you a bit more insight into the craziness that is a Blue Train rehearsal!

Second rehearsal podcast

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-04-03T16:05:18+12:00

Check out the new rehearsal recording, this time featuring some different tunes than before. The quality again is a little rough, but this will only improve!

First Podcast here!!

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-03-17T16:08:06+13:00

Finally, I can now bring you the first podcast. This is just some highlights of our first rehearsal, and gives you a glimpse of the first run-throughs of a few of the new tunes.

More on MP3s and podcasts

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-03-13T10:58:53+13:00

Some of you have mentioned that the mp3 player sometimes cuts out or stops and starts. I can't find anything wrong with the player or the way it's implemented, but I think it's a traffic thing.

MP3 player

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-02-23T11:11:43+13:00

I've managed to get the player happening in a new window at last! The playlist appears below it so you can select lists for each band.

Blue Train rehearsals

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-02-21T21:42:45+13:00

We had our first rehearsal of new material last night which went extremely well. Great new songs from Steve and Jason, along with a few of my own.

Jazz Piano page

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-02-16T09:28:12+13:00

I've finally got the Jazz Piano page up and running. At this stage it's more of a trial to see if it gains interest, but once I do have an online purchasing facility, I may produce other learning resources to advertise there.

New ibook

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-02-03T14:44:10+13:00

Yay! Finally got a new 14" ibook from work. This means the start of some serious arranging...

Grand Central

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-01-13T12:09:47+13:00

Our first night back last night and we discover some alterations have been made! We are now at the other end of the bar, by the stairs (if you know the place!), on a stage - albeit a small one...

Happy New Year

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2006-01-05T22:28:44+13:00

Well, I have had a bit of a break and spent some time with the family at Coromandel (where we all came down with a stomach bug!!). However, the time away from Auckland was good...

Weekend...

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2005-12-19T10:21:33+13:00

Well, it is the silly season and I have been quite busy with gigs. This last weekend was with Roger Manins at the London Bar.

New Server

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2005-12-14T13:57:07+13:00

I've finally got this site running on a better server that handles php. In other words, the 'contact' page works as it should and won't activate your email program when you hit 'submit'!

New Blog Page!

alan@bluetrain.net.nz — 2005-12-12T13:36:53+13:00

Well here it is. I've finally gotten around to adding a blog page and hope to give you up-to-date news about what I'm up to, as well as other trivia...