TETE OCTOBER TOUR OZ

French Troubadour Tété returns to Australia in October with his own soulful blend of blues, folk and pop influences. Tété brings with him his current release, Le Sacre des Lemmings , a beautiful and charismatic album that explores concepts both political and romantic in nature. 

When Tété landed on Australian shores late last year, he wasn’t exactly a household name. An explosive first performance at Woodford Folk Festival rapidly changed that and by his second show audiences were spilling out of the venue. Word soon spread across Australia that Tété was an act not to be missed. His bilingual shows became a talking point, and Tété’s debut Australian tour went from strength to strength, with sold out shows in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as performances at Music By the Sea and Cygnet Folk Festival in Tasmania.

Influenced by the Delta Blues, Lenny Kravitz, The Beatles and Bob Dylan, his exposure to American and English pop culture provided the classroom for Tété to learn English and developed a passion for the music that would have such an impact on him.
According to veteran producer and documentary filmmaker Martin Messonnier, Tété is “one of the few young chansonniers doing something really new”.

Described as ‘terribly human’, it is no wonder Tété has been called France’s Jeff Buckley. The self-taught singer-songwriter started out playing his guitar in bars and cafés and busking on the streets of Paris. A humble beginning perhaps, but Tété is now regarded as one of France’s best songwriters and has sold over half a million records, selling out The Olympia in Paris five times in one year. A remarkable achievement for a self-taught, alternative musician.

Catch Tété’s amazing live show at the following dates and venues:

September:
Wed 24th: Arrive in Sydney
Thurs 25: Fly to New Caledonia
Fri 26th: Noumea performance @ Femmes Funk Festival
Sat 27th: Noumea performance @ Femmes Funk Festival
Sun-28: Fly out of New Cal to Brisbane
Mon 29th: Fly to Port Moresby +performance
Tues 30th: Port Moresby performance

October:
Wed1st: Fly to Melbourne from PNG
Thurs 2nd: Melbourne performance – Northcote Social Club
Fri 3: Brass Monkey, Cronulla, Sydney 
Sat 4th & Sun5: Bellingen Global Carnival
Mon 6 – Wed 8th: Time off in Byron Bay
Thurs 9th: SoundLounge, Currumbin
Fri 10th: Brisbane Judith Wright Centre
Sat 11th: Mullumbimby Civic Memorial Hall
Sun 12th: Katoomba – Triselies

Thur Oct 16th: Bega Regional Art Gallery
Fri Oct 17th: Bulli, The Heritage Hotel
Sat Oct 18th: Cairns, Tanks Arts Centre
Sun Oct 19th: Spiegeltent, Sydney Opera House.

 

Top Shelf & Towanda productions present Tjupurru in New Caledonia.
 
After already travelling to New Zealand, Japan and the USA in the past year, Tjupurru's international reputation precedes him, extending now to an invitation to spend a five week residency across New Caledonia. Tjupurru will spend be working with local musicians and collaborating with tribes in the outer islands of Lifou & Kone, educating them about Indigenous Australian art and culture as well as his specific musical stylings. Tjupurru’s visit will culminate in a series of performances at the Femmes Funk Festival. The opportunities that have come his way are a testament to his laidback but charismatic approach.
 
The Femmes Funk Festival is the signature event of the Towanda Production Association, which aims to develop the performance skills of young New Caledonian artists and enable them to perform within the local music scene, particularly involving them in events with an international aspect. Femmes Funk was designed to create an international artistic network in New Caledonia, providing local musicians with gateways to the international music scene. For Tjupurru, who is a natural collaborator and music educator, this will be a unique opportunity to create, perform and exchange.
 
With his young son Geoffrey (a prolific didj player himself) in tow, Tjupurru looks forward spreading his knowledge of his music throughout New Caledonia, with the aim of teaching enough people about the music that they can in turn teach others. The residency and Femmes Funk performances will show that language is no barrier when it comes to the power of music.

Bob Brozman October Tour

 

The American world music legend Bob Brozman, one of the most prolific and respected musicians on the planet,  returns to Australia to introduce live audiences, to not one, but two of his latest releases; Lumière and Post Industrial Blues.  Brozman, who may just be the music industry’s answer to the United Nations, is a must-see, his shows a true delight.
 
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Lumière is the culmination of guitar virtuoso Brozman’s musical memories formed over a lifetime of travelling and playing music with other musicians around the globe.  His years of absorbing influences from cultures worldwide is expressed through the establishment of the Bob Brozman Orchestra - a unique concept where Bob intricately plays each instrumental part, building layer upon layer to formulate the tremendous sound of an extensive orchestra.
 
He revisits the influences drawn from  his many previous collaborations with artists such as Debashish Bhattacharya, René Lacaille, Djeli Moussa Diawara and Takashi Hirayasu to reflect on the profound imprint travel has had on his life. The album reflects the vast range of Brozman’s influences, adopting various instruments along the way – the kantele (ten-stringed Finnish harp), the chaturangui (twenty-two-stringed Hindustani slide guitar), the tiny Greek baglama, the ten-stringed Bolivian charango, and of course the National Guitar.
 
He explores the rhythms of tango, the slide-guitar sounds of Hawaii, the maloya and sega rhythms of Réunion Island, and the African rhythms learnt from his work with Malian master kora player, Djeli Moussa Diawara. In several of his compositions he pays tribute to friends and heroes, including his Hawaiian musical hero, Tau Moe. Lumière is a musical journey; an exploration which Bob himself describes as ‘living muscle-memories that convey emotions and places; burning curiosities pursued with vigour’.
 
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Post Industrial Blues features a passionate Brozman playing and singing at his improvisational best. Brozman brings a multitude of influences to Post Industrial Blues from India, Africa, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean, but anchors it all with the rootsy sound of blues and Americana.
 
His choice of additional percussion – including an array of non-traditional instruments such as a knife blade, grass clippers, disassembled marimba pipes and a broken toy piano – give the music an almost otherworldly feel at times, but Brozman brings it all back home in his own inimitable style. The album also reunites him with bassist Stan Poplin and drummer Jim Norris, both mainstays of his earliest albums from the 1980s.
 
Throughout Post Industrial Blues, Bob Brozman enhances the stunning instrumental performances with many original and contemporary lyrics, including songs about American geo-politics (“Follow the Money” and “Crooked Blues”), Hurricane Katrina (“Look at New Orleans”), modern travel (“Airport Blues”), immigration and war (“Three Families Blues”), and the world’s orphans (“Lonely Children”).
 
All demonstrate the universality of the blues as interpreted by Brozman. He also delivers his own unique take of The Doors classic, “People Are Strange,” creating a renewed spirit of the song that pays homage to its roots while redefining it through experimental instrumentation and intonation.
 
 
www.bobbrozman.com

2008-03-03

Kaki King returns with the Foo Fighters + New Album
Kaki just cant get enough of Australia… At the personal request of Dave Grohl, she will be gracing our shores supporting and guesting with the Foo Fighters. Kaki is a busy gal these days and only Sydney and Melbourne will be getting side shows this time around. Seeing as all the Foo Fighter shows sold out in seconds… we wont be listing them, but there’s still tix for Kaki’s side shows… but they are selling FAST!
Sun 27th April @ The Corner Hotel Melbourne Phone bookings 03 9427 9198 Online bookings www.cornerhotel.com
Thursday 1st May @ Oxford Art Factory: www.oxfordartfactory.com

2008-03-03

Mamadou Diabate (Mali) – Australian tour & album release
Top Shelf is proud to present one of the worlds greatest kora players across Australia - Mamadou Diabate. For snippets of music: www.myspace.com/diabatemamadou

TOUR DATES

MARCH
Fri 7th &Sat 8th: Port Fairy Folk Festival - www.portfairyfolkfestival.com
Sun 9th: Womadelaide (w/ Toumani Diabate) - www.womadelaide.com.au
Wed 12th Brunswick Music Festival w/ Circle of Rhythm - www.brunswickmusicfestival.com.au
Fri 14th Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns: (07) 4032-6600
Sat 15th & Sun 16th: Blue Mountains Folk Festival: www.bmff.org.au
Mon 17th The Vanguard, Sydney w/ Bobby Singh (tabla) & Joseph Tawadros (oud) – thevanguard.com.au
Thurs 20th – Sun 23rd East Coast Blues & Roots Festival – www.bluesfest.com.au

Mamadou Diabate was born in 1975 in Kita, a Malian city long known as a center for the arts and culture of the Manding people of West Africa. Mamadou comes from a family of griots, or jelis as they are known among the Manding.

Jelis are more than just traditional musicians. They use music and sometimes oratory to preserve and sustain people's consciousness of the past, a past that stretches back to the 13th century.

Mamadou began learning the Kora from his father at the age of 4. In Bamako, Mamadou studied with his famous cousin, Toumani Diabate who gave Mamadou the nickname "Djelika Djan" meaning "Tall Griot," a reference to Mamadou's impressive physical stature. The name has stuck.

Mamadou has played with the greatest world and jazz musicians in the world on stages across the globe including jazz luminaries Donald Byrd and Randy Weston, Zimbabwean legend Thomas Mapfumo, and blues masters Eric Bibb and Guy Davis.

Mamadou Diabate’s first solo album was nominated for a Grammy. He now proudly releases his next solo album in Australia – DOUGA MANSA. Diabate says: “Douga Mansa means King Vulture. The symbol of the vulture in my culture means patience. The West African vulture doesn't kill; it waits patiently for death to come, then it is rewarded. Douga Mansa also refers to recycling of the life that was lost, a necessary and healthy process. This purifies life. This song was influenced by my father, Djelimory N’fa Diabate.”


And the press says…..
  "...sparkling technique... compelling rhythmic groove... flair for making this ancient instrument sound as though it was invented yesterday... RootsWorld

   "Diabate never lets his flying fingers get in the way of the melody. He's a master at marrying the music of several different cultures… Bob McMullough, The Boston Globe

       “Mamadou Diabate just makes brilliant music... beautiful, soulful precision... exceptionally creative..." -Miami New

2008-03-03

Jeff Lang – Japan, BluesFests Nationally & NEW ALBUM!

 

P-Vine Japan released their own compilation of Jeff Lang’s music and produced Jeff Lang’s first tour. All shows were sold out two weeks in advance. Jeff will return before the end of the year for an extensive national Japanese tour. Jeff Lang will be visiting all the Easter Blues Festivals in Australia this year, for more info: www.bluesfest.com Jeff will be releasing his highly anticipated new album “Half Seas Over” via ABC/WARNERS on April 26th following it up with an extensive six week national tour. Stay tuned for more details.

2007-11-13
MICE PARADE (NYC)
Debut at the Sydney Festival



Top Shelf proudly presents Fat Cat recording artists MICE PARADE for their debut shows in Australia @ The Sydney Festivals Spiegeltent

Booking info: www.sydneyfestival.org.au

Mice Parade was originally the solo project of New Yorker Adam Pierce.

From its outset this project has repeatedly exploded the possibilities of instrumental based music.

Reminiscent of the folk-tinged electronica of Múm, ‘Loveless’ era My Bloody Valentine, or the esoteric cut and paste of Fourtet, Mice Parade have nevertheless managed to create a sound of their own, melding song, melody and rhythmic exploration. The sound is essentially modern, flavoured by an esoteric palette, while retaining a familiar acoustic presence by drawing on folk and world influences.

Simultaneously introspective and inviting, Mice Parade is in turns ambient, percussive, acoustic and electronic; it’s a sonically rich, musically diverse project, that utilises songs, instrumentals and interludes to create a whole pervasive entity. Reflecting the eclectic instrumentation of Mice Parade’s recorded output, the line-up of the touring band includes two drumkits, both nylon and electric guitars, vibraphones, keyboards, old synths, violin and cheng (Chinese harp).

Mice Parade is an anagram for Adam Pierce who has also drummed in The Swirlies, The Dylan Group, HiM and múm, ran the Bubble Core label and distribution company and now runs Fat-Cat USA.

2007-11-13

JEFF LANG
France tour and album release

Never one to draw breath, Jeff Lang departs Adelaide from his time as “Artist in Residence” for the inaugural Adelaide International Guitar Festival to hit Europe running for a headline tour across France in support of the Lickshot/Wagram release of his Aria Award nominated album, Whatever Makes You Happy”. By the way… did you know that Jeff Lang has been nominated for 6 Arias? Amazing… All French shows are with Aussie compatriot Mick Hart.

6th dec: PARIS (Divan du Monde)
7th dec: LILLE
8th dec: METZ (Les Trinitaires)
11th dec: STRASBOURG (La Laiterie)
12th dec: LYON (Le Marché de La Gare)
13th dec: MARSEILLE (Le Poste à Galène)
14th dec: BORDEAUX (Barbey Rock School)
15th dec: TOULOUSE (Havana Café)
17th dec: PARIS (Divan du Monde)

01.10.07
Top Shelf presents the following International tours this summer. Please contact Jordan @ Topshelf for more info:

What a year it’s been for Kaki King. Beginning with a mostly sold out debut tour of Australia in January, she then went on to return at Easter for The Blues Festival, Great Escape and West Coast Blues n Roots. In February 2007, Rolling Stone Magazine (USA) included her in their list of the all-time greatest guitarists in the world – the only woman to be honoured this way, and one of the youngest guitarists on the list.
Of late, Kaki has been invited to play on albums with some of the hottest acts in the world, including indie darlings Tegan & Sara’s latest offering “The Con”, where Kaki played lap steel on “Knife Going In” and guitar on “Floorplan”. Kaki also plays lap steel on “Fall Apart” the last track on “Can I Keep This Pen”, the upcoming release from American female rap/ hip hop group Northern State.
But perhaps of most interest to Australians is the invitation Kaki received from Dave Grohl to play guitar on tracks for the Foo Fighters’ new album “Echos, Silence, Patience and Grace” due for release in September this year. Kaki performs on a number of tracks, including the “Battle of the Beaconsfield Miners” the track dedicated to Tasmanian miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell by Grohl after Webb famously requested Foo Fighter songs during their ordeal.
In a Billboard article talking about the album, Dave Grohl said of Kaki: “This song is almost banjo-picking style with hammer-ons and pull-offs, I showed it to her (Kaki) once and she shredded it 10 times better than I've ever played it."
Kaki has also dabbled in film score work, being invited to work on Sean Penn’s upcoming movie “Into The Wild”, which also features the work of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Argentinean musician, film composer and producer Gustavo Santaolalla. Kaki also recorded two tracks for the upcoming Warner Brothers film August Rush, starring Freddie Highmore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Robin Williams. She also appears in the film as a guitar-playing hand double.

KAKI KING NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 TOUR

Thursday 22nd	Visy Theatre, Powerhouse	Brisbane	www.brisbanepowerhouse.org
Friday 23rd	Visy Theatre, Powerhouse	Brisbane	www.brisbanepowerhouse.org
Saturday 24th	Wah-Bar, AIGF	Adelaide	www.bass.net.au
Sunday 25th	Elder Park, AIGF	Adelaide	www.bass.net.au
Wednesday 28th	The Clarendon	Katoomba, NSW	www.clarendonguesthouse.com.au
Thursday 29th	The Heritage Hotel	Bulli, NSW	www.heritagehotel.com.au
Friday 30th	The Studio, Sydney Opera House	Sydney	www.sydneyoperahouse.com
Saturday 1st	Spiegeltent	Melbourne	www.ticketmaster.com.au
Sunday 2nd	Elder Park, AIGF	Adelaide	www.bass.net.au

02.05.07
The creator of Frank will be touring Australia in late May–June 2007.
Launch events for this tour include:
The Studio, Sydney Opera House: 25th & 26th May. To book: (02) 9250 7777
The Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns: 2nd June
These events will involve specially curated and produced shows care of Top Shelf, involving: 25 minute screening of select cuts from Visions of Frank, a collection of wild Frank animations by some of Japan's most innovative and idiosyncratic film makers (and one by Jim himself). Each piece is an interpretation of a classic Frank comic and is scored by musicians from Japan and the USA.
A 30 minute musical interlude, consisting of live and improvised scores to comic strips and original Woodring paintings... musical and visual collaborations and experimentations with some of Australia's most versatile and creative musicians: JEFF LANG, MICHAEL LIRA and PETER HOLLO (FourPlay).
A 20 minute live visual projection and reading by Jim Woodring entitled Lazy Robinson.
A 15 minute question and answer session with Jim Woodring.
Exhibitions will be held at the Tanks Arts Centre (Cairns), Books Kinokuniya (Sydney), and Fracture Gallery, Federation Square (Melbourne).
For more information on Jim Woodring, please visit www.jimwoodring.com