Flute Teaching in Melbourne

For the last 10 years I have taught flute in my home studio in Perth and now in Kensington, VIC as well as in Primary and Secondary schools. I have always loved teaching as I find watching the students grow as musicians to be an exciting and fulfilling experience. In my one-on-one teaching I find using a variety of teaching methods to be benefitial to the learning process. In lessons I often draw from my knowledge of Classical music, Jazz, Contemporary, World Music and Improvisation.

During my time as a teacher, I have also been fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to work for the Starlight Children's Foundation creating and conducting music workshops for hospitalised adolescents. My experience with the Foundation was extremely fulfilling and allowed me to exercise my passion for teaching in a very different way.



I am currently teaching in my home studio in Kensington, VIC. Please contact me via email to secure a place.

ashahenfry@gmail.com

FEES:
Half hour lesson (recommended for beginners) = $30
One hour lesson = $50

I'm going to be a button accordionist extraordinaire!!

The other day I was given the most beautiful instrument by my parents, a gorgeous little button accordion ( or melodeon). It was bought off Ebay from a man in New Zealand and is in great condition. Made in Germany by Hohner, it would be very interesting to find out where it's come from and how old it is.

While at high school I did actually have some piano accordion lessons on my Opi's (Grandfather) old Hohner but I just found it too big and heavy for my poor little hands and arms. So this one is perfect! Tiny in size but not in sound!

Here's a video of an amazing button accordionist playing a Hohner which is almost identical to mine. His name is Bobby Gardiner. He's apparently legendary, but me being new to this scene have never heard of him. He is pretty incredible with those buttons!!

EPK for Brazil

Have a look at our EPK for Brazil. Some great pics, footage and music.

Jarrah Thompson Band in Brazil!!

It's still hard to believe it's happening, but in a couple of weeks time on the 2nd of July the Jarrah Thompson Band will depart Melbourne in a jet plane bound for Brazil. We will be in Brazil for 6 weeks playing 22 live performances at significant venues and festivals and recording an album. The album will have a different vibe to the 2008 release of Stargazer, with a more raw and live sound.

It's going to be an amazing journey for us all, sharing our music with the people of Brazil!

Check out the Jarrah Thompson Band tour website (in Portugese, but still worth a look): http://jarrahinbrazil.wordpress.com/

Here's the tour outline:

8 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Armazén Bar,Bauru,SP,BRAZIL
9 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: St. Patrick's Pub,Sao Carlos,SP,BRAZIL
10 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Bar da Montanha,Limeira,SP,BRAZIL
15 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Rio Rock & Blues Club,Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BRAZIL
16 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: New York Pub,Poços de Caldas, MG, BRAZIL
17 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Vitrola Bar, Londrina, PR, BRAZIL
18 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Vila Dionísio, S.J. do Rio Preto, SP, BRAZIL
22 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Casa do Rock, Araraquara, SP, BRAZIL
23 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Clube do Vinil,Americana, SP, BRAZIL
24 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Cia Paulista Música & Bar Rio Claro, SP, BRAZIL
25 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Vila Dionísio, Ribeirão Preto, SP, BRAZIL
29 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: John Bull PUB, Curitiba, PR, BRAZIL
30 Jul 2010,11:00 PM: Ahoy Tavern Club, Blumenau, SC, BRAZIL
3 Aug 2010,11:00 PM: Casa Meva, Criciúma, SC, BRAZIL
4 Aug 2010,11:00 PM: Mississippi Delta Blues Bar, Caxias do Sul, RS, BRAZIL
5 Aug 2010,11:00 PM: John Bull PUB, Porto Alegre, RS, BRAZIL
7 Aug 2010,11:00 PM: Delta Blues, Campinas, SP, BRAZIL
8 Aug 2010,11:00 PM: Floresta Estadual Edmundo Navarro(STATE FOREST,Rio Claro,SP,BRAZIL)
12 Aug 2010,11:00 PM: Estação Cultural,Piracicaba, SP, BRAZIL

The BIGGEST flute in the world!!

Was doing some research on amplifying flutes actually, but stumbled across this great video and had to share it with you! I'll let you know when I've figured out the best solution for amplifying a flute, it's a tricky one!

This is possibly the silliest and most amazing instrument ever invented, the subcontrabass flute! ENJOY!

Melbourne International Jazz Festival

Melbourne...what a great place to be living! It's a never ending festival! There's never a shortage for something to see and do, to get inspired and to see some good live music. From May 1st the Melbourne International Jazz Festival starts, going for a full week. Being a flute player myself, I'm always on the look out for jazz saxophonists who also play flute. They are always an inspiration to see, with their amazing improvisatory skills and awesome technique. One concert I was particularly interested in seeing was 'Sangam' with Eric Harland, Charles Lloyd and Zakir Hussain. As you may have already read, I have a particular fascination with Indian music and Zakir Hussain is someone I have been wanting to see in concert for a long time. He is one of the most famous tabla players in the world, playing with a whole variety of musicians. Charles Lloyd is a multi-instrumentalist, and a great flute player.

Here is the Charles Lloyd Quartet with Charles on flute in 1972, unfortunately there is no video footage for this one but the music is great.




If your interested in the Sangam trio check this out. It's a bit of a doco on how the trio came about and includes some beautiful performances.

Jarrah Thompson Band at Sunbury.

Last weekend Jarrah Thompson Band was invited to perform at the Sunbury Backroad Music Festival, just on the outskirts of Melbourne. Back in the day this was an iconic festival attracting an average of 45,000 people each year. Sunbury was Australia's Woodstock. Bands included Chain, Madder lake, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Max Merritt, Skyhooks, Spectrum, Deep Purple and Sherbet. This year the festival had tried to be re-created with the return of legendary Australian bands Madder Lake, Spectrum and Chain plus some newer acts. Unfortunately the scene this year was not anywhere near the 45,000 mark, nevertheless we had a great time on stage. This was our first live performance of a whole pile of new songs and after being in a rehearsal room for months it was a welcome change. We finally had a chance to let all that energy out, it felt great.

Here's some videos from the night: