Merry Yueltide from All the Gang at Groove

Do your bit for the Welly jazz scene!

For 8 years now, Groove has been privately funded. That fund is no longer available. We don't get any money whatsoever from NZ on air, WCC, grants, or the government. In fact, all we get is a bit from our lovely advertisers but it's not enough to keep the station on-air. If you enjoy Groove, you owe it to yourself and other Wellingtonians with style and musical taste to click the button below and help us in our time of need!

People pay up to $70 a month for subscriber TV so how bad would $20 every now and then be to ensure you can listen to your favourite music on Wellington's locally owned and operated cafe style radio station, the only one of its kind in NZ. (Click the button below). You can also call us on 381-4766 to set up an auto payment or make a credit card payment over the phone.

Pay as much or as little as you can and we'll love you for ever!

Find yourself feeling down by the end of the week? Starting in January, Bryan Howard again brings us 'Reflections' at 5.45 Friday nights; A thought for the week and your antidote to the weeks negativity.

Remember you can catch the news on Groove with the 'Independent Network News', proudly Kiwi but not Auckland centric! Weekdays at 1pm, 5pm and 6pm on Groove 107.7FM. Incidentally, news sponsorship is available at only $70 per week including naming rights and promos!

More news soon!

Groovemiester

Shakin' them Lovely Bones on the Red Carpet

Peter Jackson's New Movie:
The Lovely Bones Premieres at the Embassy, courtenay Place!

The Coffee Bar Kid was on hand with camera earlier in the day to photograph the laying of the red plush for the event. Our tickets must have been lost in the mail.

WOMAD hits the 'Naki, Once Again!

We, at Groove are super excited. We popped along to Parliament last Tuesday and were a part of the launch of WOMAD, a major side project of the Taranaki Arts Festival. Last year was a blast and this year will be even better. Dean and Tim are planning again to head up to New Plymouth and will be crossing live to the studio, blogging and posting on the Weekend of 12-14 March.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. What's on offer? Well among the events are over 6 stages with constant acts, a kids area that is better than any crech+library+craft house you ever went to. Then there's camping, circulating arts events, a monks' tent (from Tibet) and food galore (not hot dogs and chips but real good local and international stuff!) not to mention an international market.

Artists to watch, (assuming you have time!) Are: Calexico (very excited about them), Don McGlashin's reincarnation; the Bellbirds, a 10 piece called Babylon Circus; Eddi Reader (Fairground attraction - It's got to be...Perfect!); Eliades Ochoa from the Buena Vista Social Club; Ethiopiques (One of the original funksters from that part of the world) Hypnotic Brass Ensemble ( the Eight siblings of Sun Ra's Trumpeter, Phil Cohran); Newcomer Iva Lankum from Welli; Rapper Ladi 6 LA mitchell from NZ and heaps more.

You gotta GO this year! We'll be doing a pile of special features leading up to the festival so stay tuned!

Keep on Groovin'

http://www.womad.co.nz/

Groove is clean again!

What do I mean by that???

For around 6 weeks or more we have actually been broadcasting a 'messy' signal through no fault of our own. George FM have admitted that they have been 'overmodulating' (basically broadcasting too loud) with the result that they spilling over the band and affecting the link between our studio and transmitter and causing our on-air sound to be full of static a lot of the time.

They haven't corrected things at their end although they promised to about a month ago but the good news is that we have forked out and upgraded some gear at our end to stop their interference and Groove should be sounding better than ever (we've also fine tuned our audio processing).

Please tell you friends and Whanau to tune back in and stay tuned for more news shortly...

Groovemiester.

Breaking News - Fly My Pretties do a 2 nd Welli Show - Yeha!

The Pretties havwe added a Second Welli Show: Sat 13 June - St James Theatre to their gig guide. Fly My Pretties is New Zealand's favourite live multimedia event starring a selection of our finest contemporary musicians, set to a stunning visual backdrop and filmed and recorded live! An absolute must see, the new show is sure to set your imagination alight and indulge your senses with future and past Pretties classics.

Led by The Black Seeds front man Barnaby Weir, the new Fly My Pretties will deliver plenty of fresh ingredients to keep the shows surprising and progressive. The Return of Fly My Pretties shows in 2005 sold out quickly nationwide so don't miss your chance to be a part of this extraordinary experience. Tickets are on sale NOW!
Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch tickets are available here from Ticketek.
Dunedin tickets are available here from TicketDirect.
Show dates:
Christchurch: Fri 22 May - Isaac Theatre Royal
Dunedin: Fri 29 May - The Regent
Auckland: Thurs 4 June, Fri 5 June, Sat 6 June - Sky City Theatre
Wellington: Fri 12 June - St James Theatre

The line up includes:

Singer Anna Coddington, Barnaby Weir, Mike Fabulous, Tom Watson, Riki Gooch, Ryan Prebble, Jarney Murphy and Nigel Patterson(all of Black Seeds), Bluegrass Specialist Eva Prowse, Christchurch Funk Diva (Lauren) L.A. Mitchell, Our own Lisa Tomlins, Mara T.K, Nathan (Nato) Hickey, Paul McLaney (Gramski), Rio Hunuki-Hemopo (Trinity Roots) and Tessa Rain.

Back on Air - Tonight Thurs 23 @ 6 - Adventures of the Coffeebar Kid

Yep the Kid is back in the House and spinning up a storm. On tonite's prog: The latest from JJ Cale; Kiwis An Emerald City; Kora goes to the Cabaret (Voltaire), plus a review of the Pink Panther 2 - all this and more only tonite at 6 - C u Latte!

http://www.kora.co.nz/
http://www.jjcale.com/
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepinkpanther2/

Groove at WOMAD

The Coffee Bar Kid and DJ Dean had a fantastic time at WOMAD 2009 in New Plymouth. Huge ups to Lauren Clough and Lisa Mullen and all the fantastic people in the Media Centre. We rubbed shoulders with Natasha Atlas, Members of the Jerry Can Band, Anika Moa, Mihirirangi, Shona Laing and Warren Maxwell from little Bushman, amongst many others. We took many photos and you can see those on our flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/groove1077fm. Highlights would be Seun Kuti (son of Fela) who's live energetic show was amazing - the man is tall and dominant on stage - challenging the "rulers" of Africa he communicated with his audience with his funk overdrive. Dean commented that the guitarist was able to maintain the same chord riff for over 20 minutes. Apparently their timing is within 1000th of a Second - It showed. Little Bushman was another highlight, as was meeting Warren Maxwell - whom we interviewed - stayed tuned for details of when that will play. Warren was definitely buzzing after his performance.

If you've never been to the Bowl of Brooklands, you are missing a treat. A natural vocanic bowl, it makes a oerfect ampitheatre, music from the mainstage drifts up through the bowl. We arrived on Friday night and the sounds of an Indian Group was wafting around the setting. The night was very still and the lighting of trees, awnings and the Gables (an old house once used as a hospital) was very pretty, very serene.

The WOMAD venue had 7 stages, all changing each hour. Seun Kuti commented that he'd never performed with a clock on stage. Artists get exactly an hour to play, then in the hour's down time the crew set up for the new show. Meanwhile on another stage, or even two new acts are going on. To cover the possibility of missing an act all artists perform at least twice.

Acts we made sure to catch on the second show were Gurrumal and Dengue Fever. Gurrumal, , Blind from birth, is a very shy yet still charasmatic performer. He was very gentle on stage simply singing and playing with his small band, but clearly in charge.

Dengue Fever are an interesting act, a band fronted by a genuine Cambodian pop star, and 'staffed' by a Sikh, a very tall Afro American, a Moslem (I think) and a Chinese drummer, a truley international band. These guys were certainly an eye opener, as was the film about their trip back to Cambodia and their interest in Cambodian surf music, which played after their show that night.

Other highlights were the Children's Parade. WOMAD has taken care to include children, who were everywhere at this event. There was a large kids area with a zoo, crafts, music and entertainment, plus a project to work towards: the kids parade - all the kids made the banners, floats, signs and all the costumes. Well done to all who participated. And to the Otters in the petting zoo - enjoy the quiet days ahead, it's all over now.

But what isnt over is the interviews and music we brought back. Over the next few weeks the Coffee Bar Kid will bring you sights and Sounds and Musical samples from WOMAD 2009 - checkout Adventures of the Coffee Bar Kid - Thurs 6-8 PM only on Groove 107.7 FM. And now back to the music....

Groove goes to Womad 13 - 15 March

Yes you heard right. Groove will be at WOMAD in the 'Naki all weekend. We'll bring back interviews, photos and hopefully some CDs too. It should be a fantastic weekend. Groove will be in full on camp and groove festival mode. Stay tune for more reports from the big festival. In the mean time check out the line up and the events at Womad. Go to : http://www.womad.co.nz/

Wellington Jazz Festival - Check Out the Pictures

Click the Image or go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/wellingtonjazzfestival/

Otis Taylor - Wellington Jazz Festival 5 March 2009

Despite a few technical hitches with pedals, Otis and Dughter Cassie managed to pull off a great informal blues soaked nite. Cassie, his daughter who plays bass came out singing an a capella version of 'Mona Lisa' before Otis strung up his banjo for a few no.s from his atest 'Recapturing' the banjo. bluegrass this aint as he pointed out this is African music. Otis who originally hails from Chicago later demonstated his Hambones, a knee slapping,rhytm thing which he extended to a song accompanied by two impromtu 'dancers' he'd plucked from a visit to Te Papa earler that day. the guys were on stage performing Haka in tie to Otis' harmonica and Cassie's throbbing bass. An interesting, humerous twist. You couldnt really say that Taylor was all blues but his stuff has appeal at many levels. His version of 'Hey Joe', a rare cover brought the house down, especially the guitar solo performed by one of his band mates ('When BB King plays my songs, I'll ply his"). Taylor uses a throbbing strum, in a cyclic motion to build up the rythm section of his songs, no drums required, although in his case un-needed. He uses distortions, via the elusive wah-wah peddle to create sound scapes ove which come the convention and familiar gravelly vocals and singalong choruses. Initially I was sceptical of his inclusion at a Jazz Festival, as he's more a pop/blues thing. but over all, and given his popularity with the crowd, this was a great and enjoyful choice.

Check our Photo album for more photos of the gig.

Photos of the Pacific Blue Lounge - Jazz Festival 4 Mar 200

Wellington Jazz Festival - And Otis Taylor

Wednesdays Night kicked off the Wellingotn Jazz Festival with a very nice Corpoarate do and some fine music. The Pacific Blue Lounge, the major venue for the festival is actually the Wellington Town Hall. With a difference: By 'recycling' the floor from Last Year's festival show 'The Black Watch' back into the Edwardian designed Town Hall, the crew have raised the floor to the level of the 1st flr Balcony: 'We lowered the ceilng by raining the floor' - fran Wilde Festival Chairwoman. Cassie Taylor, daughter and Bassist for Otis, told the assembled that they'd 500 8 yr olds earlier that day 'testing' it out, as part of a workshop they held - and the floor was safe. thank mingus for that!

The intro evening went off wth a Bag! The Kid met Kirsten Johnstone from Music 101, Cassie Taylor, Members of Twinset and Fat Freedy's Drop plus Chilean Bandleader Cristian Cuttorufo (who played one wicked jam during the intro nite). Also plaing was LA Mitchell (Who brought the house down with her powerful voice, especially on Hall and Oates' "Rich Girl"), Mike Nock who palyed some introspective ditties and Otis Taylor - who'd already done a blues for Children workshop earlier that day ( See pic above).

The Coffee Bar Kid is in two minds about this year's festival. While this year it's gone big time as an alternation with the International Arts Fesitval and run by the International Arts Festival Team, the underground, skoey independence has gone. Gone, too is the intimacy of some of the venues. the Pacific Blue Lounge is great, but still an auditorium. BUT, but this year's international line up far supercedes what previous festivals could attain, given the sponsorship deals and team now on the board. Let us thank many times over the previous chairs and organisers and thank the new crews too for a great Festival. Last year's Venue Happy was just a little too dingy, so the new venue the Pacific Blue Lounge, uplifts and does give one the chance to pack in the Punters.

I also want to personally thank Sarah at Transmit, who understands that while Groove is a smaller pplayer, we can contribut to the Media mix. Sarah sends us CDs, interviewees and keeps us in the loop re the festival and many other artist endevours - Kia Ora, Sarah! Oh and love those funky hats!

The Kid took a couple of Photos of thePacific Blue Note which are on the next Blog - Check 'em out.

Laters - Coffee Bar Kid

We're BACK!

Hey. Hey. Coffee Bar Kid Here and back on line. Life has been full on for the Groove Crew. Dean has had a new Kidney replacement, The Kid's new daugther, Katie was born on 15/2 (Forever to be known as DJ Demitasse - get it), and the Wellington Jazz Festival is up and running. Plus, Groove Goes to WOMAD in New Plymouth next week. Whew!

OK, first tings first. Big ups to the mysterious donor who provided Dean, our Station Manager with the kidney. Dean had been suffering from a condition that slowly saw the shut down of both hiskidneys and had already forced him on to dialysis. thanks to the gerous donation, Dean was able to re-gain his life, and dignity again. it also meant he could look forward to working full time again (Dialysis involves long periods of down time while the 'blood cleaning' process goes on - 12 hours every 2 nights on average, it varies) What that means, is that the possibility of leading a life, less a night life is severly restricted. When Dean went on holiday a couple of years ago he had to drop into prescheduled hospitales to dialise - you get the idea of how diabilitating this can be. So long story short, Dean's op went well last year and an enjoyable, relef-ful, Xmas was held. Dean's now back on his feet, gainful employment has smiled on him, and perhaps love, too. Yes you heard right. Welcome to the lovely Pam, who is frequenting Dean's new life.

Speaking of Greeting, the Kid would like to say a big Theankyou to Katie-Kat - who has now departed us to Christchurch. Rergular Thursday listeners will have heard her and the Kid on Air late last year getting up to all hhi-Jinx. We'll Miss Ya, Kat. Aroha!

And welcome to the new Kat. Bearly 2 weeks old she's already grooving to Sola Rosa's new album, Kate Elizabeth Gruar joined the home crew at the Kid's house on 15 February, after the usual birthing excitements. Kate, DJ Demitasse, to you, loves pink, milk and sleeping but is keeping her options open - not dought her sister McKenzie will be looking for oppotunities to subject her to Hi-Five and Hannah Montana. But you'll be please to know, Baby Jazz, the CD is very big at the residence right now, thanks Mingus for that!

Speaking of Mingus, the Mingus Big Band plus loads of others are at the Wellington Jazz Festival this week! Yo Yo Mama! As is the Sexy Melainie Pain, whom I saw in a little off-festival bar show last nite, what a voice, babies! Sarah at Transmit very kindy hooked the Groove team up with some Tickets to see shows, Roy Ayers and Otis Taylor were fan froggin'tastic. See my review on the next blog.

Finally Groove will be doing the Do at WOMAD (you heard us!) Next weekend (13-15 March) in the 'Naki. The artist list is massive check the links for the scedule - Looking forward to seeing Anika Moa, Speed Caravan, Gurrumul and Fat Freddy's Drop to name but a few.

Well I gotta blog more often - my fingers are burnin' Blog soon Groovers, Ka kite Anou - Coffee Bar Kid