PO BOX 1064 is no longer active - 04-December-2008
Apologies to anyone who has written to me via the POBOX 1064. The address is no longer valid and I may have not received your mail. Please send emails to info@julieohara.com
Recordings available soon - 04-December-2008
'All in the one room', all original compositions, performed recently at Queenscliffe Festival and the Spiegeltent, featuring Ben Winkelman on piano, Leigh Barker on bass, Eamon McNelis on trumpet and Kelsey James and Julie O'Hara on vocals with some special guests. A dash of latin, laced with pop and infused with jazz...
Julie O'Hara sextet - 'vocalese project'
O'Hara has written original lyrics to instrumental tunes and horn solos, in the spirit of vocalese. Featured composers include: Lee Morgan, Dizzie Gillespie, Hank Mobley, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Parker, Blue Mitchell, Cannonball Adderley. Recent performances at the Wagarratta Jazz Festival 2008 and Bennett's Lane Jazz Club.
Band line up: Ben Winkelman on piano, Leigh Barker on bass, Eamon McNelis on trumpet, Carlo Barbaro on tenor saxophone, Edward York on drums, Julie O'Hara on vocals.
Touring Denmark Jazz Festivals, 2009 - 22-September-2008
We are very happy to announce our plans to travel to Denmark in 2009 to perform at the Riverboat Jazz Festival in Silkeborg and Femu jazz festival, with other festivals and dates to be revealed over the coming months.
The band line up will feature a blend of Australian and Danish musicians. The Australian musicians confirmed are: Vocalist, Julie O'Hara
Clarinetist/vocalist, Chris Tanner
Guitarist/vocalist, Peter Baylor.
Stay tuned for more information.
Bring on the Danish summer and Danish audiences!! Tak!
All About Jazz, New York Review of Smoke Rings (2007) & Papermoon (2004), by Suzanne Lorge 2007 - 02-April-2007
Julie O'Hara: ...Paper Moon & Smoke Rings
Published: March 3, 2007
By Suzanne Lorge
To read the article and check out the All About Jazz Magazine web site and other articles, visit http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=24780
George Washingmachine/Julie O'Hara
'Paper Moon' New Market Music
Julie O'Hara 'Smoke Rings'
JOH
2006
On Australia-based singer Julie OHaras two recent releases, ...Paper Moon and Smoke Rings, she and her cohorts present themselves as a convivial bunch and their varied output suffers not a bit for the whimsy.
Maintaining composure might have proved difficult beside a fellow with the name George Washingmachine, but O'Hara is always well-modulated and in control, even when she and Washingmachine go head to head on their solos. Washingmachine is hardly mere comic relief; he plays a mean violin and applies his smokey baritone dextrously as both a backup and lead singer. Their precise, laid-back rhythmic understanding is accentuated by Andy Ross driving basslines, Ben Johnsons graceful piano and Lyn Wallis responsive drumming, giving the disc a retrobut very hipfeel.
Besides some classics like Anything Goes and a moderate Everything Happens To Me - there are some surprises, like If I Only Had A Brain from The Wizard Of Oz. OHara and Washingmachine each contribute an original: The latters clever Pretty As A Picture and the formers bright uptempo Jump Up Swing It . Washingmachine also created the CDs cover art: a group of six musicians cutting up beneath an oversized yellow moon, clearly having a good time.
On Smoke Rings, a casual read of the song titles incorrectly suggests a more traditional vocal jazz CD. The treatment of these standard tunes is anything but predictable: OHara and her polished rifftet move adroitly among so many different styles that its a challenge to categorize the tunes. On the title cut, for instance, OHara breaks the country blues feel with a sophisticated scat, Chris Tanner adds rococo, prebop clarinet and guitarist Peter Baylor (also on ...Paper Moon) interjects some hearty blues licks.
Baylor and Tanner lock harmonies with OHara on Squeeze Me , whoop the chorus in Nat King Coles Lets Make More Love and Tanners clarinet leads on two instrumental cuts, Clarinet Marmalade and Lester Youngs Tickle-Toe . OHaras rhythm section - Mark Elton (bass) and Raj Jayaweera (drums) - also deserves as much credit for the discs success.
Paper moons and smoke rings, like whimsy, are ephemera that soon evaporate. OHara and her bands musical savvy is anything but illusory, however.
Tracks and Personnel
...Paper Moon
Tracks: It's Only A Paper Moon; Indian Summer; You Always Hurt The One You love; Lover Come Back To Me; If I Only Had A Brain; Lazy Bones; Anything Goes; Pretty As A Picture; If I could Be With You; Three Bears; I'll Get By; Moon Glow; Jump Up swing It; Little White Lies; Everything Happens To Me; Just You, Just Me.
Personnel: Julie O'Hara: vocals; George Washingmachine: violin, vocals; Ben Johnson: piano; Peter Baylor: guitar; Lyn Wallis: drums; Andy Ross: bass..
Smoke Rings
Tracks: I Hear Music; Body & Soul; On The Bumpy Road To Love; Living In A Dream; Clarinet Marmalade; Let's Make More Love; Smoke Rings; Stardust; Blues Stay Away; From This Moment On; Lullaby in Rhythm; Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me); Tickle-Toe.
Personnel: Julie O'Hara: vocals; Peter Baylor: guitar, vocals; Chris Tanner: clarinet, vocals; Mark Elton: acoustic bass; Raj Jayaweera: drums.
Suzanne Lorge is a singer and writer/editor living in Manhattan.
This article first appeared in All About Jazz: New York.
Julie O'Hara Rifftet - 'Smoke Rings' CD review , The Age - 05-July-2006
Smoke Rings
Ken Williams, Reviewer
June 30, 2006
rating: ***/4
Jazz quintet Julie O'Hara Rifftet deliver scintillating interplay between members.
Smoke Rings: scintillating.
Artist: Julie O'Hara Rifftet
Genre: Jazz/Blues
Label: independent
As you read this, the Julie O'Hara Rifftet will be making fun in the midnight sun. This swinging set by the Melbourne jazz quintet was recorded to accompany a tour to Denmark.
O'Hara's vocals, at once cool and sultry, focus the ensemble of Peter Baylor (guitar, vocals), Chris Tanner (clarinet, vocals), Mark Elton (bass) and Raj Jayaweera (drums). The interplay is scintillating, O'Hara, Baylor and Tanner sparring and dancing around the rhythm section. As Tanner soars, Baylor dips and O'Hara answers with inventive scatting.
A snapshot? Perhaps Anita O'Day in consort with Oscar Moore. The album opens on a high note - I Hear Music, from a long-forgotten 1940 musical, Dancing on a Dime. Then follow standards such as Body and Soul, Stardust (Tanner takes a charming vocal lead) and From This Moment On, with an edge-of-the-seat scat vocal-drum dialogue.
Blues Stay Away From Me, the Delmore Brothers' bluesy country croon, fits beautifully into Rifftet's evocation of 1940s nightclub ambience. O'Hara's original, Living in a Dream, passes muster amid the work of Porter, Carmichael and Ellington.
NY Cadence Magazine Review of "Papermoon", March 2005 p.122 - 23-February-2006
GEORGE WASHINGMACHINE & JULIE O'HARA, PAPERMOON, NEWMARKET 3158
Washingmachine, vcl, vin;O'Hara, vcl; Peter baylor, g;Ben Johnson, p; andy Ross, b; Lyn Wallis, d; Melbourne, Australia
"Features lovely vocal duets and solo Trad Jazz interpretations by George Washingmachine and Julie O'Hara. Backed by rhythm guitar, walking bass, a sparkling piano and a swinging drummer, the duo relaxes in a session filled with fun. He lends an expressive male voice to the program, as she provides complementary harmony; they share lead vocal roles. Together, both singers have fun in a reserved manner, while bringing back memories of Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Jack Teagarden, and more. Washingmachine also lends his violin solos and fills to the performance, giving it a picturesque lift. Both singers fit wordless vocal choruses in comfortably. From New Orleans, on up to the Mississippi and halfway around the world, this veteren vocal pair takes it all in stride. They're at ease with their roles. In several places, Washingmachine sings wordless vocals an octave below his violin melody in a manner recalling Slam Stewart, providing a unique thrill. O'Hara swings hard on "Three Bears" with vocalese banter and poignant lyrics. Her original with guitarist Peter Baylor, "Jump Up, Swing It", captures an even Jump Blues rhythmic atmosphere that never quits. The mood remains leisurely and relaxed through-out.
"Moonglow" summarizes the duo's consonant vocal charm to a tee, with it's flowing melody and pleasant aura......
The program stars two perfectly matched and lovable singers, and comes highly recommended for lovers of Trad Jazz and Swing."
Julie O'Hara Rifftet to tour Denmark Festivals, 2006 - 07-February-2006
Julie O'Hara Rifftet will be performing at various clubs and festivals around Denmark from June 16th - July 12th, 2006. The band features an all star Melbourne Line up including Peter Baylor (guitar), Chris Tanner (clarinet), Mark Elton (double bass) & Raj Jayaweera (drums). The band will also feature Danish and Australian guests.
The band plays original arrangements of trad & swing jazz tunes and will feature some original material. As Tanner & Baylor both sing with their own bands, Julie features them as solo singers and also as partners in harmony, performing vocal arrangements reminiscent of the Mills Brothers. Plenty of spontaneous riffing - they like to riff.
The band's CD, "Smoke Rings", will be available at festivals, via this website and from some music stores in Copenhagen.
The band are looking forward to returning to this jazz friendly country, where music is a perfect accompaniment to the summer weather and fine tasting Tuborg beer!
Check this website for further details on performance venues, dates & times.
