Music plays a very important role in bringing people together. Whether it’s a festival, concert, a road trip, or playing in the background, people come together to enjoy music. Our newest coach is musician and composer John Quigley. Many of you will know him from the Nairobi Trio, New Zealand’s longest-playing professional jazz band.
John Quigley
John says, “I’ve had the privilege of attending and performing at many festivals, in Europe and throughout the Pacific. It’s such an enriching experience to mix with people from all over the world and share our music. Wherever I've performed the musicians are warmly welcomed and treated the same, no matter where you come from. This is something we can all learn from.”
John will contribute regularly to our Listen section. For now, he’ll provide suggestions about what you might listen to, and in the future, he’ll tell us about opportunities to enjoy live music and behind-the-scenes recording sessions as part of a JANZ table-for-10 series, where 10 couples will meet to share a common interest.
More about John Quigley
Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter/Manager (Nairobio Trio) and Associate Dean at the Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand, John Quigley is a leader in the music industry. It’s John who runs the famous Easter Jazz Festival on Waiheke Island, where he lives with Sally. Currently working on another album, John is a jazz guitar force of nature. If you would like one-on-one online guitar tuition, and what better way to wile away an isolated hour or two, email John at gatmanjohn@gmail.com.
Here’s Dave’s story about his playlist The World’s Greatest
I make playlists all the time. Once I get to 40 or 50 songs I start another one. There’s always plenty more.
I started this playlist before Christmas, and The World’s Greatest just happened to be the first song. There’s no theme as such, just whatever appealed at the time. But looking back over the playlist in the light of COVID-19 and economic armageddon, many of these songs resonate in a very different way now — particularly Paul Buchanan’s God Is Laughing, and Death Have Mercy by Harry Manx. The song 21st Century USA is a searing commentary on the hollowing out of the American middle class, and Poor Man’s Shangri La from Ry Cooder’s brilliant Chavez Ravine album tells the same story from the immigrant’s perspective.
Dave and Cole McNaughton
A friend from Melbourne put me onto Courtney Barnett years ago and she’s like the mailman, she always delivers. I found myself riding the Vespa to work on a deserted motorway singing the chorus to Avant Gardener over and over: “I’m just breathing out and breathing in.”
For moments of quiet contemplation, check out Slow Movement: Sand by Brian and Roger Eno or Dan Reeder’s A Place on the River.
It’s not all doom and gloom. On the upside there’s Elbow’s lovely live version of What a Wonderful World and Wilco and Billy Bragg’s song When the Roses Bloom Again from the original lyric by Woody Guthrie.
And finally, for something completely different, the pure joy of Me voy Pa’l Pueblo by Mapache.
Enjoy, be safe, keep listening, and arohanui from clan McNaughton.