Yep, you read that right! This weekend’s festivities will be of New Orleans proportions when NOLA at Nexus turns up the heat this Saturday.
Chris Weber’s Banksia Orchestra will be playing old-time New Orleans Jazz, followed by Melbourne’s Horns of Leroy with one of their trademark energetic brass band performances to bring you to your feet.
Then, the pièce de résistance is none other than Adam Page in the first ever performance of the Piping Shrike Street Band – which you get to be a part of! (More on that later).
We grabbed Adam for a brief chat ahead of the weekend to get his thoughts on this and music in general.
So Adam, what’s this New Orleans extravaganza all about?
“We’re trying to recreate a bit of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday vibe, where there’s some New Orleans themed bands playing, a mass band with 3 bands and audience participation which we’ll quickly teach them, followed by a parade of Hindley Street in the New Orleans tradition!”
Wow, this is exciting stuff!
“At Mardi Gras time there’s music and bands everywhere, it’s vibrant and brilliant. Basically, Fat Tuesday is the at day of Mardi Gras which runs for 3-4 weeks. We’re trying to recreate that as best as we can. In our Adelaide way.”
And this, folks, is how trends are started. Through a bold vision and a desire to create something exciting. And nobody knows how to throw a party better than Adelaide!
“I’m starting a thing called The Piping Shrike Brass Band, which will take part in the parade. The purpose of the band is to write a bunch of Adelaide-centric music to take to the streets. People can follow us around, dance and have a party. Adelaide has our own unique music sound, that’s got something special about it. We don’t do it for any other reason than to make art.”
No stranger to music, Page started his interest in music around mid-high school (He’s almost 40). He says that music really connected with him and then became his life. The Mt Gambier native taught saxophone, clarinet and flute before embarking on a full-time career as a musician and has worked with some amazing artists whilst becoming a name in his own right. He has written major works for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (which he has also conducted), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington, Zephyr Quartet and has collaborated with John Psathas, NZ composer of the 2004 Athens Olympics ceremony music.
“With the music industry in general, you need to be able to put on several different hats to survive as a creative in this modern day, that’s why I have my finger in different pies but I don’t allow my standards to be jeopardized.”
When not creating or playing music, page lists his interests as an amateur as roller-skater, Chinese calligraphy admirer, and a practitioner of meditation. It’s all about balance he says, and trying to maintain outside interests to stay sharp.
“My life is manic, which is why I like to stop and breathe. These things need you to stop and spend time on, it takes a while to get into the swing but it’s a Zen feeling once you relax into it, a kind of therapy.”
But if it’s Zen you’re after, then stay home because this is going to be a HUGE night of sounds and sensations.
If you play an instrument, bring it along, and if not then get your hands and vocal cords ready. There will be easy musical parts for everyone to learn before we take to the streets for a musical parade through the West End. Then it’s back to the Nexus beer garden to continue the party with Adam Page spinning NOLA classics on vinyl.
When: Saturday 10 February : More info at http://nexusarts.org.au/event/nola-at-nexus/
By Dazz Hassan
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