TWO big jazz birthdays will be celebrated in style with a special event at the State Library next month. The Perth Jazz Society is turning 50 and the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra has been swinging for four decades, making 2023 a milestone year in jazz. To mark the occasion they are joining forces for Homecoming:…

WITH a new name, new song, and a buzz building around them, Battle of the Bands winners VACATE PALACE are lining up the gigs and ready to reach new goals. Frontman Bon, bassist Oscar, drummer Seb, and lead guitarist Cuba sat down with KIRSTY LICH to talk about their single McHorns and what to expect…

MOVING from New Zealand to Fremantle triggered an explosion of creativity and art in Jane Ryan. Born with an intellectual disability, she had lived quite a “protected and closeted” life until her elderly parents relocated the family to Freo in the late 2000s. Shortly after arriving she started painting and it wasn’t long before her…

For the past three years, Perth singer Lucy Iffla has been rummaging through second hand bookshops in WA, searching for novels by celebrated Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. His unique lyrical prose – incorporating spirituality, magical realism and folklore – inspired Iffla to write her new jazz-infused album You Are Home. “I felt a connection and…

ZOE Jay and Travis Simmons loved The Ellington so much they got engaged there and went on to become owners of the iconic Perth jazz club in April this year. The pair have exciting plans for the venue – already extending trading hours to hold family-friendly matinee concerts in the summer with artists like Libby…

HAVING painted for more than 60 years, you could forgive Perth artist George Haynes for packing away the brushes altogether, but the 85-year-old “master of light” still has a twinkle in his eye and paints everyday. In fact he’s busy preparing for his latest exhibition In Search of Painting, a sort of career retrospective featuring…

EMERGING cello star and UWA Conservatorium of Music star Max Wung is set to dazzle audiences again at the Perth Redemptorist Monastery in North Perth on Saturday, November 18, at 2 pm with the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra. Under the guidance of associate professor Suzanne Wijsman since July 2019, Wung’s musical journey began in 2010 with…

FANCY a bit of David Lynch-style theatre with gothic horror and tales of the afterlife? Then you’ll love the dark and dreamlike At the End of the Land, an absurdist and immersive solo show by award-winning poet and performance maker Talya Rubin. Travelling to the afterlife, an unreliable teenage narrator and her demonic Red Monkey…

OF all the amazing bands to emerge from Greater Manchester in the 1980s, The Smiths were the most influential, The Stone Roses the most critically acclaimed, but the Happy Mondays were the one the British public took to their hearts. They were unpretentious, wore their heart on their sleeve and liked to party – especially…

SANDGROPERS have a rare chance to experience a spectacular labyrinth of light, air and sound with the luminarium arriving in Perth. Created by the renowned Architects of Air, the luminarium is a giant 45m by 35m inflatable structure with 1000sqm of glowing tunnels and caverns for all ages to explore. Since 1992, more than three…