Today in NZ history- 14/07/1853 - New Zealand's first general election beginsFor such a symbolic moment, the events of 14 July offered little drama – the first member of New Zealand’s inaugural Parliament, Hugh Carleton, was elected unopposed at Russell in the Bay of Islands.
- 14/07/1950 - Death of Sir Apirana NgataNgata had contributed hugely to the revival of the Māori people in the early 20th century. His intelligence, tact, persistence and political skill helped him promote Māori culture and identity.
- 15/07/1915 - First Gallipoli wounded arrive home The first large group of Gallipoli wounded to return to New Zealand arrived in Wellington on the troopship Willochra as part of a draft of around 300 men.
- 15/07/1933 - Lovelock smashes world mile recordJack Lovelock's run at Princeton University broke Jules Ladoumegue’s record for the mile by 1.6 seconds. The race was dubbed the 'greatest mile of all time' by Time Magazine.
- 14/07/1853 - New Zealand's first general election begins
Category Archives: Music
Spotify – love them, though they’re slippery
Some of my own music is on Spotify – anyone can exhume recordings my old band Aardvark made for Tree Records in 1973. We were never asked if we wanted to be on Spotify – not that I would have … Continue reading
From Fugues to Finales
Today we went to a very pleasant afternoon of chamber music, titled From Fugues to Finales. It was organised by the Greytown Music Group as part of the town’s weekend arts festival. This scratch group, tongue-in-cheek-named The Ultimates, was made … Continue reading
Maori Battalion Marching Song a cultural ripoff?
Back in the 1960s when I realised there was money to be made from my modest talents at the piano, I still needed a repertoire that would let me play at social events – 21sts, wedding celebrations, dances etc. I … Continue reading
End of an era
I never owned one of those wind-up 78rpm record players with disposable steel needles (and nor did my parents), but from about 1962 I was into long playing records (LPs) and their 45rpm offspring. I had them for about a … Continue reading
Posted in Jazz, Music
Tagged Bud Shank, Jazz, Jazz singer, LP records, LPs, Miles Davis, Peter Fountain
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A little jazz is a dangerous thing
A couple of days ago I came across an interesting web item that reproduced rules for dance band musicians in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. The rules were aimed at limiting infection by jazz. I emailed the rules to Bob Barcham, Wellington’s … Continue reading
