Improvised Music w/ Bruce Cale, John Shand & Elsen Price

Set 1: 6:30-7:15pm; Bruce Cale & John Shand
Every now and then, something a little different comes along. Bruce Cale, a now Blue Mountains based Sydney jazz legend, has been inviting prominent jazz musicians up the Mountain to play in the Lounge at Hotel Blue for over a year now. Well, unknown to anyone in town, Bruce had been working on something a little different behind closed doors so he decided to invite John Shand along for the ride. Don't expect the usual jazz arrangements for this performance - this is going to be one of the one of those occasions you just need to be there for.

Set 2: 7:45-8:30pm; Elsen Price (Solo Performance)
Hotel Blue knows Elsen as the double bass player for gyspy-folk band 'Devil on the Rooftop'. During an intermission at one of their last performances, Elsen picked up his bass and played a solo piece that hushed the room and reminded us that the double bass doesn't need to be relegated to the back of a band - it can stand out and the sound can fill the room. Well, ever since then we have been waiting to find the right time to bring Elsen back to Katoomba for a special performance. If you don't know who Elsen is now (we guarantee you that with talent like this his name will be well known in the future), Elsen Price (B. 1989) won his first professional audition is 2008 for the Electric Bass/Double Bass Position in the NSW Police Band. He then won a scholarship to study under Alex Henery (SSO) to study Classical Double Bass at the Sydney Con in 2010. Since Graduating, Elsen has Performed with Mike Patton (Faith No More), Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Josh Groban (Multi-Platinum Artist), Ensemble Offspring, Sydney Symphony, Pinky Beecroft, Leo Sayer and many others. Elsen has featured as a soloist at the 2014 Sydney Festival, 2015 Vivid Festival, and the 2016 International Double Bass Festival. As a performer, Elsen specialises in performing New Music of Living Composers, which have included P Kellach Waddle (US), Andrew Batt-Rawden, Keyna Wilkins and Elena Katz-Cherin, and collaborating with World musicians, more specifically, from Syria, Turkey, Iran, Armenia and other countries from the Middle-East.

Chris from Hotel Blue proposed that Bruce Cale & Elsen Price perform on the same bill and this will be their first meeting. If we are lucky, they may even perform a piece together at the end. Its hard to predict when you are going to hear something a little bit special, but we are putting our money on this being one of those times. 6:30-8:30pm, bar & kitchen open, free event. Hotel Blue, the Mountains' own 'House of Jazz' and the 'home of the blues'.