May/June 2006

new website

Welcome to the new website michaelazzopardi.com. the old website mjazz.music.net.au has been a bit too unreliable. being it was free site the server kept going off line and whilst, at the time of writing it's online, i cannot update it. hopefully this site should be an improvement on the last

myspace profile

There is now a myspace profile up in my name. there you can preview new songs which will be included on the new album when released later this year (fingers crossed). You can also write a comment and write a blog entry if you wish. the web address is....www.myspace.com/michaeljohnazzopardi

March/April 2006

new side project album

In march i commenced recording material for a folk-based album specifically to take with me to the national folk festival in canberra over easter. the album includes new versions of beast and bells of st andrew's plus a few traditional english/irish songs. it also includes 2 instrumentals and recordings of peter and meet me. the album will be more in line with the way i perform the material now and will initially be available at the festival and then by mail order or at gigs. there will soon be a page dedicated to the album linked to the music page of this site

February 2006

Chris Whitley tribute

Like i said before i've not been gigging much whilst the album's coming together. i have however agreed to play a couple of songs at a Chris Whitley tribute, details on the gig page. if you haven't heard of Chris Whitley you should. i saw him at the Basement many years ago and was blown away. sadly when i was offered this gig i found out he died of cancer last November. enough said, it's on at the vanguard in newtown and includes the likes of jeff lang and louis tillet and many many more

January 2006

website back from cyber-oblivion

In case you've not noticed the website has changed from mjazz.live.com.au to mjazz.music.net.au. until now i've been unable to update the site due to transfer of host. the site has now been updated and should remain up to date from now on...fingers crossed.

whilst the website was away.....

I've been steering away from gigging and concentrating on the new album which is well on its way and well overdue. i'll be playing a Bob Dylan tribute @ the sandringham hotel, newtown saturday 14 jan. i'll post  details on the gig page shortly. just before the site became inaccessible for updating i was considering including a page on my site dedicated to my general opinion on the state of things as they came to heart and mind (for what it's worth)...will let you know when that's happened. oh yeah...Happy New Year!

October 2005

tribute shows and still laying tracks

All's a little quiet on the gig scene at present....been lying low on that front mainly so i can concentrate on getting my album finished. that said, last friday, oct 7th, i played a jeff buckley tribute @ the northern star in newcastle, i'll be playing at another buckley tribute night, on the 24th november keep checking the gig page for details. And one last gig to mention I'll be playing the local showcase @ the @newtown on thursday 27th october @ 8pm. bye for now

September 2005

some more radio play

I've just discovered my take of an irish traditional song "the little drummer" has got some airplay on radio station 2MCE-FM on a program "Come All Ye Folk" which airs from 12 to 2pm every sunday 2MCE-FM is broadcast "across the central west of NSW, Australia, in the cities of Bathurst (92.3 Mhz) and Orange (94.7 Mhz). Bruce Cameron has hosted the program since 1976 which makes it the longest running folk/acoustic/roots program on australian radio still with its original presenter." so if you are in the broadcasting range tune in. it's always great to get airplay and i'm especially honoured to have my recordings on the regional airwaves where they have perhaps not been before

http://www.brucecameron.id.au/radio/

the 6th national folk alliance showcase

I've just returned from the FAA convention in canberra. saw some great acts and got to strut my stuff in front of some music industry types, even sold a CD or two. had a chance to catch up with some good friends who were also at the convention performing or working. also did some networking and attended some workshops....all very useful. all round a great event and i'm glad to have been a part of it

August 2005

 I've been busy working on that long overdue album and submitting preparing applications and promo material for festivals and the convention in september...so i haven't been gigging that much this month

July 2005

the 6th national folk alliance showcase

I have just been given a great opportunity to perform at the 6th national folk alliance showcase to be held in canberra on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of september. the showcase provides an avenue to perform in front of key music industry personnel in both the folk and the general music scenes. industry personnel such as major festival organisers, radio, record labels, music journalists etc etc will be there and the convention will provide a platform for performers to network and self promote. very exciting indeed!...and scary i might add

hawkesbury radio appearance

i will be visiting 89.9fm hawkesbury radio for a chat and live to air performance on tuesday 12th july tune in if you can from 8pm

jeremy flies 2 a tribute to nick drake album launch

it's official the nick drake tribute album jeremy flies 2 is going to be officially launched 27th august @ the sandringham hotel newtown....i'll let you know more when i know more

ABC Radio National airplay

last wednesday the 29th june jeremy flies 2 a tribute to nick drake was the featured album on lucky ocean's nightly planet radio show on ABC radio national and i was chuffed to find out he aired my cover of hazey jane 1.jeremy flies 2 is still yet to be released (according to lucky oceans it'll be in july some time @ the basement...who knows) but i'll let you know when i know for sure. in the meantime if you want to have a listen to my cover along with covers from the same album by melanie horsnell and tania bowra click on this link http://www.abc.net.au/rn/music/planet/index/default.htm where you'll find audio of the program at least until wednesday july 6

other news

things are a little quiet on the gig front at the moment...i am trying to concentrate on getting an album together and out. will keep you informed of any developments

June 2005

website updates

i have now included sample mp3s for all the songs from Room. each sample is in mono, mainly because it just sounded better mono rather than stereo, and at a sample rate of 32kbps each sample should download in less than a minute and that's based on a 56k modem net access. just go to the music page and click where it says to click here for album info. that should open a new page titled Room, then go to the track listing and click on the "listen" hyperlinks beside each track. or you can click here to take you directly to the Room page

also...

i have included the lyrics for all the songs. simply click on the the track titles on the Room page or click here to go directly to the lyrics page

also...

a big thank you!!

a big thank you to all of you who have visited this website and particularly all you who have emailed your comments to me and/or signed my guestbook. i can't begin to tell you how much i appreciate that

also...

selling songs from Room

i have been toying with the idea of getting my music hosted for download on sites like mp3.com etc or even making the songs available through this website. the idea would be that you could pay per song and once payment was received i would senda better quality mp3 file to you or burn a CD-R of the tracks you purchased and post it to you. more

on that when i've nutted out the details

May 2005

Guitarist Australia Fret Buzz article

Guitarist Australia magazine issue #3 has hit the newsagents and has a Fret Buzz article about me on

page 26. extracts from the article have been posted on the press page

Tribute Album Launches

as mentioned previously the Jeff Buckley tribute album Stars In My Belly has been released and was launched with a sell out show at the Basement in Sydney on the 18th of may. the Nick Drake tribute album has not yet been officially released and whilst there was a show at the Sandringham Hotel Newtown it apparently was not a launch. Will keep you posted on that front

to April 2005

lots and lots in the pipeline for 2005

recording

a new album, possibly two, is/are planned for the coming months. initial tracks have been recorded and i'm currently in the process of laying down additional tracks, editing and sorting etc. this/these album(s), like "Room" will be acoustic based recorded live in the studio however this time have been self-recorded and will be, perhaps, a little more stripped-back to better reflect the live performances of the material

also...

film clip

initial footage for a film clip for bells of st andrew's (from Room) has been taken and fingers crossed will be out in the coming months

also...

magazine article

i will have the honour of being featured in a "Fret Buzz" article in Guitarist Australia magazine which should appear in the next couple of months

also...

last year i had the pleasure of contributing my takes on two songs for two tribute albums due for release soon.the songs are Hazey Jane I by Nick Drake for release on "Jeremy Flies II" Umandah Records

and secondly Eternal Life by Jeff Buckley for release on "Stars In My Belly" also through Umandah Records i'm told both of these will be released through labels in the UK and the US