TONY O'MALLEY: NEWS

Due to incredibly bad management the Blues Brothers Club in Tbilisi will permantly close its doors very soon! Or at least it should do after last night's debacle when the club refused to pay its hired musicians. I just can't see that this club can continue to stay open with so many people staying away, obviously due to the very negative attitude of the management.
I'm vehemently urging punters NOT to visit this dive unless they have a tendency towards becoming clinically depressed.
I really wish I could report that there are many venues for the talented musicians of Tbilisi to play, but unfortunately, this is not the case. Even the famous Beatles Club is finally closing down at the end of the month after eight years in existence, also due to bad management.
This great city is crying out for a good jazz club, but with nobody willing to take the risk, coupled with the fact that there's no one around with enough experience to run a decent joint, it's just not gonna happen in the foreseeable future!

Today we finished Kakha Jagashvili's 'Jagga' album, eight tracks of pure jazz, played by Kakha on sax, Gia Rakviashvili on grand piano, Giorgi Samsonadze on contrabass and Shukri Bondarenko on the drums. Genius engineer Kote Nonikoff will mix on Thursday. Hope to have some samples up soon....

Today is repetition day. Lasha, Zaza, Dato and all!! We gonna get funky!

After a few teething problems, we managed to record four tracks towards Kakha Jagashvili's first solo album. Resuming Saturday....

For the past few weeks I've been setting up a new recording system. My old, trusty Mac Quadra 650 & Session 8 system, used without trouble for twelve years, has finally been laid to rest.
Today the set-up is being given its first test by recording sax player Kakha Jagashvili and his band, featuring Gia Rakviashvili on grand piano. I'm very lucky to have found engineer Kote Nonikoff, who speaks great English and has been extremely patient in helping me understand the new gear. More anon....

Most of the month of May was spent in body maintenance, i.e. a double-hernia operation and some necessary osteopathy work, all treatments made in Brussels, Belgium, where the medical service is A1! The surgeon, Dr Koen Van Belle, was so good that I was back in Tbilisi singing at the Philharmonia only 8 days post-op!
After carrying pianos and humping gear up & down hundreds of flights of stairs over the years, having twins and a beautiful young wife at my age, it's not surprising that I've ended up with two hernias!
Still, I'm recuperating and my back is much better after four sessions with osteopaths, Robin Demeeter and Chris Read, plus a bit of excellent tweaking here in Tbilisi from our good friend, Dr Michael Sandleri.
Feeling good for the Tbilisi Jazz Festival performance on June 29th. Then it's back to the UK on July 5th to play some nice gigs at Goodwood and a few club dates in London. Watch this space....

Last week I worked eight gigs in five days! Three concerts with the Tbilisi Concert Orchestra (the big band) and five smaller gigs with my trio.
With the big band I sing one song in the Georgian language "isev m'tkiva morchenili iara...." a bit of a tongue-twister, but it goes down a storm!
This weekend we have just a couple of regular club dates - not so hectic. Here in Tbilisi the Georgians celebrate Easter (orthodox) one week later than in Europe and the U.S. So, Happy Orthodox Easter!
With love,
Tony

Following my year-long stint at Noa Noa club with Paata Andriadze (pno), Gia Salagishvili (dr), David Azirashvili (gtr) and Nodar Ekvtimishvili (bass), who have now taken up residence at the Adjara Casino seven nights a week, 5 hours a night, I'm now working with three more great musicians, Lasha Abashmadze on bass and Zaza Tsertsvadze on the drums, plus the incomparable David Japaridze on percussion. We plan do play as many concerts as possible and then record an album, probably in the fall.