Busy times in the Bay. So busy that I'll have to skip the introductory joke.

Always start with a joke they say and, in a week where two Russians in a queue got into an argument about the philosopher Emmanuel Kant which resulted in one shooting the other, it was going to be easy (albeit probably a little highbrow).
But there's a lot on during the next couple of weekends and, in particular, there are three gigs that I'd like to recommend – some boogie-woogie, some blue-grassy gypsy jazz, and a shot of rhythm ‘n' blues.
I'll start with this weekend first and – I promise – this will be the last mention of Brilleaux, who have featured a lot in recent months, before they head off on
their UK tour.
Before they go, however, the band are holding a final fundraising gig, this Saturday (September 21) at the Mauao Performing Arts Centre, 11 Totara St, almost opposite the Mount Maunganui fire station kicking off at 6.30pm. MauaoPAC will be a terrific venue for this and the band has arranged a grand evening of music.
It kicks off with Aaron Saxon and Alice Ecila, who together are an astounding duo and will be followed by the equally astounding Grant Haua. In Aaron and Grant you have two of the Bay's finest guitarists and Alice simply has to be heard to be believed. Beautiful stuff. Then, of course, the Brilleaux boys will be rocking through a bunch of songs they plan to take to Blighty as their calling card at the beginning of next month.
The band will be in England for two weeks, playing shows in Brighton, Gosport, The Norton Grange Boogaloo Blues Festival on the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, Oxford, Watford, Leicester, Folkston and Bedford, which should keep them fairly busy. I expect that frontman Graham Clark will be blogging during the trip so I'll provide a link to that when it's set up in case anyone wants to follow the intrepid Tauranga travellers on their adventures.
Tickets for Saturday are $15 from Music Planet, Tauranga MusicWorks, Driver's Bar or MauaoPAC. There should be a few left on the door too.
And on to next weekend when there are a couple of clashing gigs on the Saturday night (September 28). If your tastes run to boogie-woogie piano then head to Baycourt's Exhibition Hall where Jan Preston will be presenting her latest show ‘My Life as a Piano'.
As well as showcasing her fine piano playing and songs (in a trio setting), the show features a potted history of the piano, letting audiences in on quirky facts they probably won't have heard before. Did you know that in 1895 New Zealand and Australia imported more pianos than the United States? Now you do.
Jan has recently returned from another tour of Europe where – dedicated as she is – she had an intensive series of master classes with Germany's top boogie-woogie players (boogie piano is huge in Germany – go figure). Anyone who heard her on Kym Hill's show a couple of weeks back knows how good she sounds.
On the other hand, if you fancy some bluegrass-country-swing with a side order of gypsy jazz then make your way to the Te Puna Memorial Hall where you will find The Remarkables. They comprise three Auckland players, bluesman Neil Finlay, who sings and plays guitar, banjo player Bryan Christianson and double bass player Garry Trotman, augmented by Tauranga multi-instrumentalist Robbie Laven. The band had a great reception at this year's Auckland Folk Festival, and Robbie says their sound has evolved a little since then.
'Since I started playing along they have fallen under the magic spell of gypsy jazz, excitingly fusing the commonalities of western swing, bluegrass and gypsy jazz. The Remarkables are also off to the Whare Flat folk festival in Dunedin in December/January and this concert will be a great dress rehearsal.”
Opening the show for the night will be Marion Arts, Robbie's partner in Bonjour Swing. It should be a fantastic night. The concert kicks off at 7.30pm and tickets are $15 on the door. If you want to reserve seats in advance contact Rosie at: [email protected]