Allan Browne / Margie Dyer Lou - Allfrey Street

The philosophy guiding Allfrey Street was to use an old style drum-kit, with a strong left-handed piano style, as the core rhythmic approach to the material chosen for the album. Most of the songs date from the 1920s and New Orleans, whilst the originals pay homage to the stylistic variation that make Jazz, past and present, an ever-evolving art form. Elements of gospel, blues and New Orleans/Creole flavours are embraced as if new again, yet their traditional forms basically remain intact. There is however, an Australian voice present, either by default or intention. Allan's poem Allfrey St., which refers to an obscure Australian recording - 'The Allfrey Street Stompers', guides their musical journey, echoing the vibrance of Warwick Dyer on piano and vocals, Len Barnard on drums, Bob Barnard on trumpet and Nick Polites on clarinet. This is one of Allan's favourite Australian recordings. The album includes three 'Daughters of Jazz'; Margie Lou Dyer, Rebecca Barnard and Stella Browne, following in their fathers' footsteps, (Stella in her grandfather's too), yet giving the music their own personal stamp. The truly inspirational and charismatic Gil Askey is featured on four tracks, Howard Cairns on all but one and John Scurry, Steve Grant and Jo Stevenson add their wonderful contributions on various other tracks.