Lowdown Hokum Orchestra / Jed Rowe - Ranges Blues and Roots at Burrinja

The Lowdown Hokum Orchestra started life in 2014 as a vehicle to present “That’s Showbiz” a musical play written by Melbourne bluesman Doc White. The show had runs in the Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne Fringe festivals in 2015, clocking up 50 performances. Reviewing the Adelaide Fringe season, Clothesline Magazine gave the performance 4 and ½ stars and called it “A brilliant way to spend an hour”.

The band consists of some of the finest jazz, blues and folk musicians in Australia - Doc White, Nichaud Fitzgibbon, Paul Williamson (Dire Straits, Renee Geyer, Black Sorrows), Howard Cairns (Allan Browne, Red Onions, Dancehall Racketeers, John Butler), Alex Black (John Schumann); Tony Martin (Hey Gringo, Sammy Owen Band) and has the musical chops and flexibility to handle a range of styles including early jazz, delta blues, calypso, gospel, R&B (the proper stuff), funk and some iconic Australian music. Sometimes these can appear in the one song as in the ode to vinyl recordings, My Favourite Record, which is mostly a New Orleans jazz tune interspersed with snippets of band members’ favourite songs.

A unique feature of the act is the duet singing of Doc and Nichaud Fitzgibbon whether it be on the old Tampa Red / Tom Dorsey hokum tune If You Want Me To Love You or the western swing classic You’re My Sugar by Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kay Starr.

The Lowdown Hokum Orchestra is hard to categorize because the band doesn’t play favourites with any particular style. A good song is a good song and each member of the band brings their own particular skill, expertise and musical ear to each tune which results in a unique experience for the audience – some fun, some drama and some fine playing.

Jed Rowe - The son of two musicians, Jed Rowe grew up in rural NSW and relocated to Melbourne in 2003. He showed early promise as an author, winning a national undergraduate short story writing award. He released a solo EP Life (2006) before forming The Jed Rowe Band and releasing two albums: Midnight Sun (2009) and The Ember And The Afterglow (2012), which was produced by ARIA Winner Jeff Lang. His work has garnered critical acclaim and national radio airplay, and he was awarded a highly competitive Arts Victoria contemporary music grant in 2012. A festival regular, Rowe has performed at Tamworth Country Music Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival and Thredbo Blues Festival amongst others. In 2014 Rowe toured internationally for the first time, playing 25 solo dates in Europe in just 24 days.