Caught in the Act on Phillip Island

On Sunday February 19, Phillip Island Jazz presents Caught in the Act! Jazz Notes, from 2pm – 4.15pm at the Phillip Island Bowling Club.

Caught In The Act! Jazz Notes is an instrumental band playing a wide range of music: from exciting Latin tunes and jazz-funk (fusion) adaptations of standards to gentle songs from the 30s.

Since their first appearance at the Phillip Island Jazz Club in February 2021, they have added even more trad jazz favourites to their repertoire.

Caught In The Act! was formed by Ann Craig and Kevin Blazé in 2016 to feature the flute playing exciting instrumental music.

The concept rapidly broadened to incorporate saxophone so you’ll hear sax and flute featuring in many tunes, strong piano and guitar interplay all held together by an outstanding rhythm section including some brilliant bass lines.

But, most of all, they have fun, and the Jazz Club hopes you will share in their joy and enthusiasm.

Caught In The Act! have played at many regional jazz festivals, at the Brunswick Green, private gigs, at the Australian Jazz Convention and each month at Jazz on Sundays at the Ringwood RSL.

Ann and Kevin first met at the Inverloch Jazz Festival in 2012. A chance meeting a few weeks later led to a band that would feature flute and guitar: Jazz Notes.

Over the years, Jazz Notes has diverged into ensembles from duo to larger vocal and instrumental bands including Caught In The Act! Ann and Kevin are a great musical team and love what they do.

They’ll be joined by Ashley Thomas (sax and clarinet), Malcolm Hornby (piano/keyboard), Frank Morgan (bass), Simon Atkinson (drums/percussion)

Venue is Phillip Island Bowling Club, 40 Dunsmore Road, Cowes commencing at 2pm. Cost of entry is $20 for members and $25 for visitors.

Please contact Robin - 0432 814 407 or Jill - 0417 416 300 to arrange purchase of tickets.

Ashley Thomas (sax & clarinet): Ashley has been playing music since she was four. She pursued classical piano and then ventured into the world of woodwind instruments, taking the lead from her strong family history of playing wind instruments. Studying at secondary college under Bob and Mal Sedergreen, Greg Clarkson and others drove her passion of everything jazz. 

Her musical expertise, ideas, expression and enthusiasm has added a unique splash of musical colour to Caught in the Act!

Malcolm Hornby (piano/keyboard): Malcolm started learning the piano when he started school, and has been playing ever since. His first job when he finished school was working in a music store, where he bought his first keyboard.

Malcolm’s first band played covers but has performed in a wide range of settings since then. These have included a piano bar duo, a Carpenters tribute quartet, a Continental reception band, as an organist, and as a piano accompanist for various solo instruments and voice.

His favourite genre of music is jazz for the creativity and spontaneity that it allows. He regularly attends jazz jams, where he enjoys the challenge of playing previously unseen (and sometimes completely unknown) charts with no opportunity to preview them. We love the enthusiasm and humour that Malcolm brings to the band.

Frank Morgan (bass): Frank joined in 2018 and has loved every minute of it (or so he tells us!). Frank’s experience in jazz, blues, rock and air traffic control certainly shows: with chops to tackle the funk-fusion-crossover style of Caught In The Act! And if we ever need to control any air space – Frank’s our man!

Frank cut his teeth playing rock and roll and pop with local bands, even making it into the Top 40 on a couple of occasions. In the 1990s, Frank took to jazz, meeting Ann many years later and, thus, to Caught In The Act! where he anchors the band.

Simon Atkinson (drums/percussion): Since his early teens, Simon played drums with brass bands in the UK. He also studied, clarinet and saxophone.

During his career with the police force, Simon had a sideline playing with Grade A Championship Brass Bands, then adding musical theatre and small, function bands.

After leaving the police, Simon played on P&O cruise ships, cruising the Mediterranean before emigrating to Australia and settling in Melbourne where he bumped into Kevin at a gig where he was the fill-in drummer. Soon after, he joined Jazz Notes and then Caught In The Act!

Ann Craig (flutes and percussion): Ann is from a musical family and has been performing music to paying audiences since she was a child, learning to play a wide range of wind instruments in all styles: classical, jazz, pop, bossa, rock, funk, country and strict-tempo ballroom. Ann attended her first jazz festival in 2008 and the Jazz genre quickly became her favourite style of music, and it’s as a jazz flautist that Ann has found her niche.

Kevin Blazé (guitars): Kevin comes from a classical background, having played cello for many years while also playing guitar in other settings. For many years, Kevin led and played classical guitar with a mandolin ensemble.

Kevin’s family lived for a time in Darwin and, sometime after returning to Melbourne, Kevin attended a short-course presented by Bob Sedergreen. It saw a damascene conversion: after more time with Bob, Kevin soon formed his first band, along with others who are still part of Melbourne’s jazz scene. Kevin has taught guitar for many years.