LIVE PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Gosford Bush Poets, 26 July 2017

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... Then our special guest poet, Jason Roweth took the stage and treated us all to a masterful display of the spoken word as an art form! Jason combined Henry Lawson's classic works with the poetry of the late great Australian poets, John Dengate, Dennis Kevans and Blue The Shearer. Jason then astonished the mob with a couple of Roger Montgomery classics for good measure before singing one of the late Alistair Hulett's best remembered songs.

 

A brilliant performance by a consummate professional and one that everyone who was there will remember, not only for its quality, but also for its virtuosity!

 

Vic Jefferies

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LIVE PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Gosford Bush Poets

 

Good Morning Everyone,

Well, I told you that last night was going to be a beaut turnout, but I was only half right! It was better than beaut, it was without doubt one of the best nights we have had at the GBPs for some time, with a ton of talented performers, both new and old, presenting great original and traditional poetry and enjoying every moment of the evening.

The bumper crowd of more than fifty people, including twenty one poets, created a wonderful atmosphere of fun and friendship and a truly great setting for a magnificent performance by our guest artist Jason Roweth.

Jason demonstrated his marvelous skills as an entertainer, poet, yarn spinner, musician and singer. From his opening brilliant recitation of the late Denis Kevans' classic poem, "When The Monkeys Rode The Greyhounds Round The Track At Harold Park," right through to his closing song, "The Sleeper Cutters Camp,"Jason amazed and enthralled his audience. It was a great performance by an extraordinarily gifted exponent of Australian traditional poetry and song. We hope it wont be too long before we can entice Jason back to the GBPs for a return performance!

During the evening we also heard from: Bob Wellard; Jack Woodward; Kevin Gee; Chris Kessey; Fran Bush; Ken Tough; Greg Olsen; Anne Gann; Joe Hartigan; Tom Roberts; Peter Mace; Heather Harradine; Chris Drynan; Marie Wellard; Brian McCuthcheon; Jill Nevile; Mike Cronshaw; Ron Brown; June Hilton and Dave Proust.

We meet again at 7pm on the last Wednesday of August (26/8) at the fabulous Gosford Hotel, Gosford and we would dearly love to see you join us for another great night of good old fashioned entertainment.

Very Best Regards,

Vic Jefferies

 

 

CD REVIEW

That's Not How I Heard lt…

CD of Australian Poetry by Jason Roweth

Reviewed by Chris Woodland

December 2014 - Mulga Wire

 

Jason and Chloe Roweth need no introduction to the Australian folk community and beyond. Their vocal and instrumental abilities, interpretations and achievements have contributed much to the Australian heritage. The delight and great satisfaction to us older fogies in knowing that such a relatively young couple have committed themselves to adopting, spreading and continuing the tradition that people like John Meredith and others fought for.

This album is different to all their other productions as this time Jason is the solo vocalist (albeit the spoken word), though Chloe's mandolin and, no doubt, her less-obvious contributions have added to the success of this CD. Yes, there are instrumental excerpts on this album of poetry; beautiful old tunes known to most of us.

The poetry titles are well known to me and no doubt to most others interested in traditional bush poetry. Jason recites four of the Banjo's: Shearing at Castlereagh, Been There Before, How Gilbert Died and Clancy of the Overflow. Jason performs Ted Harrington's humorous The Swagless Swaggie, along with Lawson's more serious, but excellent time-tested poems, The Green-Hand Rouseabout, The Shearers and On the Night Train very ably.

Jack Moses's When the Police Force Couldn't Spell is guaranteed to get a laugh for listeners of Jason's interpretation.

Presentations of his mate's work, the late John Dengate, are very well executed. These are: The Lanes of Woolloomooloo, and Australian Made. I consider the former to be the best, or as good as the best, Australian war poem ever. I am showing my bias, but have to say that the CD is worth getting for these two poems of John's. (And to think that all those other well-recited poems come with them!)

Denis Kevans’ hilarious When the Monkeys Rode the Greyhounds and his emotive White Man, Have You Any Sacred Sites? are thoughtful inclusions to this album.

Many years ago Duke Tritton would say to members of the Bush Music Club, that when you sang, it should be with venom. I am sure the Duke would have been more than satisfied with Jason's nterpretation of Duke's own, powerful poem, The Sandy Hollow Line.

I am very pleased that Jason and Chloe have added the spoken word to their long list of achievements. I have heard Jason reciting on stage at a couple of venues and am now very pleased to have his recitations on CD. He is a fine reciter who recites with feeling, good diction and a strong Australian voice.

The selected passages of tunes add to the production, making toe-tapping distinctions between poems. Of course, I highly recommend that people with interest in the Australian spoken word, or those that feel it time they were introduced to quality bush poetry recitations - traditional and a couple of more recent ones - would be more than happy with this CD in their collection.