A performer widely known as the Queen of the Boogie Piano will hit the keys next Friday tonight.
Jan Preston plays festivals and concerts throughout Australia, NZ and Europe, but has included the quaint Firebird Cafe in Levin on her list of tour venues this time. She has also planned a gig for Paekakariki.
Preston has a reputation as an astonishing piano player with a rich resonant voice who is great live. She performs original songs, compositions, all the while showing her mastery of “boogie woogie”.
The "Queen of boogie piano" Jan Preston will play in Levin next Friday night. Photo / NZME
Her concerts are said to take audiences on a journey and she was known for her energy, charm and wit.
“So I’m back on the horse after months of recording my new album, and it’ll be strange to be playing live the precious material I’ve been working on. I so hope the audience love it as much as I do,” she said.
Preston has numerous awards for her music and soundtracks as she writes music for film and TV, and composes and performs for silent movies, too. Her composition Trout Blues is currently being used as the theme music to BBC Radio London Evenings programme with Jo Good, on 94.9 FM (London).
After studying classical piano, then working in theatre and rock bands, she had a No 1 hit with her band Coup D’Etat, and soon after moved from New Zealand to Sydney where she is now based. She was originally from Greymouth.
“Our family had little resources or opportunity, but I grew up in an era where people would gather around the piano and sing together. From when I was very young I played piano while everybody sang along or played tea chest basses, eggbeaters, combs, violins, even an old saxophone,” she said.
“I had an aunty who played honky tonk style, and heard Winifred Atwell along with early rock n roll on our old Columbus Radio in the kitchen.”
Jan Preston. Photo / Rebecca McMillan
Preston began playing piano from the moment she could reach the keys, spurred on by an older sister and brother who both played.
She studied classical piano and excelled, passing all her grades with distinction and gaining a prestigious place to study a five-year classical piano degree at Auckland University.
“Although I loved classical music, by the end of the degree I wasn’t happy to be a concert pianist or, more likely, a piano teacher,” she said.
“So I cut off my hair, and moved to Wellington where I experimented with different styles of music, working in an independent theatre group and then rock bands.”
In 1980 she was part of the band Coup D’Etat that had a No 1 hit with the song Doctor I Like Your Medicine, after which she moved across the Tasman to Sydney, playing in bands and piano bars as well as writing music for films.
Her original piano composition was used as the theme to ABC’s Australian Story for six years, and she has appeared on ABC TV’s Spicks and Specks. She is continuing to write music and songs for her next CD release while on tour.
“I am still enormously passionate about music and have so much more to play, sing and write,” she said.
The current tour starts in Napier tonight, followed by gigs in Hastings and Ōtāne. Then it’s on to Levin, Wellington and Paekakariki. She will be joined by special guest Mike Pullman on percussion on tour to form a duo of boogie and blues.
When: Friday, March 1, doors 5.30pm with meals available for concert start 7.30pm
Where: Firebird Cafe, 58 Oxford St, Levin
How: Pre-sales also available for $25 cash only, at Firebird Cafe, and venue door sales $30 on the day of concert. Bookings through Eventfinda.
REVIEWS:
“One of the best pianists of our time, Preston masters the piano like a maestro juggling the keys. Her voice is suave and sensual, with finesse and sensibility.” - Crossroads France
“Jan Preston is surely Australia’s Queen of the Piano. She and the instrument come as a package and anyone who’s seen her perform live has witnessed a perfect partnership. Her playing is as flawless as it is loose and joyful.” - Rhythms Magazine Australia
“One woman, a piano and a whole lot of talent.” - 3 Weeks Edinburgh
“From boogie woogie to ragtime the air pulsates with the magical rhythms she produces … a forceful presence and a huge performance energy.” - ChCh Star NZ
“Technically strong, full of character, dripping with life.” - American Blues Review
