Bullfrog Rata & The Elegant Wastrels

The Tauranga Entertainers Club present The Elegant Wastrels with Bullfrog Rata.

Live music: there is nothing quite like it!

Bullfrog Rata is has been sitting in his muddy pond for far too long and is absolutely stoked to splash upstream for a jaunt to the Entertainers Club in Tauranga where he will emerge from the depths to land on stage at the Tauranga Citizens Club on Sunday, May 9.

His musical journey has been wide and varied. From busking on the streets in towns like Wairoa & Waipukarau to flying on jets to play for billionaires in Evansville, Indiana complete with limousines and secret service agents.

He has been lucky enough to open for and share the stage with many of his idols these include kiwi legends such as Midge Marsden, Hello Sailor, The Exponents, The Chills, The Warratahs, Kokomo and international blues acts like, Junior Wells, Charlie Mussewhite, Watermelon Slim, Canned Heat, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Chris Cain and mega stars, Tina Turner, Charlie Pride and Jethro Tull.

So he has a few stories to tell, and spill the beans he most likely will, musing between songs about anything that might take his fancy as his aging brain struggles to remember the opening line of the next song.

But rest assured, he may ramble on an unknown highway from time to time, he may take a detour or two to parts unknown but you will be entertained along the way either by his legendary facial expressions or the way he tears out the blues from his very soul.

He will be presenting a set of Footstomping blues tunes many of which were self-penned during the lockdown.

As yet his songs remain unreleased with an album almost ready to go and another CD’s worth already written, so he is looking forward to giving these songs an airing in a live situation.

He is joined by the Elegant Wastrels which consists of Patrick Bleakley on Double Bass Des Mallon on Drums, Duncan Haines on Piano and Geoff Culverwell on Trumpet & Flute.

Patrick is Wellington-based with long experience both hear and in foreign parts, most interestingly a number of appearances at the Edinburgh Arts Festival, and one of his current projects is the Troubles a sprawling free jazz infused collective that defies category, they have played with many notable NZ Icons, Bruno Lawrence, Jonathan Crayford, Rick Bryant and Lisa Tomlin among others.

Des Mallon is a musical force in his own right. He has played in all sorts of genres from the reggae of David Grace to the hip hop of Upper Hutt Posse (for which he recently received recognition at the Maori Pacific Music Awards). Des is also a fine singer, harmonica player, guitarist and currently is the bands spiritual adviser.

Duncan has had an international jazz career in places like New York & Paris and we are so lucky to be able to snap him up while he waits out the Covid Pandemic here in Aotearoa.

Last but not least we have Aotearoa’s premier Trumpet player Geoff Culverwell who will simply astound you with the many moods he can evoke and his ability to transport you to the whiskey-soaked jazz and blues bars that can be found in Harlem or New Orleans. .

So, you can expect that Bullfrog will be on his game as he has some heavyweight hombres to keep in line as he presents his new songs, which cover a wide gamut of styles and moods, delivered with a pastiche of commentary and humour.