Q & A with Blair Latham

They often say that music is the universal language, that it has a special power and place in society, but can jazz take you back in time? For the upcoming Wellington Jazz Festival musician Blair Latham has created Karla and the Divide is a two-part suite of original music that will envelop the audience in the highs and lows of the modern day, presented by the chamber jazz group The Noveltones. Portrayed through sound and visuals created live on the night, this experience will unsettle yet exhilarate. 

To find out more about this exciting project, the CoffeeBar Kid, obeying all the conditions of Level 2, emailed Blair to find out more:

Kia ora, Blair, welcome to the hot seat. Tell me a little about yourself?   

"I'm a professional musician of over 20 years experience, born and bred in Wellington. 

I went through jazz school studying jazz saxophone plus composition and arranging, then like many others went overseas to get some flying time in various musical groupings and styles in the US and eventually in Mexico.  I've been back in Wellington for about six or so years, enjoying the energy that emanates from our live music scene."      

Have you always been a bass clarinet player?   

"No, I started playing Bass Clarinet after forming an all sax trio around 2003, but had always admired it from afar as I was and am a big fan of Eric Dolphy, probably the best bass clarinetist in jazz that has ever touched foot on our planet."     

Tell me about your youngest memory with music and what inspired you to be a musician? 

"Like many others my earliest memory of music was from playing the recorder, in this instance with my Mum on my parents bed (she is a trained teacher so had that skill set there). An inspiration to really delve deep into music and it's possibilities was from listening to John Coltrane's Impression (live in '65) and feeling drawn to the message he seemed to be transmitting." 

We all agree that the Covid-19 lockdown has been a pretty tough time for musicians. What have you been up to? What have you learned about yourself? 

"It was definitely hard, I've learned that my main goal is to play live music to people in the same room. Like many of us I was involved in remote musical projects, and taking a bit of time to relax in the evenings for a change."        

Let's talk about the Noveltones, your partners in crime for the Jazz Festival.  Tell me about soprano saxophonist Jasmine Lovell-Smith, bassist Tom Callwood and violinist Tristan Carter. How did you get together?  

"I've known Tom since I was 13, he and I learnt music together through the years. Noveltones really is Jasmine's project that she started a few years ago, and I am very happy that I was able to nab the Bass Clarinet chair as it's an exciting and unique group."

You mentioned time in Mexico earlier. What did you learn about music there and how does it influence your work?

"Mexico really is something else, and is a daily lesson just being there. Musically I learnt that music is as important to humans as food. Over there that seems to be accepted more as the norm than here. A big part of my family is Mexican, so everything I do is touched by Mexico's history, culture and present."     

Karla and The Divide is a two part suite – tell me about it. What will the audience hear? 

"It's definitely a cliche but I do try to tell a story with the music that I put together, so people can expect to hear something that could take them for a ride, if they're willing to give it a chance. There'll be many, many moods to traverse.   I believe there are visuals, too. What will we see and how do they work with the music? I'm in for a surprise as much as anyone else. Andy Wright creates beautiful images, but for this he has taken his own path based upon the sounds that we've created and sent to him, so we'll see!"

Karla and the Divide by Blair Latham: Wednesday 18 November 8PM @ St. Peters 

Featuring: 

Blair Latham (Bass Clarinet) 

Tristan Carter (Violin) 

Jasmine Lovell-Smith (Soprano Sax) 

Tom Callwood (Upright Bass) 

Dan Beban (Sound Effects) 

Andy Wright (Visual Effects)

For more info go to: https://www.jazzfestival.nz/events/blair-latham/

The Wellington Jazz Festival is ON! 18-22 November 2020

You may have noticed our cool little Capital coming back to life over the last two weeks.  As we come out of Lockdown our music festivals are also waking up. 

 The annual Wellington Jazz Festival is the highlight of Aotearoa’s mid-winter music calendar, featuring some of the finest musicians from across New Zealand and around the globe. For 2020, the Festival has reshaped its planned programme, shifted to spring and is putting all its resources into the sounds and talents of Aotearoa NZ. Jazz aficionados and intrepid newcomers can explore more than 100 gigs across the city, with five days to #lovelocal, spreading the magic of jazz throughout the capital’s streets, cafes, bars and live music venues. 

The festival features a whole range of artists including award winning performers like Kevin Field, Avantdale Bowling Club, Anita Schwabe and Rikki Gooch.  More artists and events are being announced all the time so watch this space! 

For gigs and bookings go to https://www.jazzfestival.nz

Avantdale Bowling Club to headline the 2020 Wellington Jazz Festival

West Auckland rapper and hip hop artist Tom Scott will bring his “stunning” (NPR) genre-pushing jazz, hip-hop project Avantdale Bowling Club to Wellington for “an incredible journey of jazz, rap, soul, and spoken word” (Radio13) at the Opera House on Saturday 21 November. 

Joined by some of the country’s top musicians, Scott’s “turn-on-a-pin rhythmic cadence” (Metromag) and his “brutally honest, startlingly raw” lyrics (NZ Herald) promise one of the best nights of live music you’ll experience this year. 

In 2019, his first album under the moniker Avantdale Bowling Club saw Scott win the Taite Music Prize, Album of the Year and Hip-hop Artist awards at the New Zealand Music Awards, as well as being named a finalist at the Silver Scrolls for the song Years Gone By. 

Influenced by the likes of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, Scott describes his latest album as “a self-help book addressed to myself” that was four years in the making.   

Avantdale Bowling Club’s genre isn’t easy to pin down. Typically irreverent, Scott’s Spotify profile for the project calls it “irrelevant jazz from an island nation off the coast of Antarctica.”   

“The album’s about home and its inhabitants, with all their inadequacies and complexities. It’s about finding peace in the little piece of land you stand on,” he says. 

Scott first emerged in 2007 with Home Brew, a band that still performs live. His other projects – Average Rap Band, @Peace, a new Average Man collaboration and his new label ‘Years Gone By’, ensure that he continues to influence a generation of young rappers and push boundaries across genres. 

Scott has been hard at work on ABC 2, so the Wellington Jazz Festival audience is likely to hear new material from his stellar ensemble including Tonga Vaea (vocals/keys/trumpet), Guy Harrison (keys/trumpet), JY Lee (saxophone), Ben Turua (upright bass/bass guitar) and Julien Dyne (drums). 

Wellington Jazz Festival Creative Director Marnie Karmelita says she is looking forward to Wellington Jazz Festival audiences experiencing the incredible ensemble for themselves.  

“Surrounding himself with some of the best jazz musicians in the country, Tom Scott’s latest project has been recognised for its innovation and sheer brilliance. I’m thrilled we were still able to secure them for the rescheduled Wellington Jazz Festival in November this year in a completely New Zealand focused programme.” 

Tickets for Avantdale Bowling Club will be on public sale from 1 September on Ticketmaster. There will be a Culture Club supporters pre-sale from 25 August. Head here to join and find out more.

Keep an eye out for further programme updates over the coming weeks. 

THIS JUST IN: The Wellington Jazz Festival is back!

Photo - Vanessa Rushton

The 2020 Wellington Jazz Festival is proud to announce the creation of four new Aotearoa-New Zealand jazz music commissions to be presented at a re-scheduled Festival, 18 – 22 November.

We know Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on musicians, technicians and many of the Festival’s regular music venues, bars and eateries across the region and country.

In response, the Wellington Jazz Festival has reshaped its planned programme, shifted it to Spring, and is putting its resource and energy into ‘loving local’ - bringing audiences the finest homegrown jazz live in Wellington’s best music spots. 

Made possible by support from Creative New Zealand and Todd Corporation, the Festival will provide a fee of between $10,000 and $12,500 each to four composers to create a new piece of jazz music that will premiere at the Wellington Jazz Festival in November.

The Wellington Jazz Festival supports and celebrates the sounds of Aotearoa, and at least one commission will be awarded to a Māori composer.

Submissions for composers are open now and close Friday 3 July. The Festival will open its programme for local gigs shortly and the full programme is due to be launched in September 2020.

Find out more and apply at https://www.jazzfestival.nz