Wellington Jazz Festival

 The Wellington Jazz Festival wraps up today.  We took in some fantastic music including 4 new commissioned works from Kevin Field, Anita Schwabe, Riki Gooch and Blair Latham and the Noveltones.  There were gigs all over town but the most memorable were at St. Peters Church in Willis St. which  was converted into a magical Jazz club amongst the pews.

Over at the Opera House, Tom Scott's Avant Bowling Club rocked the show with a packed out gig.

Below are a few photographic highlights, taken by Festival photographer Stephen A'Court.

https://www.jazzfestival.nz/

Wellington Jazz Festival is ready to go!

With less than a week to go until the Wellington Jazz Festival we're super excited to see Wellington enlivened with more than 100 gigs across the city! 

Don't know where to start with the programme? We've got some inspo for you, with tributes to the classics and jazz for the film buffs among us to world premieres. 

To get you in the mood check out this playlist.

Here are a few highlights you need to note:

World Premieres

If you haven't booked yet for our amazing Jazz Premiere Series, get in quick. Riki Gooch's Ngā Tuone has already sold out and we wouldn't want you to miss out on the others! These performances will all feature brand new compositions commissioned by the Festival from some of Aotearoa's top performers.

Read Tim Gruar's interview with Riki on this amazing project.

Book now for the time-travelling tunes of Karla and The Divide by Blair Latham and the Noveltones, which will feature visual accompaniment created live on the night. 

For a celebration of resilience and coming together in the face of adversity from pianist Kevin Field and NYC-based bassist Matt Penman, make sure to check out the Kevin Field Quintet. 

In a performance for all the senses, join Anita Schwabe for a composition that will transport you from Cuba Street to Otari-Wilton's Bush alongside artistic photography. 

Classic Album Make Overs

Ol' King Cole

An ode to the great drum-less trio of Nat King Cole, featuring Louis Thompson-Munn. The formidable Ol' King Cole was born out of a love of the great music of Nat King Cole's early drum-less trio, which was active 1943-1950. Humour and a lively sense of banter is the essence of what makes this band a great enjoyment to behold.

Sat 21 Nov, 4pm | Southern Cross Garden Bar and Restaurant

Festival Big Band Play Sinatra/Basie

The annual All Stars Big Band takes on two iconic albums; The Atomic Mr Basie and Sinatra at the Sands featuring rising vocal star Eugine Wolfin. The All Star Big Band is led by the incomparable John Rae on Drums along with Ben Wilcock playing the part of The Count on piano.

Thurs 19 Nov, 7:45pm | Meow

Rogue Classic Albums Live: Ella and Louis

Local singer Ella Dunbar-Wilcox presents Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s 1956 masterpiece Ella and Louis with full band as The Rogue and Vagabond hosts five nights of classic albums played live by top local musicians.

Fri 20 Nov, 7pm | The Rogue and Vagabond

Jazz On Film

The Vincent Vega Four

 Hard-hitting mix of surf, soul & rock'n'roll.  These real pipe-hittin' muthas plus Wellington's very own soul diva Lisa Tomlins bring a raucous mix of Tarantino tunes. Grab your hunny bunny and bring out the gimp for a night of banging awesomeness full of great vengeance and furious anger!

Also featuring Chris Armour on guitar, Nick Lissette on bass and Richard TeOne on drums.

Fri 20 Nov, 10:30pm |  Hashigo Zake

Pandora's Box (Germany - 1929)

Jazz-age cinema classic with live improvised accompaniment.  The iconic Louise Brooks stars as free-spirited Lulu in G.W. Pabst's bold, lurid, dazzlingly ahead-of-its-time journey through the eroticism and desperation of Weimar Berlin. Long hailed as a silent masterpiece, Pandora's Box is now brought to you with a live-in-the-room musical score from Leonardo Coghini on suitably period keys and Frank Talbot on slinkily sexy sax!

Sun 22 Nov, 7pm | Hashigo Zake

Callum Allardice's Cinematic Light Orchestra

An Arthur Street Loft Orchestra special: new works for jazz orchestra inspired by music for film.

In 2016 Callum Allardice’s "Sons of Thunder" (from The Jac’s 2015 album The Green Hour) won the inaugural APRA Best Jazz Composition Award at the NZ Jazz Awards. He won it again the following year with "Deep Thought" from the 2018 Antipodes album Good Winter, and in 2019 was a finalist for his piece "Chungin."

Fri 20 Nov, 10pm | The Third Eye

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/