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

THIS JUST IN: FINALISTS FOR THE 2020 NZ JAZZ AWARDS

Over the weekend the the 2020 finalists for the APRA Best Jazz Composition and Recorded Music NZ Te Kaipuoro Tautito Toa

The creativity of New Zealand’s jazz scene is exemplified by this year’s finalists for the Best Jazz Artist, with ALCHEMY, Dixon Nacey and Michal Martyniuk up for the Tui this year.

It was another impressive year for composers as well with three top finalists for the Best Jazz Composition.

Callum Allardice is in the running for  Phobos and Deimos, Jake Baxendale for  Tui, and Myele Manzanza for Mortality (all pictured above).

The winners will be announced live on Radio New Zealand’s Music 101 on Saturday 6 June and Groove will also be reporting right here.

APRA Best Jazz Composition 

After winning APRA Best Jazz Composition for the third time last year for his composition Chugin’, Callum Allardice is back for the fourth consecutive year with his song Phobos & Deimos.

In 2016 Callum’s Sons of Thunder took home the inaugural Best Jazz Composition Award at the NZ Jazz Awards, and he followed that up by winning the same award in 2017 for Deep Thought.

As part of the group Antipodes, Jake Baxendale is no stranger to the Jazz Awards.
In 2018 the group released their debut album Good Winter and went on to be a finalist for Best Jazz Artist at the 2019 awards.  Regularly touring both New Zealand and Australia, Jake has released the composition ‘Tui’, which is up for APRA Best Jazz Composition at this year’s awards.

Born in New Zealand to a Congolese master percussionist, Myele Manzanza is a drummer and composer who has since established himself on the world stage, collaborating with artists like Theo Parrish, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Amp Fiddler, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Jordan Rakei.  In June 2019, Myele released his eagerly anticipated third album A Love Requited, and his song Mortality is up for APRA Best Composition this year.

“The quality and inventiveness of  Aotearoa’s jazz composers continues to impress and delight us. 

While we’re disappointed that we’re unable to present these awards at the Wellington Jazz Festival as we normally would, these works all deserve celebration and recognition.” 
APRA Head of NZ Operations Anthony Healey

Recorded Music NZ Best Jazz Artist 

ALCHEMY was created with one goal in mind: the reinvention of iconic Kiwi pop songs as leading-edge jazz.  Featuring six of New Zealand’s finest jazz vocalists – Allana Goldsmith, Bex Peterson, Caitlin Smith, Chelsea Prastiti, Lou’ana Whitney, and Marjan Nelson – and six of New Zealand’s most accomplished jazz instrumentalists – Kevin Field (piano), Richard Hammond (bass), Roger Manins (tenor saxophone), Ron Samsom and Stephen Thomas (drums), and Michael Howell (guitar) -  the talent on display is formidable.  

The eponymous ALCHEMY album was released on 13 December 2019 to critical acclaim and remarkable sales results, reaching Number 11 on the Official New Zealand Top Twenty Albums Chart.

During a 27-year long career, Dixon Nacey has worked with some of the finest local and international musicians across a wide range of genres. He is in high demand as a session musician and sideman, and has been the Musical Director for the “Coca- Cola Christmas in the Park” since 2016.  His 2019 album The Edge of Chaos was his debut as bandleader, featuring seven superb compositions and a raft of talented musicians including Dixon on guitar, Roger Manins (saxophone), Kevin Field (piano), Olivier Holland (bass), Andy Keegan (drums), and Jonathan Leung & Chelsea Prastiti as vocals on Taupo.

Polish-born, New Zealand-based Michał Martyniuk is the third finalist for this year’s Recorded Music NZ Best Jazz Artist award for his album Resonate.  Dividing his time between Poland and New Zealand, Michal is a pianist, composer and a music producer whose jazz career skyrocketed after placing second at the prestigious Made In New York Jazz Competition in New York City in May 2018.

After performing his own compositions on stage alongside judges and jazz legends Randy Brecker, John Pattitucci, Mike Stern and Francisco Mela, he went on to release his first solo album Nothing To Prove later that year.   Recorded Music NZ CEO Damian Vaughan said the Best Jazz Artist Tui always brings an exciting collection of skilled musicians crafting unique compositions and 2020 is no different.  “Over the last 12 months there have been a wealth of technically impressive, emotionally charged jazz record.

For for info check out the APRA AMCOS website