22 December 2008 - 0 Comments

The finalists for the Jazz Album of the Year for 2008 have been announced and they include a three-time winner, a previous finalist and a respected music teacher and researcher.

The Rodger Fox Big Band is a finalist for ‘No Exit’, while Whirimako Black’s second album ‘Whirimako Black Sings’ joins Norman Meehan’s ‘Modigliani’ in the final three.

Auckland-based Rodger Fox is no stranger to Jazz Album finals spots – the 30-plus year music veteran and his various big bands have taken out the award in 1983, 2001 and 2004 and have also been finalists in 1984 and 2002

It’s the second time Bay of Plenty-born Whirimako Black has made the finals of the Jazz Album of the Year after her fifth album ‘Soul Sessions’ made the cut last year.

‘Whirimako Black Sings’ is released in a busy year for the Maori composer which has seen her perform with the NZSO and Salmonella Dub and in Turkey as part of the Gallipoli celebrations. She has also been a judge on the TV series ‘Maorioke’.

‘Modigliani’ predominantly features Wellington-based pianist Norman Meehan’s own tunes and is his second full album. His compositional style is influenced mainly by jazz musicians but there are also influences from the world of rock and Drum ‘n’ Bass

When not recording or playing, Meehan is a jazz lecturer at the New Zealand School of Music.

Music awards spokesperson Campbell Smith says there is much for the judges to consider in the finalists.

“There’s a big band, a group and a soloist and a variety of styles so it’s going to be an interesting task for the adjudicators. And that’s as it should be and probably reflects the healthy state of the jazz genre in 2008,” Smith says.

The winner of the Best Jazz Album Tui will be announced at the Wellington Jazz Festival in March 2009. For more information on the Wellington Jazz festival, visit www.jazzfestival.co.nz.. The winner will also be acknowledged at the 2009 Vodafone NZ Music Awards

Thanks to www.nzmusicawards.co.nz for this story.

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