04 September 2024 - 0 Comments

The Wellington Jazz Festival is set to energise Te Whanganui-a-Tara this October with its largest line-up in over five years. From 16-20 October, jazz will fill the city with over 150 performances at more than 50 venues.

This year's festival is a monumental celebration of jazz, showcasing an exciting mix of local talent and multi-Grammy Award-winning international artists.

Festival Co-Director Dolina Wehipeihana says "We're absolutely thrilled to announce an exceptional and wide-ranging City Line-up. With an impressive number of new venues joining us this year, it’s a testament to the powerful and vibrant jazz scene here in Pōneke."

One of the new venues on the block for 2024 is St Michael's Church in Kelburn, presenting four distinct jazz sessions all of which are koha entry. Experience the dynamic Luka van Rensburg Quintet with Ferd & Friends, a whānau friendly evening of uplifting jazz, local saxophonist Alex Trask’s Imaginary Folksongs, Oscar Lavën’s Swingtet’s tribute to iconic New Orleans Swing, and Umar Zakaria’s Aslibop Project blending bebop with traditional Malay melodies.

Longstanding Festival venue partners Rogue & Vagabond, Bedlam & Squalor and Meow, along with festival friends Capital Blues at Jack Hackett’s, are also set to amplify the festival's offerings.

To name just a few of the performances across these venues: Sunday Jahzz! at Meow showcases a selection of adventurous music ensembles at the cutting edge of New Zealand Jazz. At Rogue & Vagabond, Thabani Gapara presents Dzindza, blending traditional African rhythms with contemporary jazz for a captivating live experience. Prolific, boldly innovative harpist, composer and singer, Esther Swift (Scotland) will explore ritual, connection, isolation, and the natural world in her performance with pedal harp and voice at Bedlam & Squalor. And to cap off your Festival nights, audiences can enjoy free Late Night Jam Sessions hosted by Capital Blues Inc. at Jack Hackett's every day of the Festival.

Festival goers won’t want to miss Wāhine in Jazz making their Wellington debut in the cosy surrounds of the iconic Raglan Roast on Abel Smith Street. Wāhine in Jazz are an Auckland-based collective championing women and non-binary musicians in jazz.

The festival will also extend its reach beyond the city borders to the Kāpiti coast with a show at Te Raukura ki Kāpiti in Raumati, where the emotive Jess Deacon will perform jazz standards with a fresh twist, vocalese, and original compositions. And Crash Bandihoot will take over the Abandoned Tap Room in Petone with their raucous New Orleans Street style brass band music.

Festival Co-Director Tama Waipara is excited by the diversity of events on offer, “I’m really looking forward to enjoying the local sounds on offer. We have such a rich base of musicicans in Aotearoa and it will be hard to get to everything given the sheer volume of artists participating and a packed schedule of events. It’s exciting to see many past commissioned artists performing across the 2024 programme including Riki Gooch Pirihi, Cory Champion, Seth Boy, Umar Zakaria and Anita Schwabe to name a few. I encourage you to dive into the programme and join the action. With over 50 venues involved, the city will be buzzing!”

The City Line-Up includes the previously announced First Release acts, including legendary multi-Grammy Award-winning bassist, composer, and producer Marcus Miller (USA) and five-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist and bassist Esperanza Spalding (USA) who bookend the Opera House programme.

Jazz icon Rodger Fox will be honoured with a special performance by The Rodger Fox Big Band (Opera House), and for the first time in eight years, Fly My Pretties returns with an innovative show led by Barnaby Weir & Laughton Kora at The Great Hall, Massey University.

At San Fran, and virtuoso drummer Alexander Flood (AUS) and his all-star band will deliver high-energy set that will have audiences dancing from start to finish.

In addition, the Festival has commissioned new music from two trailblazing artists. APRA Award-winning composer and saxophonist Louisa Williamson will debut her composition The Chasm Where We Fall Into Each Other at San Fran. And in an exciting collaboration with Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival and Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival, ORO MĀIA brings you poems by Dr Maya Angelou translated into te reo Māori. This concert features a captivating soundtrack of new music by Maarire Brunning Kouka (MĀ and The Fly Hunnies) at the Opera House. For full details on the Wellington Jazz Festival programme and to explore the full City Line-up, visit www.jazzfestival.nz.

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