Jonathan Crayford is most often associated with his compositions
and performances on piano. However, in the coming months Crayford, one of NZ’s
most inventive and genre defying musicians, will be performing a series of
shows under several different musical monikers, before heading to Spain in
August for an orchestral project.
Like a rhythm section mutinied from their band, Crayford dons an electric bass and
accompanies Ross
Burge on drums forming a dynamically interactive punk, jazz,
grunge, free-form music powerhouse entitled Spanner.
The duo will perform every Wednesday evening in the month of May at The Golden Dawn Tavern of Power,
featuring some equally talented special guests each week including
Julia Deans,
SJD, Lucien Johnson, Neil Watson and Jeff
Henderson.
May 13th sees Crayford perform at Freida
Margolis with the 3 piece Meteor – The Jonathan Crayford Electric Trio featuring Marika Hodgson on bass, Chris
O’Connore on drums and Crayford on electric keys with a guest
appearance from Lucien
Johnson.
Meteor and Spanner team
up at The Wine
Cellar on July 6
th for a the Crayford quinella -
guaranteed to get bums off seats.
Jonathan returns to the piano on June
8
th and 9
that Suite Gallery,
Wellington for 2 solo piano concerts just in time for the Wellington Jazz
Festival.
Catch Jonathan Crayford in one of his many manifestations at a venue near you.
Jonathan Crayford Forthcoming Shows:
Sat May 13th– Meteor Live at Freida Margolis, Auckland
Thurs June 8th –
Jonathan Crayford Solo Piano Concert – Suite Gallery, Wellington - 8PM
Fri June 9th- Jonathan Crayford Solo Piano Concert – Suite Gallery, Wellington - 8PM
Thurs July 6th– Spanner & Meteor Live at The Wine Cellar, Auckland – 8PM
* Jonathan Crayford Trio's
recent album East West Moon (Rattle Records) selected as finalist for Best Jazz Album 2017 (featuring Ben Street and Dan Weiss)
Praise for Jonathan
Crayford:
"He’s
an artist embedded so deeply within his music that his persona reflects in
those terms. It’s as if he were the embodiment of sonic shapes and forms." John Fenton "This is the kind
of piano I totally relate to: exploratory, thoughtful, soulful, focused. Those
qualities are all sort of contradictory, or at least contrasting, which is why
this kind of work is meaningful: because it is multi-dimensional." Thomas Conrad critic
for Jazz Times"The title track of
pianist Jonathan Crayford's latest album is a stunning meditation in colour and
tone. It establishes its bearings and then heads into the unknown - the piano
probing and searching sometimes pensive at others strident and rambling. It's a
towering composition on an album that clocks in at a perfect 45 minutes and
leaves you gasping at its beauty, richness and assuredness." Mike
Alexander - Review of Dark Light (2014 trio album w/Ben Street,
Dan Weiss)
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