Latest news with #DunedinJazzClub
Otago Daily Times
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Club hosts All Girl Big Band
Music educator and saxophone player Lana Law and her All Girl Big Band will perform at Dunedin Jazz Club this weekend. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Dunedin Jazz Club will host trailblazing New Zealand musician Lana Law this weekend, leading a celebration of the influence of women musicians on popular music. Lana Law's All Girl Big Band will headline at the Dunedin Jazz Club this Saturday night at Hanover Hall. "The Ages Show" will pay homage to musical icons such as Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole and Shirley Bassey. In a statement, Law said the show was a musical tribute to the legacy of women who changed the course of jazz, soul and popular music, one song at a time. Law is making a special visit to Dunedin to act as an adjudicator for the Dunedin Youth Jazz Festival, being held at Hanover Hall tomorrow and Saturday. A trailblazer in her own right, Law picked up the baritone saxophone at age 13 and never looked back, later earning her BMus in jazz performance at Massey University and touring internationally. The All Girl Big Band's wide-ranging repertoire blends classic swing, funk, rock and contemporary favourites, reflecting a history of women's voices in music. As a bonus, the evening will open with a short set by an award-winning ensemble from the Dunedin Youth Jazz Festival. The music will start at 7.15pm. — APL
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Genre-spanning performance
Glyn MacDonald will lead Saturday's Dunedin Jazz Club performance with his trio, featuring vocalist Will Luhrs. PHOTO: SUPPLIED The Dunedin Jazz Club continues its autumn concert series this weekend with a showcase of contemporary jazz. Featured performers for the show, to be held this Saturday, from 7.30pm at Hanover Hall, will be the Glyn MacDonald Trio featuring Will Luhrs, who will present a combination of energetic instrumental work with Luhrs' smooth vocal stylings. Led by pianist and composer Glyn MacDonald, the Christchurch-based trio features bassist Luke Belcher and drummer Jono Blackie. Their sound blends jazz tradition with modern sensibilities, shaped by MacDonald's diverse musical experiences across Canada, Australia, and Aotearoa. The first half of the concert will highlight the trio's original compositions, before they team up with 18 year-old Luhrs for a series of genre-spanning arrangements. Saturday's performance will be a rare opportunity to see two generations of jazz talent together on stage, providing a rich and memorable musical experience. Tickets available via
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Jazz club's tribute to Quincy Jones
Jazz singer Maya Satake. Photo: supplied Dunedin Jazz Club will pay tribute to the life of Quincy Jones with a concert this weekend showcasing the arrangements he wrote for Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. The "When Ella Met Quincy" concert will be held this Saturday, May 17, from 7.30pm at Hanover Hall. Filling the shoes of the "First Lady of Jazz" will be young jazz singer Maya Satake, a graduate of the Dunedin Jazz Foundation for secondary school students, and lead vocalist with the Dunedin Youth Jazz Orchestra. Satake is enjoying success as a performer, including winning the Otago regional finals of Rockquest in 2023 with her band Burberry Scarves, and as lead vocalist with All Blues jazz band that won the "best big band" award at the 2024 Dunedin Youth Jazz Festival. Satake's performance of Fitzgerald's Blue Skies at an end-of-year school concert convinced Dunedin Youth Jazz Band director Bill Martin to give her the lead vocalist role for Saturday's concert, a statement said. The Dunedin Youth Jazz Orchestra is driven by the rhythm section of Amelia Ross (drums), Matthew Tait (piano) and Guthrie Wakelin (bass), with solos from DYJO players Louis Robertson, Ethan Burton, Benji Pickering and Callan Power. — APL
Otago Daily Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Trumpeter's tones triumph
Wellington-based jazz trumpeter and composer Michael Costeloe. PHOTO: SUPPLIED A full house at Hanover Hall heard guest jazz trumpeter Michael Costeloe, of Wellington, play his compositions with Dunedin Jazz Club stalwarts Nick Cornish (alto saxophone), Bill Martin (piano and keys), and Carl Woodward (drums) with Wellingtonian Simon Eastwood (double bass). Costeloe has an enviable pedigree in performance and composing augmented by sojourns overseas. His performance stamina and credibility are phenomenal. Wonderful attention to rapidly woven rhythms, baroque-like melodic intricacies, overlapping harmonies and clever, energetic ensemble writing propel the music. The opening number, Zeno's Arrow, though overly repetitive, is the epitome of his frame of mind and ability to glean ideas from everyday sounds. The variety of his style ranges from the lazy bluesy triplets in The Coven and in the delightfully sinuous Amorphous which neatly evokes Greek zephyrs and enervating heat; the bass openings in To the Ninth Degree and the speed of Loose Unit. Clever writing for the drums shines in the brushes ofand compulsively disjointed patterns in His melodic sensitivity is revealed in the smooth poignancy of Fall from Grace. All musicians gave exemplary ensemble and solo performances. All have finely tuned rhythmic understanding and ability to lean into the harmonic nuances and sometimes brutish energy. All are a delight to watch. Cornish has an extraordinary ability to draw out a dissonance. Martin has a crisp touch and seminal ability to add vocal complexity to solo section harmonies. Eastwood is able to improvise over a diverse range of genres and Woodward is a revered Dunedinite with deep overseas experience. Costeloe's appreciation of what Dunedin's jazz fraternity has to offer should inspire his return.
