19 July 2023
The First Release Headliners for the 2023 Wellington Jazz Festival (25-29 October) have just been announced and are on sale now. I asked Creative Director Marnie Karmelita to share some insights on the exciting line-up.
This year’s Wellington Jazz Festival once again brings together some exciting international names with our celebrated homegrown artists. This blend amplifies the experience for our audiences as well as fertilising our own musical ecology. Each year we aim for diversity across the programme, honouring the roots of American jazz but incorporating other international voices into the mix whilst showcasing women in music.
The backbone of this Festival however is our incredible Wellington musicians and the bars and venues who support them year-round. Thanks to them the Festival fills every corner of the city and creates a palpable buzz in the streets – it’s the busiest week of the year for some of our jazz musicians. And we love to see audiences make a night of it, taking in several gigs back-to-back.
We welcome Cécile McLorin Salvant to Wellington again after she performed here in 2018. Since then, her star is on the rise and she continues to receive accolades and awards, most recently a GRAMMY nomination for her album Ghost Song at this year’s awards and just this month Female Vocalist of the Year once again in the DownBeat Critic’s Poll. She is widely considered one of the finest voices of her generation and she is an exciting live performer. I wasn’t able to be there at her last concert due to a clash in the programme but I know many people who talk about it still and I can’t wait.
One of the big names in British jazz, GoGo Penguin have an expansive and cinematic sound. If you love Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, Brian Eno or Philip Glass you will connect with their music. We’ve been trying to get them here for some time now so I’m thrilled we’ve been able to make it happen this year. Both Cécile McLorin Salvant and GoGo Penguin are exclusive to Wellington.
In partnership with our friends at Melbourne International Jazz Festival we are presenting the Zela Margossian Quintet featuring some of Australia’s finest musicians with virtuosic pianist Margossian at the helm. She references her Armenian heritage fusing traditional music with a jazz sound.
From closer to home, two Aotearoa greats come together to present The Brotherman Project by The Rodger Fox Big Band featuring King Kapisi. Premiering new arrangements of the hip hop star’s back catalogue; we love Rodger’s collaborations reaching out across genres to play with the big band sound.
The Back to Black band are back with a killer lineup of Aotearoa musicians including Vanessa Stacey, Lisa Tomlins, Johnny Lawrence, Darren Mathiassen and Thabani Gapara to celebrate Amy Winehouse’s 40th birthday. Performing songs from her albums, Frank and Back to Black, don’t miss them this time around after sellout gigs in festivals past.
Stay tuned for further programme announcements and the full lineup towards the end of August.
