JAZZFIREFLY presents Khufu's Ethiopiques playing the sounds of Ethiopian Jazz
Wellington's finest playing some of the golden tunes of the great Ethiopiques era.
Khufu features renouned jazz maestro Lucien Johnson on sax and keys, Justin Firefly Clarke on guitar and wah, Patrick Bleakley on double-bass and Ben Lemi Wood on drums.
The Khufu ship is an intact full-size vessel from Ancient Egypt that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2500 BC. The ship was almost certainly built for Khufu (King Cheops), the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Like other buried Ancient Egyptian ships, it was apparently part of the extensive grave goods intended for use in the afterlife, and contained no bodies, unlike northern European ship burials.
Lucien Johnson is an outstanding saxophonist and composer who has been involved in Wellington’s music scene for around 15 years. He has led many bands including Shogun Orchestra and The Troubles and been a member of many others including The Black Seeds, The Yoots and Lord Echo. He has made music for many live theatre and dance shows, TV and the last feature film by Geoff Murphy. He lived in Paris for several years, playing with legends of free jazz and has toured around Europe, the US, Brazil, India, Haiti, Japan, China and the Pacific with various ensembles.
Justin Firefly Clarke is a prolific guitarist and composer who has won awards at festivals in Europe and collaborated with world-class performers from all over the globe. Locally he is known for producing the Woolshed Sessions and Jess Chambers as well as featuring with Fly My Pretties, Fat Freddy’s Drop and with the NZSO.
Patrick is a local bass legend known for playing with Blerta in the 1970s and 80s and being the rock to Jonathan Crayford's jazztrio as well as The Troubles.
Ben Lemi is a multi-instrumentalist composer from Wellington and has been contributing to the NZ music scene for the last 15 years. A Jazz Performance graduate of the NZ School of Music, he became involved with various local bands and as a guitarist/drummer/bass player and singer. He has recorded and performed with various NZ acts across the country and internationally. Ben is currently working with local groups French For Rabbits and Trinity Roots.
