Wellington Jazz Festival Reveals Its Biggest Programme Ever For 2017

The capital city is gearing up for its biggest ever Jazz Festival with a programme boasting over 150 shows that will take place across 45 venues in five days. The festival’s artistic director Shelagh Magadza said there is an almost overwhelming amount of jazz talent on offer at the June event, and that it was tricky to pick favourites:

“With a programme this huge it’s impossible to make all my recommendations here, but there is so much great music on offer, quite aside from our awesome Opera House headliners Bill Frisell and Dianne Reeves. Whether it’s former One O’Clock Lab drummer from the US, Ari Hoenig at Pyramid Club, Nathan Haines performing at Thistle Inn, ex pats Lex French and Jasmine Lovell-Smith collaborating at Havana Bar, or the Jelly Rolls’ album release party at Caroline, there’s such an exciting, eclectic mix," she said.

UTR's top picks for the festival include Tami Neilson Sings Songs Of Sinners, Borrowed Cassettes Live, Our Love Will Destroy The World, Orchestra Of Spheres Orchestra (yes, you read that right), and Jeff Henderson's Dreamville, all of which are part of Meow's Jazz Festival programme which will take place at Meow and its sister venue Caroline. Also on the to see list is British apocalyptic space funkateers The Comet Is Coming, globe-trotting Cuban charmers the Harold Lopez Nussa Trio, and jazz singer extraordinaire Diana Reeves.

Here is Baltimore jazz guitarist Bill Frisell (pictured above) performing 'A Change Is Gonna Come' for Fretboard Journal recently...

Here is renowned jazz drummer Ari Hoenig performing 'Arrows and Loops' for WNYC'...

Here's The Comet Is Coming with 'Start Running' taken from their Death To The Planet EP...

And here's a fan-shot clip of Tami Neilson delivering a powerful cover of "Reap What You Sow" by Otis Rush at the Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnepeg earlier this year...

Head over to the Wellington Jazz Festival site to peruse the full programme.