Pheeroan akLaff In Aotearoa - Auckland and Wellington Dates Announced

Collaborator with such key figures in experimental / improvised / new music as Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Sonny Sharrock, Wadada Leo Smith, and Reggie Workman, US jazz drumming giant Pheeroan akLaff is heading to Aotearoa in October for a run of events in Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Performing in the capital as part of Wellington International Jazz Festival, Pheeroan akLaff will be joined in both cities by an array of top flight talents from our improvised music community. The Detroit, Michigan artist's local shows include double-set evenings at Pyramid Club (solo and ensemble performances), an Audio Foundation event with Hermione Johnson (prepared piano) and Abigail Aroha Jensen (taonga pūoro), and a trio set at The Wine Cellar as part of the forthcoming Vitamin S Festival. Open-eared gig goers will be wanting to scope out the full lineup details below...

“Pheeroan akLaff believes in drums first, rather than last. He can drive an ensemble forward with the machine-gun attack of his snare and the rolling thunder of his bass and toms, compounding and enriching the music with dense polyrhythms, or using the metallic shimmer of his cymbals to surmount it all with a luminous, celebratory grace.” — Stuart Broomer

Pheeroan akLaff in Aotearoa

Thursday 20th October - Creative Jazz Club Aotearoa, Anthology, Auckland
with J.Y Lee & Jeff Henderson (saxophones), Cameron MacArthur (bass), Kat Tomacruz (guitar)

Friday 21st October - Wellington International Jazz Festival, Pyramid Club, Wellington (two sets)*
Pheeroan akLaff solo & with Riki Gooch (percussion), Jonny Marks (voice), Tom Callwood (bass), Bridget Kelly (reeds) & Gerard Crewdson (brass)

Saturday 22nd October - Wellington International Jazz Festival, Pyramid Club, Wellington (two sets)*
Pyramid Club - Wellington International Jazz Festival
Pheeroan akLaff solo & with Nicky Wuts (vibraphone), Cory Champion (vibraphone), Peter Daly (violin), Isaac Smith (bass), Daniel Beban (guitar), Sean Martin-Buss (sax/trumpet)

Sunday 23rd October - Wellington International Jazz Festival, Meow, Wellington
with Farewell Spit (Daniel Beban, Tom Callwood, Anthony Donaldson, Jeff Henderson)

Tuesday 25th October - Audio Foundation, Auckland*
with Hermione Johnson (prepared piano) & Abigail Aroha Jensen (Taonga Pūoro)

Wednesday 26th October - Vitamin S Festival, The Wine Cellar, Auckland
with Sally Gates, Eamon Edmundsen-Wells

*Tickets available HERE via UTR
More info available at www.jazzfestival.nz

Experience solo 2008 footage of Pheeroan akLaff in action, filmed at NYC's Kampo Studio...

Press release:

Legendary drummer Pheeroan akLaff (USA) is one of the greats of jazz and improvised music. Since the 1970’s Pheeroan has been at the forefront of innovative new music, collaborating with renowned artists such as Sam Rivers, Oliver Lake, Andrew Hill, Reggie Workman, Cecil Taylor, Amina Claudine Myers, Liu Sola and many, many more.

When akLaff speaks of the jazz drumming tradition, he speaks with the rhythmic energy of his drumming and the fluidity of a Beat poet. For him, it’s “piloting a fearless flight of one thousand passengers. It’s the sensation of conducting the breath and heartbeat of a joyous few, of having a tradition of mentor and devotee with a transcendental bond. It’s making others dance with you, making others hear what is not apparently audible or imaginable.”