This year’s Jazz in Martinborough runs 30 August to 2 September.
Organisers are aiming to top last year’s event, which Music Director Lee Quayle said was “by far our best festival ever for tickets sold and attendance at gigs”.
This year’s Jazz in Martinborough theme will be Women in Jazz, to commemorate New Zealand’s world-leading granting of women the right to vote, in 1893. “New Zealand led the world 125 years ago, and we will honour that legacy with some fabulous women singing fabulous music,” said Lee Quayle.
The opening night of the festival on Thursday (30 August) will feature the stylish Mary Watson and Noir, who have drawn big crowds to Peppers Parehua during previous festivals. “We thought it was time we showcase Mary’s singing talents for a wider festival audience,” says Lee. “Mary has a great band of super musicians who play a wide range of jazz with ease and style.”
Miho Wada and her Jazz Orchestra will be front and center on Friday evening (31 August). “This concert will be one to remember, as Miho and her band always bring fabulous excitement and energy to their performances,” says Lee. “And, they play great Jazz!”
Miho is a jazz floutist and her group features Pascal Roggen on violins and cello; Drew Hutchinson on guitars, clarinet, and tenor sax; Sungjin Hong on basses and trumpet; and drummer Jared Dexvaux de Marigny. The group has been together since 2011 and has released several albums, including one earlier this year.
The headliner gig on Saturday (1 September) sees the return of our Patron and New Zealand Jazz legend Rodger Fox. “Rodger Fox is the best of the best. We can’t wait for this show!”
The legendary jazz trombonist and three-time winner of the Tui award for NZ Jazz Recording of the Year, Fox is at the head of this big group of prime talent, which at this stage includes vocalist Erna Ferry, with other female vocalists to be named later. Fox and his mega-talented musicians have toured all around New Zealand and around the world for many years, playing at iconic jazz festivals like Monterey and Montreaux.
Tickets for all three main festival shows will go on sale soon.
