Latest news with #DunedinJazzClub
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Jazz club's tribute to Quincy Jones
Jazz singer Maya Satake. Photo: supplied Dunedin Jazz Club will pay tribute to the life of Quincy Jones with a concert this weekend showcasing the arrangements he wrote for Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. The "When Ella Met Quincy" concert will be held this Saturday, May 17, from 7.30pm at Hanover Hall. Filling the shoes of the "First Lady of Jazz" will be young jazz singer Maya Satake, a graduate of the Dunedin Jazz Foundation for secondary school students, and lead vocalist with the Dunedin Youth Jazz Orchestra. Satake is enjoying success as a performer, including winning the Otago regional finals of Rockquest in 2023 with her band Burberry Scarves, and as lead vocalist with All Blues jazz band that won the "best big band" award at the 2024 Dunedin Youth Jazz Festival. Satake's performance of Fitzgerald's Blue Skies at an end-of-year school concert convinced Dunedin Youth Jazz Band director Bill Martin to give her the lead vocalist role for Saturday's concert, a statement said. The Dunedin Youth Jazz Orchestra is driven by the rhythm section of Amelia Ross (drums), Matthew Tait (piano) and Guthrie Wakelin (bass), with solos from DYJO players Louis Robertson, Ethan Burton, Benji Pickering and Callan Power. — APL
Otago Daily Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Trumpeter's tones triumph
Wellington-based jazz trumpeter and composer Michael Costeloe. PHOTO: SUPPLIED A full house at Hanover Hall heard guest jazz trumpeter Michael Costeloe, of Wellington, play his compositions with Dunedin Jazz Club stalwarts Nick Cornish (alto saxophone), Bill Martin (piano and keys), and Carl Woodward (drums) with Wellingtonian Simon Eastwood (double bass). Costeloe has an enviable pedigree in performance and composing augmented by sojourns overseas. His performance stamina and credibility are phenomenal. Wonderful attention to rapidly woven rhythms, baroque-like melodic intricacies, overlapping harmonies and clever, energetic ensemble writing propel the music. The opening number, Zeno's Arrow, though overly repetitive, is the epitome of his frame of mind and ability to glean ideas from everyday sounds. The variety of his style ranges from the lazy bluesy triplets in The Coven and in the delightfully sinuous Amorphous which neatly evokes Greek zephyrs and enervating heat; the bass openings in To the Ninth Degree and the speed of Loose Unit. Clever writing for the drums shines in the brushes ofand compulsively disjointed patterns in His melodic sensitivity is revealed in the smooth poignancy of Fall from Grace. All musicians gave exemplary ensemble and solo performances. All have finely tuned rhythmic understanding and ability to lean into the harmonic nuances and sometimes brutish energy. All are a delight to watch. Cornish has an extraordinary ability to draw out a dissonance. Martin has a crisp touch and seminal ability to add vocal complexity to solo section harmonies. Eastwood is able to improvise over a diverse range of genres and Woodward is a revered Dunedinite with deep overseas experience. Costeloe's appreciation of what Dunedin's jazz fraternity has to offer should inspire his return.
