Wellington Jazz Festival

Soul, funk, jazz, fusion, and R&B are all celebrated across the city this spring. The annual Wellington Jazz Festival is back. It packs over one hundred gigs into five days in venues around the city. Bookending the festival are amazing Grammy Award-winning American artists. Bass player Marcus Millar opens proceedings. He’s performed jazz, R&B, fusion, and soul in over 500 recordings across a thirty-year career. esperanza spalding is the closing night act. The bassist, singer, and composer is a regular collaborator. She’s worked with many music-world luminaries including Prince, Bruno Mars, and Wayne Shorter. Virtuoso Australian drummer Alexander Flood travels across the Tasman for his Aotearoa debut at the festival. 

There are rich pickings from the Kiwi component at the festival. A 2023 APRA Award winner, Louisa Williamson has been commissioned to write a new work. It will incorporate avant-garde jazz, classical, electronic, and hip-hop elements. The Rodger Fox Big Band will have Chris Fox conducting. He will lead a tribute to his brother Rodger who died earlier this year. Rodger’s 50-year legacy has left an indelible mark on the New Zealand jazz scene.   

American poet Maya Angelou will have her poems translated into Te Reo Māori. ORO MĀIA involves spoken word, live music and performance by a group of wāhine Māori. This thrilling cross-cultural project features a captivating new music soundtrack by Maarire Brunning Kouka. Contemporary soul, jazz, and 70s funk will complement the Kiwi vibe.