Another great Jazz Festival

The fifth of the New Zealand’s coolest village jazz festival, Jazz in Martinborough, will be held between Friday the 3rd and Sunday the 6th September.
“Once again the stars are coming to our festival and we have a great line up,” says Lee Quayle, festival publicist. Feature acts announced at the launch included Wellington Premier jazz band the David Feehan Band. “David is a master vocalist and musician who always brings together an ensemble of super musicians and vocalists,” says Lee. David is a vocal teacher, band leader and singer of some note who has performed around the world and around the country. He has released four albums and been recorded on many a top single.

“David will be bringing with him stunning vocalists Coco Favre and Dawn Elder, solo performers in their own right,” says Lee, “as well as an eight-piece band of talented musicians and vocalists.” … Continue Reading

NOIR

Peppers Parehua (New York Street West)Saturday 5 September 4-6 pm

Wellington quartet, Noir, is also returning to Peppers Parehua (New York St West). Led by vocalist Mary Watson this combo brings the smoothest and coolest jazz to Parehua’s estate setting. They are a svelte 4-piece light jazz band. Their music is a sultry blend of old classics and interesting contemporary music. Noir are committed to providing a sophisticated musical environment where people can relax, facilitating good conversation and good food and drink. Vocals: Mary Watson, Bass: Graeme King, Guitar: Robert Kingi, Drums: Greg Kubala.

OL’ KING COLE

Thursday 3 September, 7.30 pm The Village Cafe

Revisit the musical styles and era of Nat King Cole
with this lively and talented Wellington trio.

Ol’ King Cole are a Wellington based trio lead by piano/vocalist, Louis Thompson-Munn. The drumless trio perform music inspired by the great Nat ‘King’ Cole and other artists of his era, specifically with a focus on Nat’s early trio which ran from 1943-1950.

The other trio members are Robert ‘Bert Hendo’ Henderson on double bass (The Wellington City Shake-em-on-Downers), and Callum Allardice on guitar (The Jac).

A great and lively performance is always a guarantee with the spirit of the old house band trio alive, before TVs in bars and when people would dance the night away!

Guest Vocalist Stephanie Bishop
Stephanie Bishop is a well-established vocalist based in Wellington who has performed NZ wide. She will be joining Ol’ King Cole at Jazz in Martinborough to perform some memorable Jazz standards and other tunes from the era.

Louis Thompson-Munn.
Based in Wellington New Zealand, Louis Thompson-Munn is a pianist and vocalist, specialising in performance, composition, arranging and is a music educator. Originally from Newcastle in Australia, Louis moved to New Zealand in December of 2006 and attended the New Zealand School of Music through Victoria University in Wellington. Receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Music with a major in Jazz Performance on piano, Louis also has a Graduate Diploma in Education, teaching in High Schools and privately.
Performing in a variety of ensembles and many styles, Louis regularly plays and is a part of the Wellington music scene. During the past few years he has been involved with a number of bands performing with some of the country’s top musicians. These include the NZ School of Music’s Big Band, Latin & Fusion Ensembles, Station Deluxe,
The Grug, Riverblind, Astro Empire, Superbad Soul Section,
LTM Soultronic Ensemble, the LTM Trio and
jazz trio ‘Ol King Cole.

THE DAVID FEEHAN BAND

Saturday 5 September, 7.30 pm Martinborough Town Hall

Join us for a fabulous Saturday night out in Martinborough Wine Village.
Swing along to one of Wellington’s Premier Jazz Bands led by the fantastic vocals and musicianship of David Feehan.

Wellington born David Feehan is simply one of NZs premier vocalists, with four albums to his credit, and involvement in over 20 more. David has sung all over the world and appeared at venues as exclusive as Ronnie Scotts (London) and Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), with artists as diverse as the Buena Vista Social Club, Tom Jones, Bill Reichenbach and Greg Bissonette. He is versatile and sings in most genres but was bought up appreciating the jazz vocal standards. Currently teaching privately as well as performing, David has performed all over NZ and been a sought after studio vocalist since the mid 1960s with vocal support on over a dozen top ten N.Z. singles.

David is bringing with him a selection of singers and musos to entrance and entertain you. The line up includes Swiss born Coco Favre, a multilingual, multi-genre singer who has toured Europe, Mexico and North Africa as both a singer and dancer. She has worked as a session singer in Geneva, Switzerland and New Zealand, and performed in numerous bands all over the world. Coco recently released her debut Jazz album Introducing…Coco Favre and will be singing some of her sultry Jazz, French and soulful Latin from the album along with some new songs. She has also produced much of the vocals on David’s new album and is sought after as a studio vocalist and tutor.

Coco will share the vocal duties with David’s longstanding collaborator Dawn Elder. Dawn has been a longstanding student of David Feehan and specialises in adapting Jazz Standards. Based in Wellington, she has also studied (like Coco and David) at the prestigious Tuscany Vocal Workshop in Italy. She was also a founding member of the A Capella group 10DD led by Julie Lamb. Dawn released her first CD Alternative Medicine in December 2013.

Andy Mauafua works as a session guitarist and has worked with some of NZs leading recording artists such as Annie Crummer, Iva Lamkum, Bella Kalolo, Ardijah, Adeaze, Lisa Tomlins, Deva Mahal & David Feehan. He has played at some of NZs biggest music festivals such as Womad , Rhythm & Vines, Pasifika, Parachute etc.. and most of NZs Jazz Festivals, as well as touring overseas at the Glastonbury Festival (UK), Switzerland, Austria, Korea and Singapore. In 2005 Andy studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was awarded the coveted ‘World Scholarship’, an award given to students who show the most promise and potential.