Directions in Jazz in Martinborough 2021

The opening night concert for the 10th festival of Jazz in Martinborough will feature one of New Zealand’s finest jazz pianists, Duncan Haynes and a stellar line-up of top-class kiwi jazz talent. 

The group will perform ‘Directions in Jazz: The Vocalese Session’, in the Martinborough Town Hall on Friday, September 4 2021. 

  “We hope people will walk away with a new appreciation for the diverse range of jazz vocal styles out there, as well as feeling like they have been an integral part of the moment” says Duncan, who has performed all over the U.K. and Europe including at Ronnie Scott’s, Wembley Stadium, and jazz festivals in Warsaw, Portugal, Ireland, and the Netherlands. 

Duncan will be joined on stage by three local musicians. The award-winning bassist Umar Zakaria, drumming mainstay Mark Locket and searing tenor saxophonist Louisa Williamson. For The Vocalese Session they will be joined by two Christchurch artists who have played at two earlier JIM festivals, virtuoso guitarist Brad Kang and versatile vocalist Ella Dunbar-Wilcox. 

Brad Kang has played in many national jazz festivals as well as the United States and Amsterdam. He was awarded the Best of Fest People’s Choice Award at the Wellington Jazz Festival in 2017, and played at the 2017 Jazz in Martinborough as part of the Senses Quintet and as half of the duo Gauntlett and Kang.

Ella Dunbar-Wilcox was the vocalist for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2015 and 2016 and the New Zealand School of Music Big Band in 2017 and 2018. She appeared with Intuition in the 2018 Jazz in Martinborough festival, and will be back this time tackling a challenging and diverse set of tunes, from the beautiful ballad Lush Life all the way through to the complexity of Coltrane’s 26-2.

Directions in Jazz will open the festival at the Martinborough Town Hall on Friday, 4 September. It will be the first of 10 events for Jazz in Martinborough, marking the 10^th anniversary of the popular spring festival. The Saturday concert features the sensational Miho’s Jazz Orchestra, and there will be eight free gigs at local cafes and bars over the weekend. 

Tickets for Directions in Jazz and Miho’s Jazz Orchestra are available online from iTicket or at local i-Sites.