Winston Watusi Music Plus

Last week I mentioned the current glut of folk music; none of that today – this week it's jazz.

And let's start by following up on a column from a couple of weeks ago, as there's been a lot of feedback about it.

I was writing about Oscar Lavën, who grew up here in Tauranga, so I guess a lot of people know him, and has since migrated to Wellington to follow his musical dreams.

Let me recap briefly in case you missed that column and don't know Oscar. He's the son of Tauranga musicians Marion Arts and Robbie Lavën and has been excelling on instruments that you blow since a very early age.

He currently holds the tenor sax seat in the Rodger Fox Big Band and is also in high demand for his clarinet and trumpet playing. He seems to be contributing to every second band in the capital, including the Air Force Band. He's also the first call bassoonist for the Wellington Orchestra and is about to start teaching at Victoria University's New Zealand School of Music.

He has also played on a lot of albums, from neo-Dixie to Gypsy Jazz, and at the end of last year released his own debut ‘Questions In Red', a complex and demanding set of be-bop influenced instrumentals, which is on closer examination quite accessible and which has received international acclaim, thanks in part to the presence of award-winning UK drummer John Rae.

12 compositions

It features 12 compositions by Oscar, who is also joined by ex-Blerta bassist Patrick Bleakley, trumpeter Mike Taylor and pianist Ayrton Foote; and, while Spotify offers only one tune, you can hear and buy the whole thing on Bandcamp. If you're a jazz fan you're in for a treat.

Oscar is also coming to town for Easter. In fact a large chunk of the country's jazz community are heading to the Bay this year since the National Jazz Festival, the jewel in the crown of Tauranga's musical events, is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

There is a suitably huge programme planned and you can find Oscar all over the place. On Thursday evening, April 6, he'll be on display with the Rodger Fox Big Band at Baycourt in what should be a rather special concert. Rodger is presenting material from the band's two latest recordings, both of which were slightly left-field projects: an album of Dave Dobbyn songs, and an album of Hone Tuwhare's poetry set to music.

Then that weekend Oscar is part of the Downtown Jazz Carnival. This year the carnival will be returning to its regular outdoor stages after a very enjoyable switch last year to taking place in downtown restaurants and bars due to the festival's Covid-forced move from Easter to the rather colder Matariki weekend.

Shaken Not Stirred

Downtown you can find Oscar both leading his own quintet and joining Wellington swing kings Shaken Not Stirred. Then he's back again at Baycourt on Sunday, April 9, sitting in with Liam Ryan's Blue Riders, which features local singer Sarah Spicer.

He will also be part of a Sunday afternoon concert at Baycourt – though possibly not in person – when the Tauranga Big Band will be showcasing 'some of New Zealand's most innovative composers”. Oscar's work will feature, alongside compositions from Wayne Senior, Lauren Ellis, and Ryan Brake.

And, as you can no doubt tell from this, the Jazz Festival programme is out, tickets are on sale, and the countdown to what promises to be the biggest jazz festival in recent memory has begun.

Actually, it's a year of anniversaries: the festival turns 60, the Youth Band Competitions are in their 45th year and Rodger's Big Band turns 50. The festival itself will be running for 10 days, kicking off with a street party in Katikati on April 1 (and that's no joke).

That afternoon will also see the first matinee performance of ‘Unforgettable – The Nat King Cole Story' which has four performances at the 16 Ave Theatre under the guidance of long-time music educator and Tauranga Big Band director Murray Mason and Tauranga director Merv Beets.

And that's just the start... much more to come next week.