The return of a cancelled music festival is expected to bring Wellington’s jazz musicians out of dark corners and into the spotlight.
The Wellington Jazz Festival will return in June after a four-year hiatus. The biennial festival, last held in 2009, was cancelled in 2011 because of a lack of funds.
Double bassist Nick Tipping said the festival’s comeback had been “a long time coming”.
“We’re all sort of slaving away in the corners of bars and restaurants for 11 months of the year . . . it’s nice to actually have a time where we can have a little bit of the spotlight.”
He had played in past festivals, and was delighted that it was returning, even on a smaller scale. “I think it’s good that they’ve gone back to a community-based model, and they’ve got the Wellington jazz community on side by doing that. It’s wonderful to be able to use the resources we have here.”
It also presented an opportunity for up-and-coming musicians. “Festivals can be a good place for rising stars to get a foothold.”
Festival director Shelagh Magadza said the scale of this year’s event would be reduced from 2009. It would run over three days, rather than four, and would feature fewer international acts.
The budget is also much reduced from 2009’s $1.2 million spend.
Headliners will include Chucho Valdes, a Cuban jazzman, and Cassandra Wilson, an American singer touring Australia at the time of the festival.
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