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Melbourne Jazz ’08, which will run over six days from 29 April to 4 May, is showcasing an international line-up this year, welcoming musicians from the USA, France, Brazil, Poland, South Africa and Norway and providing a platform for some of our home-grown artists. It starts and finishes with a bang: James Morrison will kick off the proceedings and the American jazz rock drummer Cindy Blackman will close the event with her quartet.

Romina Calabro, General Manager of Melbourne Jazz for the past two years, says that the festival is designed to involve the whole community, rather than be only available to a few jazz afficionados. There are Freestage concerts every day outdoors from 12pm to 6pm, Piano for Kids series and Master Classes at BMW Edge. Bennett’s Lane jazz venue will be the festival club for late night Club Sessions and Round Midnight jams, where the festival performers will drop in to play.

Calabro started out as a volunteer for Umbria Jazz Melbourne ‘05. This led to her employment at both Umbria Jazz 2005 and Umbria Jazz 2006 in Perugia, Italy, before becoming General Manager for Melbourne Jazz, working with the Artistic Director Albert Dadon. For the festival they have organised cultural exchanges of jazz musicians, this year with France. Jazz à Juan Révélations All Stars and Les Enfants de Django have been invited to Melbourne and Australian musicians Aaron Choulai, Joe Chindamo and James Morrison, who are playing at Melbourne Jazz ’08 will be going to the Jazz in Juan festival at Antibes Juan-les-Pins in France. This exchange will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Melbourne Jazz and the 48th Jazz in Juan festivals.

Calabro is expecting an enthusiastic response to this year’s international artists, just as there was for last year’s American musicians Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and McCoy Tyner. This year South African pianist Dr Abdullah Ibrahim (formerly known as Dollar Brand), who has played with John Coltrane and Ornette Colman, will be playing with his trio at the Regent Theatre, supported by our local heroes Slava and Leonard Grigoryan. Ibrahim, who left South Africa where it was forbidden to play jazz for the USA in the ‘70s, will also hold the first master class at BMW Edge on 30 April.

There will be many familiar well-loved Australian musicians taking part, Bob Sedergreen, Michelle Nicolle, Paul Grabowsky, Allan Browne, Jamie Oehlers and Yvette Johansson among them.

Of the artists performing at Hamer Hall, Tomasz Stanko from Poland, a legendary trumpeter and pioneer of free jazz with a career spanning over forty years, will play with his quartet. He won the first European Jazz Prize in 2002 and has twice won the International Jazz Album of the Year in the Australian Jazz Bell Awards. Tord Gustavsen from Norway, a romantic, lyrical pianist who draws inspiration from Caribbean music, blues, gospel and Scandinavian folk music will be playing with his trio. In 2006 his album The Ground was awarded the Australian Jazz Bell Award for International Album of the Year.

Among the artists staging concerts at The Palms at Crown, award winning singer and songwriter Kate Ceberano will perform material from her forthcoming album So Much Beauty, a collection of originals and re-workings of modern and classic tracks. Jazz and rock drummer Cindy Blackman is also a bandleader and composer. With her quartet she will be playing the final concert at The Palms at Crown on 4 May. She began her musical career as a New York street performer. Jazz fans know her as a disciple of legendary Miles Davis sideman, Tony Williams. Rock fans recognise her as the longtime drummer in the band of guitarist Lenny Kravitz.

There are 54 performances at Melbourne Jazz, which is an annual event and has just been granted another three years’ funding by the State Government of Victoria and the City of Melbourne. It promises to be a great celebration of jazz music, bringing together Australian and international musicians and sharing their music with old and young jazz fans in Melbourne.

2008 Melbourne Jazz Festival

Dates/Times: 29 April – 4 May
Bookings:
Ticketmaster: 1300 136 166 for concerts at Hamer Hall, Master Classes, Piano for Kids and Jazz at Dusk
Ticketek: 1300 795 012 for concerts at the Regent Theatre and The Palms at Crown
Moshtix: 1300 438 849 for concerts at Bennetts Lane
Bookings and Full Program Details: www.melbournejazz.com


Images:
Top Right - Romina Calabro, General Manager of Melbourne Jazz
Bottom Left - Cindy Blackman