Newsletter February 2015

Hi Jazz Cats. What a month we had: two fantastic bands The Prohibition Big Band lead by Trevor Thwaites on Sunday the 22nd February at the Cosmopolitan Club, and then The Andrew London Trio at the Nivara Lounge on Sunday the 1st of March. 

For those of you that missed it, The Prohibition Big Band came down from Auckland and gave us a terrific performance. For those of you that came along: the feed back was all positive. The “engine room” of Trevor Thwaites on drums and Craig Williams on double bass certainly did their job of keeping this great big band and delivered the big band sound. It was amazing to see Elena, the piano player, come out from behind the piano and sing, apparently for the first time, with the band. She should definitely do this more! Amazingly, she also took over the drumming when Trevor stepped up to the front to sing a few songs himself. All in all, a great performance from all the musicians who came down to Hamilton and performed for HJS. Thank you Trevor Thwaites and The Prohibition Big Band!

On the 1st March, at the Nivara Lounge, those of you that came along to support our Jazz Society, saw an amazing and hysterically funny performance from The Andrew London Trio. What a brilliant show they gave! The band commented on the venue, saying it was just like one of those atmospheric American Jazz Clubs where the audience sits close, which really suited their performance. On the night, there were members from other Jazz Clubs (Auckland, Tauranga and Rotorua), all of whom remarked how much they enjoyed the evening and that they would also be visiting us again at The Cosmopolitan Club. It was very gratifying to get such positive feedback, they all mentioned the excellent atmosphere, easy going attitude of the Jazz Society and that they felt very much at home with us.

Click here to view a short video of The Prohibition Big Band. Click here to see the photos.

Simon Hopewell
HJS President

Sun, 29th March

Grant Chilcott and The Orient Express hosted by HJS at the Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club 5.00 to 8.00 PM. As usual refreshments and food will be served at the venue.

Chilcott has a zest for a bygone era and its music, performed with a panache which puts the knack in anachronism. N.Z Listener

[at the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand], Auckland singer Grant Chilcott… took the top award [The Golden Microphone], vocalist with Wentworth-Brewster was voted the most professional performed of the year. N.Z. Herald

Megastar Paul McCartney enjoying a late night party for a few friends at the Regent overheard Grant Chilcott and the resident band finishing their set and preparing to go home. Paul wasn’t having it and asked Grant and the band to play on. Sunday News.

From 5..0pm - 8.00pm
Door sales only.

Food served all day, tea & coffee and Well Stocked Bar

Sunday, 26th of April

In April we will be remembering ANZAC Centenary with entertainment by the

Boogie Woogie Girls 

Supported by

Maciek

performing solo jazz guitar.

In May

Hamilton Founders Theatre will be visited by one of the great (if not the greatest) Jazz ensembles of all time from the United States:  The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra. This is the 80th anniversary year of this landmark band. the Hamilton Jazz Society Inc have been asked by the promoters Liberty Stage to let our members know about this once-in-a-lifetime event. This is definitely one not to miss - come along and see first hand the true Giants of Jazz.

The living embodiment of swing, one of the most elegant and irresistible sounds that ever shook the western world, The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra will bring their 80th Anniversary Tour to Australia and New Zealand in May 2015. Directed by veteran trumpeter Scotty Barnhart, the 18-piece Count Basie Orchestra features a peerless array of instrumentalists with combined credentials that have topped the upper echelons of the international jazz world for decades. From Billie Holiday to Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra to Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan to Ella Fitzgerald, the Count Basie Orchestra has provided the supremely distinctive sound and swing behind some of the greatest singers of the modern age. Simply put, the Count Basie Orchestra is the real deal, a who’s who of swing spanning generations maintaining the flame of one of the world's best-loved sounds. For Australian and New Zealand audiences, this 80th Anniversary Tour is a very special occasion and a rare chance to see a truly elite jazz ensemble staged in some of our most prestigious venues. Don't miss these historic concerts.

If you play a tune and a person don't tap their feet, don't play the tune - Count Basie