Venues fine-tuning for a weekend of jazz jamming in Wagga

The Curious Rabbit is hosting a jazz festival featuring local and visiting talents in celebration of International Jazz Day.

Live Local Original is back for the third year in a row at The Curious Rabbit and Civic Theatre to celebrate International Jazz Day from Friday to Sunday, 28-30 April.

The Curious Rabbit’s owner Vickie Burkinshaw said there had been a series of jazz jams leading up to the event.

“We’re hoping [through the series of jazz jams sessions] people will get their enthusiasm back for jazz,” Vickie said.

“There is something for everyone … there are so many varieties of jazz.

“A good thing in putting together these different programs is that there’s a little bit of everything that people can tap into.”

Live Local Original will set the stage at the Civic Theatre Balcony on Saturday, featuring Hannah Grace & The Low Flyers, The Riverina Saxophone Trio, a guitar quintet from the Riverina Conservatorium of Music and the newly formed band Duck Duck Goose.

The dynamic pianist and saxophonist Mark Bolsius and Stephen O’Connell will perform on Friday at The Curious Rabbit.

Renowned jazz musician Dominic Vella will perform several classic tunes and some originals at The Curious Rabbit on Sunday.

He will also be running a workshop with the audience about jazz performance and history, how to interpret lead sheets and more.

Sunday will conclude with a jazz jam with everyone who participated over the weekend.

Vickie said Hannah Grace & The Low Flyers were an extraordinarily talented group of people and were coming from Wollongong for the gig.

“The Riverina Saxophone Trio is extraordinary and we’ve got the guitar quintet from the Conservatorium of Music,” Vickie said.

“Louise [Duck Duck Goose band member] put a band together for this program,” she said.

Vickie said while people could be intimidated by jazz, it was one of the most fluid artistic expressions musicians could have.

“In its tradition, jazz is about music for the soul and whatever takes you … we’ve really seen it through the jams,” she said.

“Jazz is the imperfect form of music and that’s the really exciting thing, and you’ll see musicians bouncing off each other.

“Every time you listen, it’s slightly different … it’s not the commercial side of music.”

Vickie said a long time ago, jazz had been part of the Wagga music scene with large festivals.

“This is our attempt around International Jazz Day to reconnect people with jazz,” she said.

“We’re hoping next year the festival might be a little bigger and we can have other venues and different people involved.”

To buy tickets to see Mark Bolsius and Stephen O’Connell in concert this Friday (28 April) from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, click here.

To purchase tickets for Live Local Original on Saturday from 5 pm, click here.

For tickets for Dominic Vella and his workshop on Saturday from 1 to 4 pm, click here.