Dunedin Jazz Club will welcome back international Latin-jazz pianist Dan Costa for a show which reimagines his works with big band flair.

Costa, who last performed in Dunedin in 2024, has been collaborating with Dunedin Jazz Club director Bill Martin in a series of concerts, workshops and recording sessions in Ōtepoti and Ōtautahi Christchurch. 

In a statement, Dunedin Jazz Club said Martin, who toured with Costa for Chamber Music NZ in 2024, had arranged six tunes from Costa’s critically acclaimed Suites Tres Rio album (2016). 

The Suites Tres Rio album was the culmination of Costa’s Master’s Degree in music from UNICAMP (Rio de Janeiro) exploring a range of Latin rhythms fundamental to Brazilian folk music. 

Dan Costa and the Bill Martin Big Band will present the new versions of the Suites Tres Rio pieces in concert this Friday night, October 23, from 7.30pm at Hanover Hall. 

Since 2016, Costa has released two more original albums, Skyness and Beams, and regularly tours internationally, performing his own music and collaborating with local musicians. 

Bill Martin regularly composes and arranges original music for the Dunedin Youth Jazz Orchestra, which he directs, and has now assembled a professional big band under his own name for the first time.

The Bill Martin Big Band includes professional rhythm players Carl Woodward (drums) and Simon Eastwood (double bass), along with leading brass and wind players in the Dunedin jazz scene such as Nick Cornish (alto saxophone) and Ralph Miller (trumpet).

— Allied Media