Novice and veteran jazz aficionados will present an evening of jazz music and entertainment including a diverse range of classic jazz standards as well as modern popular songs rearranged with a jazz feel.
Southland Youth Jazz Band conductor Emma Jarman said the programme’s aim was to get jazz lovers moving in their seats or even better, "dashing across the dance floor".
Proceeds from the event will go towards supporting the Southland Youth Jazz Band to attend the 2024 Southern Jam Jazz Festival and contest in Marlborough in August.
"It’s a fantastic competition because the secondary school students not only get to perform in a competitive sense but they get judged by judges.
"They also get to perform all around Marlborough, Blenheim and Picton, in bars and cafes and go into primary schools. So they get lots of performance opportunities," Ms Jarman said.
The trip would give the students "on the road" experience with a public gala performance as well as the opportunity to take part in workshops facilitated by the competition’s judges.
The Southland Youth Jazz Band was formed in 2016 and featured Southland’s top young jazz musicians who shared a passion and had reached a high level in contemporary and classic jazz playing.
"The band have won multiple awards from the annual Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival and have taken part in a variety of events including the ILT Christmas Show, the Christchurch Big Band Festival and the Southland Night of the Arts," Ms Jarman said.
The Invercargill City Jazz Band were happy to tautoko (support) the young musicians for their trip to the competition, by combining with the budding jazz enthusiasts and collaborating on songs on the evening by Aotearoa artists such as Fat Freddy’s Drop.
The city jazz band had a performance profile spanning over four decades of festivals and concerts in Southland and throughout Te Wai Pounamu.
Fourteen students from the Southland Youth Jazz Band attend James Hargest College, Southland Girls’ High School, Verdon College and Aurora College.
"It’s a really amazing experience and the whole point is that the koha for this event is to go towards helping support those kids to get them to the festival because it’s quite expensive," she said.
A Winter Night of Jazz takes place on Friday, July 26, at 7.30pm. Entry is by koha, at the Southland Musician’s Club in Invercargill.
For more information, contact Emma Jarman on 027 5354-5112, email southlandyouthjazzband@gmail.com or icjbmusic@gmail.com
