2016 Melbourne Jazz Festival

Electrifying the city this winter with an extraordinary program of international and Australian jazz artists, the 2016 Melbourne International Jazz Festival will celebrate jazz as a constantly-evolving art form, ranging from golden-age icons to genre-bending innovators. PBS partners with the festival every year to present an amazing array of artists in the fantastic program.

PBS Presents:
Gary Bartz/Barney McAll (USA/AUS)
Friday 3 June at 7.30pm
Melbourne Recital Centre

Helped create jazz as we know it today, Gary Bartz has been at the forefront of jazz for nearly six decades. With a career ranging across post-bop, jazz-funk and free jazz, Bartz is counted amongst the pantheon of jazz greats, having shared the stage with Art Blakey, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Pharaoh Sanders, Charles Mingus, Max Roach and many more. Renowned for his legendary, non-stop live performances, Bartz’s compelling blend of earthiness and elegance infuses decades of experience into every note, creating a “furnace of power and passion”. On the Opening Night of the 2016 Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Bartz is joined by his long-standing Quartet, comprising Greg Bandy, one of the original drum stylists, bassist James King, and Melbourne’s very own Barney McAll, to perform their latest project – Coltrane Rules, Tao of a Music Warrior – honouring the icon with classic Coltrane renditions that would make him proud.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CsddnRu79U
http://melbournejazz.com/program/gary-bartz-quartet

Robert Glasper Trio (USA) ** SOLD OUT **
Saturday 4 June at 7.30pm
Melbourne Recital Centre

Having spent the past decade reinterpreting and reimagining modern jazz, Robert Glasper has firmly cemented himself as a master of a new generation. A prodigiously talented pianist, Glasper rose to prominence through his striking combination of acoustic jazz, hip-hop and R&B and his ground-breaking Black Radio albums. Yet, it was his desire to perpetually reinvent himself that gave rise to his Grammy-nominated record, Covered – his ode to those that have influenced him. In a long-awaited return to an acoustic trio format, Glasper has reunited with long-term collaborators Vicente Archer and Damion Reid to reconfigure the music of John Legend, Radiohead, Harry Belafonte and Joni Mitchell – alongside jazz standards and a number of Glasper originals. Glasper is without doubt one of the most versatile and influential artists in jazz today, with a style that is at once familiar and entirely unique.
http://melbournejazz.com/program/robert-glasper-trio

Mulatu Astatke and the Black Jesus Experience (Ethiopia/AUS)
Wednesday 8 June at 7.00pm and 9.00pm
Merlyn Theatre, The Coopers Malthouse

Astatke, the legendary creator of Ethio-Jazz, and Black Jesus Experience (BJX) together present the world premiere performance of the music suite, ‘The Cradle of Humanity’. ‘The Cradle of Humanity’ is the latest fruit of the collaboration between Mulatu Astatke and BJX. Their collaborative history started in 2009 when BJX first met Ethiopia’s most famous musician while they were performing in Addis Ababa. This collaboration developed from the simple foundation of studying and performing Mulatu’s work under his mentorship, to a position where the ensemble as a whole creates and arranges new works. ‘The Cradle of Humanity’ project takes themes from the very beginnings of Mulatu’s Ethio-Jazz repertoire and totally reimagines them with new forms, lyrics in Amharic and English, and in combination with newly composed songs. It reflects the eclectic, exploratory nature of BJX and Mulatu.
http://melbournejazz.com/program/mulatu-astatke-and-black-jesus-experience

NOTE: PBS will be broadcasting The Afterglow with Lyndelle Wilkinson and special guests from the foyer 5-7pm

Hiromi: the Trio Project (Japan)
Thursday 9 June at 7.30pm
Arts Centre, Hamer Hall

Hiromi: The Trio Project
Thursday 9 June at 7.30pm
Arts Centre, Hamer Hall

“One of jazz piano’s most brazenly virtuosic players” — JazzTimes
Following three sell-out performances during her Australian debut at the 2012 Festival, the dazzlingly talented Hiromi makes her long-awaited return to Melbourne.
A completely original improviser and composer who turns each piece into a thrilling journey, Hiromi takes the notion of jazz into entirely new territory – a roller-coaster ride of musical pyrotechnics that veers between breathtaking displays of flat-out swing and the power of high-energy rock.
Her electrifying stage presence is matched by her equally formidable Trio, bassist Anthony Jackson (Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Chick Corea) and drummer Simon Phillips (Toto, The Who, Judas Priest) – proclaimed by Downbeat Magazine as “one of the most exciting groups working in any genre today".
http://melbournejazz.com/program/hiromi-the-trio-project

Tomasz Stańko Band (Poland)
Thursday 9 June
Merlyn Theatre, The Coopers Malthouse

“One of the world’s most original and innovative jazz trumpet players” - The New Yorker
Legendary Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko’s smoldering improvisations and grainy-toned trumpet playing has made him a true master and leader of European jazz and an international unique icon. Stańko has an established reputation as a leading figure not only in Polish jazz, but also on the world stage, working with many notable musicians including Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Reggie Workman, Rufus Reid, Lester Bowie, David Murray, Manu Katche and Chico Freeman, and is one of ECM's leading recording artists.
http://melbournejazz.com/program/tomasz-stako-band

Eddie Palmieri (USA/Puerto Rico)
Friday 10 June at 7.30pm
Arts Centre, Hamer Hall

A living legend renowned for his electrifying performances, Eddie Palmieri is a titan of Latin jazz.
Skillfully fusing the rhythms of his Puerto Rican heritage with the complexity of his jazz influences – Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver and McCoy Tyner – Palmieri has been blazing new paths for nearly six decades. In turns playful, subtly tender and ferociously brilliant, Palmieri’s charismatic exuberance is matched by a first-rate lineup of leading Latin jazz musicians. Their thrilling solos and exhilarating interplay will light up Hamer Hall and leave you breathless.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6CVzxavttY

Wayne Shorter Quartet (USA) ** SELLING FAST **
Sunday 12 June at 7.30pm
Arts Centre, Hamer Hall

featuring Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade
“The most skillful, mutually attuned and fearlessly adventurous small jazz group on the planet… (the quartet) celebrates humanity’s hope for harmony” – The Guardian
Responsible for some of the most revolutionary jazz of the 20th century, Wayne Shorter takes to the stage with three of the world’s finest jazz musicians – Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade – for an evening of unrivalled virtuosity on the closing night of the 2016 Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
Video: https://vimeo.com/116092057

Plus PBS events:
Young Elder of Jazz: Confrontations with Joe O’Connor
Jazz a Bye Baby at Footscray Arts Centre

And PBS live broadcast:
A very special Jazz fest live broadcast of The Afterglow with Lyndelle Wilkinson and special guests from the foyer of The Coopers Malthouse 5-7pm Wednesday 8 June.

More info www.melbournejazz.com