9th Jazz FestivalThanks to Wel­lUrb­an for remind­ing us that the 9th Wel­ling­ton Inter­na­tion­al Jazz Fest­iv­al gets under way tomor­row (26th Octo­ber).

Much like Wel­lUrb­an, we’re not too au fait with the jazz end of the music­al spec­trum, but can make a few tent­at­ive recom­mend­a­tions. Firstly, the ven­ues are great, so even if you’re neither hith­er-nor-thith­er on the acts involved, both Happy and Cab­aret are well worth a vis­it if you haven’t been there before.

As far as the acts go, Skal­lander looks a good bet. They’re a col­lab­or­a­tion between NZ musi­cians Bevan Smith and Mat­thew Mitchell (Bevan is bet­ter known in the indie scene as the man behind Aspen and Sign­er) and both of whom have recor­ded music much more in the realm of min­im­al­ist indie elec­tron­ica. Or some­thing. The Skal­lander album The Camels is a bit more, well, jazzy, and should be a treat to hear live. Happy, Fri 28 Oct @ 9.30pm.

Lucien John­ston and the Galactic Treas­ures should also be a great live show. The dis­turb­ingly good-look­ing Lucien is recently returned from liv­ing in Par­is (and play­ing shows around the oth­er European cap­it­als), and has roun­ded up a few of the usu­al loc­al jazz legends for some gigs, one of which you can catch at Cab­aret, Fri 28 Oct @ 9.30pm (err, yes, we real­ise that clashes with the above show).

And Nor­man Mee­han, as well as being head of Mas­sey’s Jazz School, author of a book on jazz pian­ist Paul Bley, and a jazz muso of no ill repute him­self, is also the broth­er-in-law of the Wel­ling­tonista edit­or, and thus his gig comes with our warmest and hearti­est recom­mend­a­tion. Cab­aret, Sat 29 Oct @ 7pm.