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.