Nelson Jazz Club News
Nelson Jazz Club Entertains the Ellensburg Big Band
All the way from Washington State, USA for a Gig at the Boathouse with the Nelson Big Band and a one-off open rehearsal at the Honest Lawyer Barn ..
Jazz band hits the right notes at Southern Jam
Early morning practices have paid off for the combined Nelson College and Nelson College for Girls Jazz Band.
The 14-member group picked up gold at the Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival with two members also picking up individual awards.
“We’ve been practicing every Tuesday morning at 7.45 since the beginning of the year,” says band director and head of music at Nelson College for Girls, Brad Banks.
Summer jazz in the park 2024
On Sunday January 7th, Nelson put on some stunning weather that was the perfect backdrop to our much-anticipated ‘Summer Jazz in the Park’ event held at the Fairfield House Meadow.
5 fantastic well-known local bands played a broad array of styles, ranging from big band style and straight ahead jazz standards, to modern beats with jazz influences. The programme was as follows:
Nelson Jazz Club Big Band
Tessa Quayle Quartet
Sakulati Beats
West Coast Blues
Brazilian Social Club
With a hugely appreciative crowd of all ages, the atmosphere was perfect and helped shape the success of the day.
The club would like to thank all the sponsors for their contributions, and our volunteers whom we could not do without.
A special thanks to:
Fresh Choice
Nayland Scaffolding
Smiley Shellock
Leonora Soares
Fairfield House
NBS
NCC
Photos taken by Leonora Soares (with watermark), Wendy Phua and Annie Henry.
Keep an eye out for what we have in store for you next summer!
Kind regards on behalf of the Nelson Jazz club,
Tessa Quayle - President
Mitre 10 Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser
On Saturday, the Nelson Jazz Club were down at Mitre 10 Mega to sell delicious sausages to raise money for new sheet music for the club and for a new youth project in 2023. Thanks to everyone who came down and supported the club by volunteering their time on the grill, playing live music or buying a sausage!
Jazz Festival 2023
The Nelson Jazz festival will be taking one more year of leave this year due to several contributing factors, but the Nelson region will not be left without a good dose of jazz this summer. The Jazz Club is refreshing our focus with some exciting new things on the horizon. To get started we will be kicking off with a launch party for the return of our monthly club nights at our new residency the Boathouse. Save the date 29th December 2022 for this wonderful night kicking off the future of the Nelson Jazz scene. Our ever popular Jazz on the Village Green at Founders in the months of January February and March is also making a comeback in 2023. Keep an eye out for many more jazz events coming up soon also.
AGM
The Nelson Jazz Club wishes to thank Robin Smith for his work and dedication to the NJC as our President. Robin has stepped down from the committee and his role as President to focus on family and sunshine! We wish Robin all the best.
We would also like to thank Ian Nicholas who has stepped down as the NJC’s treasurer and the Big Band musical director. We have been very lucky to have Ian’s guidance and support over the past years and we wish him well with his next adventure.
We have welcomed Aidan Lawrence (treasurer), Wendy Phua and Dan Callahan to the NJC committee in 2022.
Christchurch Big Band Festival 2022
The Nelson Jazz Club Big Band had a marvellous time at the Christchurch Big Band Festival over labour weekend. The festival was well organised which allowed the Big Band to thoroughly enjoy themselves at each gig. The weather was also glorious and ideal for Jazz listening and dancing! A big thank you to the organisers, band members and supporters!
