With a festival-within-a festival, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival has returned with a bang – and a weekend of sold-out events.
After two years of cancelled or severely curtailed programs, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival burst into life over the weekend with an impressively diverse array of events in sold-out venues.On Friday night, The Jazzlab hosted two strikingly different acts: saxophonist Flora Carbo’s Ecosystem followed by B + K .
Singer Kelsey-Sugg and pianist/keyboardist Brett Williams co-led a quartet that radiated warmth and positive energy. Their original songs flitted between genres, often underpinned by a relaxed, soulful backbeat with jazz-inflected solos. Kelsey is an effortless communicator whose lyrics exude authenticity, and Williams’ perfectly-judged accompaniment ranged from hushed melodies to plush synth beds and bluesily emphatic double-handed chords.
Saturday’s main event – a day-long festival-within-a-festival – was the largest and most ambitious show ever presented by MIJF. Aptly named Big Saturday, the event took over the Myer Music Bowl and presented a canny selection of acts designed to expand the reach of the festival. Judging by the roars of approval from the capacity crowd, it was a gamble that paid off. Even the weather gods played their part, refusing to allow rain to fall on the festival’s parade.
Joe Lindsay from Fat Freddy’s Drop performs at Big Saturday at Melbourne International Jazz Festival.Jazz took a willing backseat to soul, funk and R&B, as momentum and energy built gradually through afternoon sets by Harry James Angus, Emma Donovan and The Putbacks and The Bamboos. As night fell, headline act Fat Freddy’s Drop embraced the soul-funk vibe and added liberal doses of dub, reggae, techno and disco, producing a two-hour extravaganza that saw the 9000-strong crowd morph into a sea of pulsating bodies. While jazz may not be Fat Freddy’s raison d’etre, improvisation is at the core of the Wellington band’s live shows, and most of their songs became extended workouts peppered with hyperactive horns, throbbing beats and psychedelic synths.
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