Jazz is back in Bello
Published on 01 August 2024
Last month I caught three great live jazz performances here in Bellingen.
The first, a visiting act from the Clarence Valley and intriguingly named Column 8 Conspiracy Theorists, had me enthralled by their solid groove version of Freddy Hubbard’s Red Clay, with exceptional drumming from Beck Flatt.
The second act I witnessed, also at 5 Church Street, was ZooBop – a tight quintet featuring the powerful, pitch perfect vocals of Georgie Chorley; and the third act, the welcome return of the Bellingen Big Band at Memorial Hall, with band leader Chris Frater bringing the swing with a fabulous horn section, dancefloor-friendly songs choices and more show-stopping vocals from Georgie.
Jazz, I’m pleased to report, is alive and swinging in Bellingen. But despite its on-going popularity, jazz has not been celebrated on a grand scale in this town since the demise of the beloved Bellingen Jazz Festival, which went into hiatus after its 2014 edition, ending an impressive 25-year run.
While the jazz festival took a break, the musicians never stopped playing. My suspicion is that audiences didn’t stop loving jazz either and that in the meantime, a whole new generation of music lovers have become affected by this genre, even unknowingly. That’s because the influence of jazz in contemporary styles from pop and RnB, electronica and bass music, to hip hop and latin, has never been more widespread.
In the decade since trailblazers like Hiatus Kaiyote burst onto the scene, there is now a rich seam of innovative jazz-influenced musicians hailing mainly from Melbourne, courting large audiences in Europe and the US. Melbourne… in the same country as us, yet so far away. I often wonder what it would take to bring some of those acts up here to play.
And that’s one of several reasons I’m announcing the return of a multi-day jazz festival in Bellingen, one year from now, on the third weekend in August 2025.
While consulting about the proposed new event, the Bello Jazz Weekender, I have discovered a pleasingly large, interlinked community of musos. The festival will be initially hosted within the various performance spaces at Bellingen Memorial Hall and, alongside plenty of live music, will hopefully include an album artwork exhibition, jazz dance, a jazz café with jam sessions and DJ performances. It is anticipated that neighbouring venues and business will participate as hosts and beneficiaries in future years.
On Saturday 12th October, we’ll be officially launching the festival brand with a multi-act bill at the Hall featuring local outfits ZooBop, Reimagined and other supports. In the meantime, look out for the Bellingen Big Band at Bellingen Community Markets on Saturday 17th August.