The festival can’t go ahead in person but that hasn’t stopped their ingenuity.
Melbourne International Jazz Festival was originally set to kick off on May 29, taking over the city for the first few weeks of June. But with the disruptions caused by COVID-19, the physical festival was cancelled and instead replaced by These Digital Times – an online running of the event that would take place across three different dates.
Having already hosted events on May 30 and June 27, the final of the three instalments will come to your screens on Saturday July 25. The focus of These Digital Times is about celebrating talent both at home and abroad and some of the names to have already appeared include Joey DeFrancesco, Federico Casagrande, Gretchen Parlato and Mark Guiliana on an international scale as well as the likes of Kate Ceberano, Kaiit, Andrea Keller, The Sugarfoot Ramblers and Julien Wilson from Australia.
For the final iteration, Melbourne International Jazz Festival has prepared a doozy. Internationally, big names such Vince Abbracciante and Taylor McFerrin featuring Marcus Gilmore will perform while on the local scene, revered pianist and jazz composer Barney McAll will appear alongside Paul Grabowsky AO, The Holly Moore Sextet, Erica Tucceri and award-winning drummer David Jones.
With the first two series of These Digital Times garnering over 22,500 views across Australia, UK, North America and other parts of the world, the final iteration is set to be a spectacular conclusion to the concert series.
Conceived in conjunction with The Vizard Foundation, These Digital Times is also supported by the Victorian government through Creative Victoria and the City of Melbourne. The event is recorded in high definition in a safe environment from a Melbourne production studio.
The first two editions of These Digital Times are now available via the Melbourne International Jazz Festival website and so will the third instalment after it takes place on July 25.
These Digital Times is totally free and can be watched via the Melbourne International Jazz Festival website from 11.30am to 10.30pm on Saturday July 25.
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