There are 400 artists playing at the 2022 Melbourne International Jazz Festival. These are our top nine to see live.
Melbourne International Jazz Festival returns with 400 artists in 2022 program
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Legacy: Lalah Hathaway Sings Donny Hathaway
Breathtaking soul, R&B and jazz singer and five-time Grammy Award winner Lalah Hathaway will perform in Australia for the first time in a special performance with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The mesmerising Chicago-born singer has shared the stage with Prince, Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock. Gracing our shores to perform the extraordinary work of her iconic father and soul music legend Donny Hathaway, Lalah’s virtuosity and soulful jazz expression will provide a transcendental experience.
Legacy: Lalah Hathaway Sings Donny Hathaway is on at the Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall on October 21-22.
Pheeroan akLaff
Avant-garde jazz drummer is one of the most inventive, inspiring musicians and has been praised for his astonishing work with Ravi Coltrane, Anthony Braxton, Wadada Leo Smith and Oliver Lake. The Detroit-born, New York-based music master’s live performances possess a transformative power.
Pheeroan akLaff will thrill at The JazzLab on October 16.
Al Di Meola
Celebrated as one of our lifetime’s greatest guitarists, Al Di Meola is a pioneer of blending jazz with various musical styles, which has earned him numerous awards and worldwide adoration. A prolific composer of over 20 albums as a leader, Di Meola will perform a combination of new material, older classics and compositions from some of his major influences.
Al Di Meola performs at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, on October 18.
Big Saturday
This incredible celebration of jazz, soul and funk is headlined by game-changing New Zealand eight-piece Fat Freddy’s Drop and features sublime funk and soul group The Bamboos, soul queen Emma Donovan – one of the country’s finest singers – and The Putbacks, and the Cat Empire’s multi-talented Harry James Angus and drummer Freyja Hooper.
Big Saturday is on at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on October 15.
Brenda Gifford
Yuin woman Brenda Gifford is a classically-trained pianist and saxophonist whose arts practice is informed by her Country, community and culture. The award-winning and prolific composer will premiere a new work as part of the First Nations Artist Residency Program. Featuring Dhurga language about whales (Moriyawa) and creation stories from her Country, Gifford will perform on saxophone alongside her nephew Joe Brown McLeod (didgeridoo and clapsticks) and members of the Australian Art Orchestra in this amazing new composition.
Brenda Gifford performs at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Primrose Potter Salon, on October 23.
Jazz Westside (Maribyrnong)
Jazz Westside features an incredible line-up, featuring Nigerian-born Olugbade Okunade aka GP Saxy – a multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer who blends Afrobeat with jazz and funk; Ethiopian-born, Melbourne-based jazz saxophonist Solomon Sisay; ten-piece funk group Black Jesus Experience and their trippy, infectious fusion of traditional Ethiopian song, jazz, hip-hop, soul and funk; and Afro-Cuban powerhouse La Influencia, formed by Salvador Persico (Blue King Brown) and Daniel Mougerman (The Bamboos).
Big Saturday is on at the Footscray Library Forecourt on October 15-16.
Melissa Aldana Quartet
Brilliant saxophonist Melissa Aldana is the first South American and the first female instrumentalist to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone competition. Gaining international recognition for her visionary work as a bandleader and prolific performer, the Brooklyn-based tenor player from Santiago, Chile, and her quartet will perform music from her acclaimed debut Blue Note album 12 Stars, which emotively expresses concepts of childrearing, familial forgiveness, acceptance, and self-love.
Melissa Aldana Quartet perform at The JazzLab, on October 21-22.
Menagerie
Spiritual jazz ensemble Menagerie was founded by guitarist, songwriter and producer Lance Ferguson (The Bamboos, Lanu, Rare Groove Spectrum). The Music Victoria Award nominated 10-piece are inspired by jazz labels Strata-East, Impulse! and Tribe as well as the new wave of jazz marked by Kamasi Washington, Shabaka Hutchings and Nubya Garcia, but bring their own unique antipodean stylings. The superb group will perform material from their acclaimed third album Many Worlds (2021) for the very first time, featuring some of Australia’s finest improvisers.
Managerie will perform at the Darebin Arts Centre on October 14.
MonoNeon
Inimitable, challenging and electrifying, Dywane “MonoNeon” Thomas Jr. is one of the most revered electric bassists of his generation and will bring his progressive blend of southern soul, funk, jazz and blues to the Jazz Festival along with his four-piece band. The Memphis, Tennessee native is one of the most thrilling funk experimentalists and was one of the last musicians to work with Prince. Inspired by pioneers such as George Clinton, Prince, Victor Wooten and Anthony Jackson, MonoNeon delivers a ground-breaking and original style of funk.
MonoNeon performs at 170 Russell on October 20.
