WJC is pleased to present Craig Walters, a wonderful tenor saxophonist who has recently returned to NZ after living in Sydney for 30+ years.

Originating from Dunedin Craig studied at Berklee College of Music. After living in Wellington in the early ‘80s he moved to Sydney Australia in 1985 where he performed with Bob Mintzer, Michael Bublé, Louie Bellson, Billy Cobham, Cleo Lane, Bob Florence, Rob McConnel, John Riley, Jim McNeely. Local Jazz Groups include Don Rader Quintet, Mike Knock Quartet, Dave McCrae Quartet. Big bands include the James Morrison Big Band, Sydney All Star Big Band and the Sydney Jazz Orchestra.Craig has led & recorded his own quartet and played at most of the major jazz festivals in Australia.

Craig Walters Quartet
Featuring: Craig Walters (s), Noel Clayton (g), Paul Dyne (b), Mark Lockett (d)
Date: Thur 26 April 2018
Venue: Pyramid Club, Level, 272 Taranaki St.
Time: 8pm
Price: $15 General, $8 Members and Students with ID

Jake Baxendale (saxophone) James Paul (guitar) and Cory Champion (drums, no relation) perform some free-flowing meditations on their own themes and any others that might occur. Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Paul Motian or Radiohead might have a hand in proceedings, indirectly of course – or they may not. Songs and improvisations blur into one another and provide a springboard into the next soundscape.

Breakfast of Champions
Featuring: Jake Baxendale (saxophone), James Paul (guitar) and Cory Champion (drums).
Date: Thur 12 April 2018
Venue: Pyramid Club, Level, 272 Taranaki St.
Time: 8pm
Price: $15 General, $8 Members and Students with ID

Kiwi composer and saxophonist Jasmine Lovell-Smith presents a set of new and reimagined chamber jazz compositions for a drummerless quartet featuring Tristan Carter (violin), Blair Latham (bass clarinet) and Johnny Lawrence (double bass).

Jasmine is once again based in Wellington after seven years spent living in the USA and Mexico. From 2010-2012 Jasmine lived in New York City, where she released two critically acclaimed albums with her quintet Towering Poppies, the most recent of which was hailed by New Zealand Musician magazine as “an intriguing intersection of avant-garde art music and chamber jazz.” In 2012 she moved nearby to Connecticut to complete an MA in composition with the experimentalist composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton. From 2014-2016 Jasmine lived in Morelia, Mexico, where she taught jazz studies and the saxophone in Spanish at the Universidad Michoacana. Jasmine is currently a doctoral candidate in composition at the New Zealand School of Music, working with composer John Psathas.

Jasmine Lovell-Smith Quartet
Featuring: Tristan Carter (violin), Blair Latham (bass clarinet) and Nick Tipping (double bass).
Date: Thur 29 Mar 2018
Venue: Pyramid Club, Level, 272 Taranaki St.
Time: 8pm
Price: $15 General, $8 Members and Students with ID