JazzFest - Record Year

Attendance at the 29th ASB JazzFest has edged beyond previous year’s making it the most successful festival to date, JazzFest Trust chairman David Cole said.


“We are absolutely thrilled, both in terms of attendance and in terms of the sheer quality of the artists on offer. Over the last week we have seen one standing ovation after another. It’s been a blast,” he said.


Several of the events sold out, including the Sinatra tribute ‘Sinatra Lives’ and the ‘International Cabaret’ at Millbrook Resort.


“We also enjoyed huge turn-outs for some of our free events , in particular the AJ Hackett Jumpstart top young jazz contest was a full house and the many, many gigs right through the Wakatipu Basin have been well patronised,” Mr Cole said.


The diversity of the music and the range of artists had proved a real draw card with audiences.


“Performances like that of US-based pianist Bill Cunliffe, blues legend Chris Cain, Roger Fox and his 18-piece orchestra playing Sinatra, Hot Club Sandwich and the 11-piece beat of Auckland band One Million Dollars have been utterly memorable, what a festival its been,” Mr Cole said.


The nine-day festival ends today (Monday) with some hot gigs to cruise through the afternoon, from the Steamer Wharf in Queenstown to Peregrine Winery in the heart of the Gibbston Valley.