The Brisbane Vocal Jazz Festival kicked off in 2016, and is now going strong in its 9th year, as we celebrate the diversity and artform of Vocal Jazz with local, national and international artists at the iconic Brisbane Jazz Club, in Kangaroo Point. This year the festival runs from the 9th-13th October 2024.
This is shaping up to be our best year yet, as our headliner, direct from New York, at the commencement of her first Australian tour, is the proud winner of the 2024 GRAMMY®Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album “How Love Begins” – NICOLE ZURAITIS. Nicole, jazz singer-songwriter, pianist, arranger and New York-based bandleader, also winner of the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal, will be joined by drummer, Dan Pugach from New York – a GRAMMY®Award nominated drummer and composer and three-time recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Jazz Composer Award, winner of the BMI Charlie Parker Composition Prize/Manny Albam Commission as part of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, and a featured drummer on the 2024 GRAMMY®Award winning album “How Love Begins”, co-produced by Nicole Zuraitis and Christian McBride.
We have an exciting and diverse lineup, including Thirsty Merc’s frontman and Jazz aficionado, Rai Thistlethwayte, local First Nations artist, Naomi Andrew, with her “Rhythms of Resilience” show, and her incredible quintet – James Hunt-Feagai (piano/keys), Aaron West (guitar), Nate Andrew (bass), Sherman Jones (drums), plus a stellar lineup of local talent for the finale concert, paying homage to the legendary Kings and Queens of Jazz, including Irene Bartlett, Toni Allayialis-Bann, Jake Meywes, Aron Gartrell, Steve Taylor-Brown, Jessica O’Bryan, Naomi Doessel and Tari Wickremeratne.
