Live jazz in Brisbane seems to be going from strength to strength with a multitude of regular gigs and venues supporting live jazz music throughout the city. To support all the live jazz music happening in Brisbane at the moment, JMI has started up a free gig listing for all jazz gigs happening in Brisbane and surrounding areas such as Ipswich, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba.
This city has always been a prolific source of talent in the Australian jazz music scene with some of the nation’s finest jazz musicians originally hailing from Brisbane. A close look at the past winners of the prestigious National Jazz Awards held in Wangaratta each year demonstrates this – four of the past eight winners of this award originally hail from the “Sunshine State” (Mike Rivett – 2016, Joseph O’Connor – 2013, Kristin Berardi – 2012 and Isaac Hurren – 2009). Interestingly, the year the Isaac Hurren won the award all three finalists were saxophonists originally from Brisbane (Hurren, Phil Noy & Jacam Manricks). Now with both the Queensland Conservatorium and Jazz Music Institute producing a bevy of talented young jazz musicians, the jazz scene in Brisbane seems to be in incredibly healthy shape in terms of quality musicians on the scene.
Brisbane also has the rare privilege of having two dedicated jazz clubs presenting local, interstate and international jazz acts multiple times a week, all year round. Brisbane’s long standing jazz club the Brisbane Jazz Club (running since 1972) presents live music from Thursday to Sunday every week. In addition to this, JMI Live presents gigs on Thursday and Friday nights each week.
The past couple of years have also seen a multitude of jazz residencies pop up around Brisbane, specifically in Fortitude Valley, which has provided musicians with a steady flow of performance opportunities as well as exposing the community to more live jazz on a regular basis.
Currently, there are residencies that take place in the Valley on Wednesday nights at Ric’s, the Bowery – featuring Mal Wood and his Hot 5 – and the Press Club – featuring Shannon Marshall et al. Black Bear Lodge have been running a jazz residency on Tuesday nights with the Brad McCarthy Trio. The Jubilee Hotel, on the outskirts of the Valley, presents a trad jazz gig every Thursday evening and the Zoo will be commencing a weekly bingo night on Thursdays featuring live jazz beginning at the end of March. Lock n Load in West End has been featuring jazz on Tuesday nights for years now and the Cobbler bar also has a jazz residency every Friday night. There are also a heap of hotels, bars and restaurants around town that are featuring jazz artists on a regular basis.
There has also been a new initiative curated by a group of musicians in Brisbane going by the name of the Brisbane Original Jazz Artist’s Co-op (BOJAC) that has begun to present gigs every Sunday in various venues around Brisbane. The co-op looks to showcase local original jazz music and each week is curated by a different member of the co-op.
In order to provide a platform for both the community to find out about these gigs and artists to promote their gigs, JMI has put together a one-stop free gig listing for all jazz gigs happening in South East Queensland. Staff at JMI will populate the listing as much as possible, but artists and punters are encouraged to let us know what gigs are happening so that the gig listing can be as comprehensive as possible.
Anyone can send through a listing to JMI by completing the form that is on the listing page. All the information we need is the name, date, time and venue of the gig. If you send through to us we will post the gig up within 1 working day of receiving the submission.
So if you’re looking to see what’s on in Brisbane, look no further than the Brisbane Jazz Gig Guide on the JMI website. Additionally, if you’re looking to promote a gig that is happening in Brisbane or surrounding areas, please visit the Brisbane Jazz Gig Guide and submit your gig details to ensure that your gig gets listed.
JMI is the only music school in Brisbane that delivers courses and classes specialising in jazz performance for musicians of all ages and abilities.