Jazz Tui finalists announced

Media release
29 November, 2010

Jazz Tui finalists announced

The three finalists for the best Jazz Album of 2010 have been announced and they include one musician who gets two shots at taking home a Tui.

Jazz drummer Reuben Bradley from Wellington is a finalist for his own second album “Resonator”. He also drums as a member of fellow finalist Tessa Quayle’s quartet on her debut album “Whisper Not”.

Christchurch’s Sumo Jazz quartet is the third finalist with the album “Throwing Salt”.

There’s also a new venue for the announcement of the 2010 Jazz Album of the Year with the Tui being presented at the 2011 National Jazz Festival in Tauranga next Easter.

Reuben Bradley
Fresh out of New York after a lesson session with master drummer Barry Altschuld, Reuben Bradley returned to his homeland to lay down the tracks for “Resonator” for release in September 2010.

The album “takes reference from the jazz tradition and brings it to a collage of rhythm and textures unique to (Bradley’s) eclectic musical personality”, according to reubenbradley.com.

Bradley’s not a stranger to musical honours having played on Charmaine Ford’s 2007 jazz Tui winner “Busy Silence”.

Sumo Jazz
Sumo Jazz comprises four tutors from Christchurch’s CPIT Jazz School. Dan Kennedy (drums), Richie Pickard (bass), Darren Pickering (piano) and Gwyn Reynolds (sax) released “Throwing Salt” in December 2009.

Each performer provided at least one composition to the album described by Michael Flynn at nzmusician.co.nz as “an album of original compositions that is engaging and highly enjoyable”.

On “Throwing Salt”, the quartet collaborated with five other jazz musicians to compose and record the original New Zealand instrumental jazz pieces.

Tessa Quayle
Also on nzmusician.co.nz, Michael Flynn calls Tessa Quayle’s “Whisper Not” a “well-crafted debut album full of fine arrangements with a refreshing take on some well-known jazz standards”.

A singer, producer, tutor and choir director, Quayle is a regular on the capital’s jazz scene where she performs with the Tessa Quayle Quartet.

“Whisper Not” was released in May 2010.

Music Awards spokesperson Campbell Smith says New Zealand has again produced some outstanding jazz finalists for the 2010 award.

“When you check out the CVs of these very talented musicians you can see they are totally immersed in the genre – from tertiary qualifications through just a wonderful range of performances both locally and offshore.

“It looks like it’s going to be a tough call for the judges in Tauranga – but the rest of us are all looking forward to a hugely successful awards ceremony at New Zealand’s national jazz festival,” Smith says.

Festival Director Arne Herrmann is thrilled the jazz Tui is coming to Tauranga.

“We are one of the oldest jazz festivals in the world and it is a great fit to present New Zealand's most prestigious jazz award as part of our festival,” says Herrmann.

April’s 2011 National Jazz Festival in Tauranga is in its 49th year and in 2010 attracted a 60,000-plus audience over the five days of Easter.

Tickets for the Jazz Tui finalist concert on 22 April go on sale 10 December and can be purchased from TicketDirect.

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