A new team headed by the founder of one of the Bay of Plenty's premier summer concerts has been formed to ensure the next National Jazz Festival hits the right chords.

Mills Reef Stars Under The Stars promoter Craig Wilson will take over from Becks Chambers as part of a reshuffle, undertaken by Tauranga Jazz Society, ahead of next year's March 29 – April 2 event.

Becks becomes general manager, allowing her to spend more time with eight-month old daughter Esmai.

Other changes see Liam Ryan as youth competitions director, Mandy Ryan as youth competition coordinator and Nick Chambers as operations manager.

Craig has produced and promoted the highly successful Mills Reef event since its 2003 inception.

He boasts an illustrious resume in touring many acclaimed acts – nationally and abroad.

These include, Bonnie Raitt, SLASH (from Guns'n'Roses), "Ringo Starr and His AllStarr Band", The Searchers, Dragon, Glenn Shorrock (Little River Band), The Hollies and Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

'It is an honour to be a part of the team tasked with ensuring the National Jazz Festival continues to be a legacy event for Tauranga,” says Craig.

'We are working hard to build on the festival's past successes and take it to new heights in 2018 with fresh ideas and a fresh approach.

'There are going to be some significant changes and developments to the format this year, which are intended to increase the festival atmosphere.”

The jazz festival, which is the Southern Hemisphere's longest-running, will be held in Tauranga for its 56th year next Easter.

The festival will see the return of annual fixtures including the 41^st National Youth Jazz Competition, community day Waterfront Gala, the high-energy Hurricane Party and much more.

The new look team coincides with the appointment of a seven-strong Tauranga Jazz Society committee, which will govern the festival.

Graeme Purches will head the committee as president with Jeff Baker as vice-president. Other committee members are, David Porter, Ken Dowden, Andrea Meredith, Wayne Melville and Carol Power.

Like previous years, 2018 will showcase world-class entertainment with a mix of local and international musicians.

During the five-day festival, some 50 bands will perform in six events.

Craig says the festival is not only a real showcase of jazz talent, but an event Tauranga locals really cherish and are proud to call their own.

Organisers are intensively working on exciting plans to make the festival more streamlined and bigger and better than ever. These are expected to be announced in the coming months.

'This festival is truly unique and we want to ensure this remains the case with new additions that we hope everyone will love. The aim is to continue to put jazz and Tauranga on the map.”

The festival's headline act is expected to be announced in December,and Craig anticipates it will spark even bigger interest than 2017's headline act, Alchemy.

"I am so excited about our plans for 2018 and can't wait to share them with the public.”

Craig says performer submissions for the 2018 event are high and encourages any aspiring acts to register at the National Jazz Festival website before the submission period closes on September 30.

'It is early days, but we believe we will have something for everyone, with an exciting and varied programme of concerts.”

The official launch date of the 2018 National Jazz Festival Tauranga will be announced in the coming weeks.