Here we are in February and I haven’t mentioned this year’s Port of Tauranga 62nd Jazz Festival once yet. Let’s rectify that ...

But first, allow me to use the column briefly as a personal greeting service, sending best wishes to a couple of Tauranga’s veteran musicians.

Bill Ward is about our oldest still-playing rock musician. Between gigs he used to race ridiculously good-looking fast cars on the salt flats of Bonneville, where that Burt Monroe guy got famous. Back in the 60s he went to the UK with Human Instinct.

Bill and Jack 

Bill’s just recovering at home after a stoke but, in case you weren’t aware that legends walk among us, here are some bands he opened for in the UK: Spencer Davis Group, Moody Blues, 10cc, The Troggs, Jeff Beck, The Walker Brothers, Peter Frampton, Status Quo, The Nice, John Mayall, Roy Orbison, The Small Faces ... actually, I’ll stop there – the list doesn’t, it goes on and on.

So my best to Bill. Hang in there.

Meanwhile, our oldest local jazz musician is Jack Claridge. Radio New Zealand did a story when he turned 100 last month. At 99 he played bass at last year’s festival. Perhaps he’ll do the same this year ... happy birthday Jack!

Walks the line 

And on to the jazz festival. Tauranga is a tricky place for a national jazz festival as the organisers know well. You walk a fine line between specialist and populist jazz: programme anything too avant-garde and no one will come; stick to the mainstream and you risk losing jazz credibility.

The Jazz Village. Photo: supplied

I really like the programme this year; it walks that line with style.

There’s a celebration of the late Rodger Fox, a towering jazz figure, featuring fittingly not just one but two big bands. There’s a tribute to Steely Dan called Steely DNA, which I think is a brilliant idea: Steely Dan are one of the few rock bands genuinely intersecting with the complexities of jazz, meaning a specialist concert with popular appeal. That’s at Baycourt where there’s also an old-style New Orleans swing concert and a journey into Bebop. Something for everyone.

Steely DNA. Photo: supplied

There is – no surprise – a massive amount of music: at the Village, in the downtown streets, at the Mount, plus a couple of new things including a concert series at The Jam Factory, a great intimate space for Caitriona Fallon, The Martini Fund and keyboard trio Lucky Strike.

Catriona Fallon. Photo: supplied

Ticket giveaway

Okay, if you can’t wait till then, there’s expert sax trio Hayden Chisholm and Unwind at the Jam Factory on February 21, who are about as good as they get. For more bluesy refreshment Kokomo are staging another show at the Te Puna Quarry on March 9 along with the rising stars on the New Zealand scene BB & The Bullets, a high-energy guitar trio taking on Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Albert King and more. Special guests are also promised.

BB and the Bullets Photo: supplied

And of course there’s the Jazz Society monthly jam at The Mount Social Club. Next one is February 26.

SunLive has two double tickets to Kokomo and BB & The Bullets at The Te Puna Quarry to give away to two lucky readers who can tell us the date of the concert?

To enter, visit: wwwsunlive.co.nz Entries must be in by Tuesday, February 18.

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