Wellington Jazz Club

Nick Tipping's Tiptet
2025-06-15 17:00 - 19:00 (Pacific/Auckland) | Meow Cafe, 9 Edward Street, Wellington, New Zealand
Prepare for a night of effervescent swing, labyrinthine grooves, and velvet-hued harmonies as Nick Tipping’s Tiptet takes the stage! This ensemble of audacious improvisers weaves kaleidoscopic textures and rhythmic sleight-of-hand, fusing the vintage with the vanguard. From slinky bebop escapades to smoldering blues interludes, their sound is equal parts swagger and sorcery.
The Tiptet will be playing music by legends including Billy Strayhorn, Roy Hargrove, and Kenny Garrett, and the evening will feature engaging presentation from RNZ’s own jazz expert Nick Tipping.
Nick Tipping – bass
Michael Costeloe – trumpet
Russell Henderson – sax
Ayrton Foote – piano
Mike Jensen – drums

Tiptet - 15 June Gig
2025-06-15 08:00 - 17:00
Prepare for a night of effervescent swing, labyrinthine grooves, and velvet-hued harmonies as Nick Tipping’s Tiptet takes the stage! This ensemble of audacious improvisers weaves kaleidoscopic textures and rhythmic sleight-of-hand, fusing the vintage with the vanguard. From slinky bebop escapades to smoldering blues interludes, their sound is equal parts swagger and sorcery.

The Tiptet will be playing music by legends including Billy Strayhorn, Roy Hargrove, and Kenny Garrett, and the evening will feature an engaging presentation from RNZ’s own jazz expert Nick Tipping.

Nick Tipping – bass

Michael Costeloe – trumpet

Russell Henderson – sax

Ayrton Foote – piano

Mike Jensen – drums

Geoff Culverwell
2025-05-18 17:00 - 19:00
Geoff Culverwell: Flute/ vocals/keys/trumpet and other horns

Paul Dyne: Bass

Guss Reece: Guitar

Russell Henderson : Sax

Shaun Anderson: Drums

Be ready to enjoy an eclectic concert that includes reimagined standards, interpretations of Geoff’s recent recordings with Roy Phillips (voice of The Pedlars), and some original compositions. Geoff is a former member of three New Zealand super groups and has recorded and toured extensively internationally. His band is superb.

Paul is an honorary member of the Wellington Jazz Club and has an extraordinary track record on jazz base.

Gus is a guitarist in the Rodger Fox Big Band.

Shaun is a drummer in one of the country’s top jazz groups, The Jac.

And Russell is a wonderful tenor sax player with a string of UK performances to his credit.

Geoff and the band look forward to seeing you at this exciting concert

The Hannah Griffin Quartet
2025-04-13 17:00 - 19:00
Due to an accident Hannah Griffin is unable to perform. Fortunately, outstanding New Plymouth-based vocalist Lauren Nottingham will be joining Blair, Andrew and Norman. Lauren has performed in Europe and the Americas, as well as around Aotearoa. She is very jazz-savvy, but also draws from other wells. She’s an elegant musician with a beautiful sound, and her collaboration with these excellent Wellington musicians will open up an enchanting, (and swinging) musical world!
Saxophonist Blair Latham plays all the reeds and whilst based in Mexico performed extensively in the Americas. An award-winning composer, Blair is perhaps best known for performing original music with local groups including The Noveltones, Devil’s Gate Outfit and Fire Waltz.
Bassist Andrew Laking has covered a lot of ground. Training as a jazz musician here in Wellington he went on to a successful international career in Ireland, touring the world with Gráda performing traditional and contemporary Irish music. As Artistic Director of Lōemis festival he’s pretty busy, but still works regularly with guitarist Justin Firefly Clarke, Toby Laing (trumpet) and others.
As well as his work with Hannah Griffin, pianist Norman Meehan tours and records with Hayden Chisholm and Paul Dyne in their group Unwind. He is the author of Serious Fun: Mike Nock’s life and music, and New Zealand Jazz Life.

Fiona Pears and Andrew London
2025-03-16 17:00 - 19:00
Andrew London is well-known to the WJC audience for his ebullient renderings of swing classics and the quirky and cynical original songs that graced a string of recorded albums during his partnership with Terry Crayford in Hot Club Sandwich. Since 2012 he has released a similar output of recordings under with his Andrew London Trio, with partner Kirsten on bass and a variety of Wellington musicians including Nils Olsen, James Tait-Jamieson and Wayne Mason.
Fiona Pears featured on several early HCS albums after Terry and Andrew gently but firmly co-opted her into collaborating after meeting at a Nelson Jazz Festival in 2003. Their shared enthusiasm for continental ‘Hot Club’ swing music ensured an immediate bond.
‘She set the crowd on fire that day with her ebullience and charisma, so obviously backed up by innate creative genius and technical brilliance. It was a heady mix and Terry and I were determined that she be persuaded play some gigs and record with us’ says Andrew. ‘Terry was inspired to actually write several pieces specifically for her which we recorded on our album Toasted, and she played festivals all around the country with us for a couple of years’.
Her skills were also noticed by Hayley Westenra and her management, who appointed Fiona Concert Master of the group Hayley took on several World tours. This brought Fiona into contact with the jazz and classical communities in the UK and continental Europe, and she subsequently recorded her own original compositions with orchestras in Prague and Liverpool.
Now back in her home town of Christchurch, Fiona has been gracious enough to allow herself to be tempted North for a few days to reunite with the Londons and play some rollicking gypsy-style swing music. Strap yourselves in.

New Orleans Joymakers
2024-12-08 17:00 - 19:00
A 7-piece Traditional Jazz Band playing the music of the 1920’s and 30’s, based in Auckland.
Originally formed by Bob Ward and Tony Parker, Bob and Tonys recent passing has seen the band with new personnel, the addition of piano (to a 7 piece) and Brian Kelly leading on trumpet. The new sound is more of a New Orleans and Chicago sound.
Over the years the band has had several different personnel but continues to play joyful music in the New Orleans tradition. They play classic jazz, Rags and Marches, through to the Dixieland sound of the 1960’s.The band is unique in that it combines the experience of Thomas, King and Cummings, (a combined 180 years musical experience) with the youth of Goodinson and Douglas. Kelly and Palmer sit somewhere in between! It is happy, toe-tapping driving music that has attracted the attention of the Auckland Swing dance scene.
Personnel: Brian Kelly – Trumpet, Merv Thomas – Trombone, Carlos Palmer – Clarinet, Arthur Cummings – Piano, Jessie Douglas – Banjo, Will Goodinson – Double Bass, and Bruce King – Drums.
