SIMA’s Jazz Festival Goes Underground

The festivities continue on Friday February 18 at 7:30pm, with Delay 45 launching their new album, Flux. It features all the colour and texture that the group has become known for – with greater confidence and energy. They will be joined by Emanation, led by the riveting Chloe Kim, specialising in jazz and improvised drumming.

On Saturday February 19th at 7:30pm, Mary’s Underground will be host to the legendary Mike Nock Sextet. Joined by 5 of his ex-students, Nock is set to bring endless creativity, blossoming with colour – from up-beat adventurous passages, to reflective and emotional narratives. The Sextet will be accompanied by innovative trio HEKKA, who experiment with loops, beats and improvisation to navigate melody & structure with a unique empathetic approach.

The rich music culture continues into the next week, on Thursday February 24th at 7:00pm, with the Wayne Kelly Trio and the McMahon/Dewhurst Duo. Drawing on Kelly’s thirty years of experience and fresh inquiry, expect swinging standards and the spice of Afro-Cuban rhythms.  In equal mastery, long-time collaborators award-winning pianist Matt McMahon and guitarist Carl Dewhurst present new material from their duo project ‘Trapeze for Two Atoms’ in an enlightening journey that traverses jazz and folk idioms, groove-based music and a touch of the Avant Garde.

On Friday February 25th at 7:30pm, the Zela Margossian Quintet launch their album, “The Road”, accompanied by Stu Hunter. The ethno-jazz band meld Armenian folk, classical and jazz music, into rich textures, tumbling polyrhythms and soothing melodies. The quintet’s live performances are charged with an energetic drive, traveling through emotions of both resilience and fragility. Hunter brings a stunning lyricism and melodic beauty with his newest release, “The Beautiful Things”.

To conclude the jazz bonanza, Asteroid Ekosystem cover two big nights at Mary’s Underground. With the spontaneity of jazz, the instrumentation and dynamism of rock, and futuristic explorations, they are sure to impress. On Saturday February 26th at 7:30pm, the supergroup are accompanied by Ilex, with beautiful sound-worlds made through amorphous looping, and textural percussion, to create other-worldly music designed to transport and spark the imagination.

 

On Sunday February 27th at 6:30pm, Asteroid Ekosystem is joined by Featherstone, led by the brilliant Briana Cowlishaw and her vocal loop pedal and beats machine with stunning vocal arrangements. The night will make the grand finale of the collection of shows at Mary’s Underground for SIMA’s Jazz Festival.