Brisbane International Jazz Festival (BIJF) returns this October after being on hiatus since 2018, overcoming the struggles of COVID and personal tragedies to bring back Brisbane's roaring jazz scene.
The road to rebirth has been long and rocky for the BIJF, but the determination and true love for music by all involved gave them the strength to see it through, as committee member Andrew Butt elaborates."Alongside the struggles of COVID, our amazing founder Lynette Irwin was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer [Lyn passed away earlier this year].
"We all aimed to keep working on her vision for the festival, which was mainly to establish ourselves in the international jazz scene – making that a reality again has been a long journey but a worthwhile one."
Obtaining that international recognition is certainly no small feat, and is a true display of the passion and resolve of the festival's committee. BIJF is one link in the huge chain of the Australian jazz scene and, as Andrew explains, is the result of enduring collaborations.
"We're working with the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the Jazz Music Institute, and venues all around town that support jazz. We're bringing all these organisations together to create a widespread focus on our event."
Alongside their professional partnerships, Andrew and the rest of the committee endeavour to present jazz in all its characteristic variety. "Our vision for the festival is to be as inclusive as possible, so we're emphasising diverse programmes from all different sectors of the jazz community. This includes teenagers who are just starting off on their journey, and includes the whole gamut of musicians.
"Jazz as a genre is intrinsically diverse; it has lots of different forms ranging from traditional jazz of the '30s to improvised music which happens on the very day that you see it. We're just trying to build a festival which is representative of what jazz is as an art form."
The 2023 line-up also results from intentionally pulling artists from different communities. "When going over the mission statement, we were keen to have more representation for female artists, and that honestly wasn't hard.
"We're also thrilled to be including musicians from across the world, and it's exciting to relaunch with our headline act Caroline Davis [with her trio Alula featuring Noah Garabedian, electric bass, and Eliza Salem, drums] coming directly from New York exclusively for our festival."
The varied nature of the jazz music scene largely contributed to how hard the genre was struck by COVID. "All music is performative, but jazz is an overly social art form where the vast majority of the time it happens as a conversation between musicians playing together – that's where it comes to life. In old-school terms, we couldn't 'jam', and those couple of years were really tough."
The dark, quiet times devoid of jamming are certainly behind us now, and there are many amazing performances set to take place at the festival next month.
Caroline Davis has been nominated by Downbeat Magazine ("the jazz bible," in Andrew's words) as an upcoming player to watch. Quiet Country are coming from Perth to showcase their inventive pop re-imaginings, and Nina Simone's daughter Lisa is also performing – the festival is catering to those of all tastes, from entry level jazz fans to the hardcores.
Lynette Irwin will be honoured throughout the festival, which will be a celebration of her legacy. Her tireless hard work and love for jazz influenced many, Andrew included.
"Lynette was a real champ in creating new music. She formed this festival off her own back, and gathered tonnes of composers from all around to join her – one of which was me.
"She worked as a one-person show running this festival for a long time, and as such we're very mindful of putting structures in place which will uphold her vision in the future." Many facets of that vision are coming to life, as artists are joining from all over the world to perform.
"The jazz scenes often overlap in Europe and America, but to come to Australia is quite substantial."
Brisbane International Jazz Festival runs at various venues from 20-29 October.
Brisbane International Jazz Festival 2023 Tour Dates
Sun 22 Oct - Junk Bar: Big Dead, Tyde, innsæMon 23 Oct - VHS Woolloongabba: Stephanie Taylor
Tue 24 Oct - Cave Inn: Martin Kay's Forage, Yass, NSW (2582, Rebecca Lloyd-Jones
Wed 25 Oct - Can You Keep A Secret: Helen Svoboda, Perkins/Saragossi/Newcomb/Bellert
Wed 25 Oct - West End Jazz Club: Lachy Hamilton Trio, Warwick Alder
Thu 26 Oct - It's Still A Secret: The Vampires
Thu 26 Oct - JMI Live: Jordy Stitt
Thu 26 Oct - Brisbane Jazz Club: Emma Pask
Fri 27 Oct - Merthyr Hall: Swing! Brother, Swing!
Fri 27 Oct - Brisbane Jazz Club: Emma Pask
Fri 20 Oct - Brisbane Powerhouse: Ebo Taylor, The Afrobiotics
Sat 21 Oct - The Clubhouse Moorooka: BIJF Opening Party featuring Kristin Berardi, Unladylike Big Band, Huda the Goddess, Ruben Lewis
Fri 27 Oct - Thomas Dixon Centre: featuring Caroline Davis' Alula, Quiet Country, Loose Leaf, Hannah Macklin, Cigany Weaver, Chris Stover's Imaginary Hybridites, Joshua Hatcher Quartet, Sharon Nobs Trio, Khito, Tyler Cooney Quintet, Isaac Power & Sophie Min Duo, Theo Parrott Organ Trio
Sat 28 Oct - JMI Live: Lynette Irwin MF Composition Commission featuring Kayleigh Pincott and Brendan Foster, plus Hamed
Sat 29 Oct - QPAC: Lisa Simone
Sun 29 Oct - Can You Keep A Secret: The View From Madeleine's Couch
