Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2025 (17-26 October)
By Des Cowley
The Melbourne International Jazz Festival has come a long way since being founded nearly three decades ago. Like any long-running cultural event, it has had its ups and downs over that time, but has settled into a solid groove over the past decade, returning like clock-work each year with a jam-packed program, intent on pushing the boundaries of what jazz can be. This year, with over 500 musicians from 18 countries showcasing their wares over ten days, it is being billed as the biggest festival to date, and who are we to argue?
So, what gets the pulse racing? Surely, Bill Frisell, one of the great names in contemporary jazz, whose guitar stylings have influenced a generation. Frisell will be playing six concerts, spread over three nights (24-25 Oct), at Jazzlab with his trio – bassist Thomas Morgan, and drummer Rudy Royston – most recently heard on the sublime album Valentine (2020). These six performances present a rare opportunity to catch Frisell in an intimate club space. Is it any wonder they are already posted as ‘sold out’?
Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story, as there is a further chance to catch Bill Frisell, at the day-long Jazz at the Bowl, an annual MIJF event that has previously featured Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Nile Rogers, Marcus Miller, and Fat Freddy’s Drop. Scheduled for Saturday 25 Oct, at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, this year’s Jazz at the Bowl is headlined by Harry Connick Jnr, who’ll be serving up a mix of originals, standards, and New Orleans classics. Also, on the bill, alongside Connick Jnr and Frisell – and surely destined to be a highlight – is Emma Donovan, unveiling a new project Take me to the River, her tribute to the immortal soul greats, including Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding.
The cavernous, dimly-lit, underground space of 170 Russell Street is routinely used by MIJF to host acts that seek to challenge the outer-fringes of jazz – mashing it with hip hop, nu-jazz, grime, soul and funk – and this year proves no exception. Long-running, Grammy-nominated US band Lettuce, whose music draws inspiration from Headhunters, Parliament-Funkadelic, Earth Wind & Fire, Sly Stone, and Tower of Power, will strut their funk-heavy, improvised grooves on 24 Oct. We can expect the same level of energy on display the preceding night when Lebanese-French trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf takes to the stage, fronting his ten-piece band (including six trumpets). A legend in his native France, Maalouf’s high-octane music fuses middle-eastern influences with jazz.
But perhaps the cream of the crop is saxophonist Gary Bartz’s much-anticipated performance at 170 Russell. Bartz is best-known for his early seventies band NTU Troop, along with his incendiary playing on Miles Davis’s electric outings, preserved on albums like Live Evil (1971). He’ll be joined by local pianist Barney McAll, who has forged a long-term musical relationship with the saxophonist, for what is billed as a brand-new work, evocatively titled The Eternal Tenure of Sound. Given Bartz is now aged-84, this could well be a last chance to catch this pioneer of spiritual jazz, whose work has influenced players like Kamasi Washington and Shabaka Hutchings.
Chapel off Chapel, in Prahran, makes a welcome return as a venue for this year’s Festival, a boon for those of us living south of the river. Earshift Music label, run by saxophonist Jeremy Rose (The Vampires), is hosting a two-night showcase there on 21-22 Oct, featuring bands championed and recorded by the Earshift label, including pianist James Bowers, the folk-tinged jazz of Visions of Nar (pianist Zela Margossian, Rose, and table player Bobby Singh), guitarist Hilary Geddes, RAKI (songman Daniel Wilfred, Paul Grabowsky, and trumpeter Peter Knight), and Jeremy Roses’s Infinity. It promises to be a spectacular two evenings of music, a testament to Rose’s vision for the label as home and sanctuary for creative, improvised music.
Chapel off Chapel will also host the premiere of a new project, commissioned by MIJF and Poland’s Jazztopad Festival, that brings together three audacious talents – singer Sunny Kim, pianist Joanna Duda and bassist Helen Svoboda. With all three doubling on electronics, we can expect sonic adventure, electronic soundscapes, and fearless experimentation.
Festivals do many things, but one of them is to bring to our attention new talent, or talent that has too-long flown under our radar. Two pianists programmed for this year’s MIJF make the case. Norwegian pianist Liv Andrea Hauge is an emergent artist whose music draws inspiration from Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, and Norwegian compatriot Christian Wallumrød. Hauge will perform at Jazzlab with Sydney-based drummer Chloe Kim (whose stunning Music for Six Double Bassits recently took out Performance of the Year at the 2025 Art Music Awards) and bassist Jacques Emery. At the other end of the spectrum is Italian pianist Rita Marcotulli, whose five-decade career has encompassed collaborations with Chet Baker, Billy Cobham, Pat Metheny, Kenny Wheeler, Joe Lovano, and Dewey Redman. Her performance at Chapel off Chapel, with local Italian saxophonist Mirko Guerrini, presents a rare opportunity to be exposed to her music.
The nightly Club sessions at Jazzlab pack a wealth of variety, from a tribute to the late, great drummer Allan Browne (featuring musicians who worked extensively with him: Andrea Keller, Eugene Ball, Phil Noy); Japan’s Banksia Trio, Fem Belling’s The Hormesis Project, which will see her performing with voice, three violins, cello, double bass, drums; and two evenings pairing jazz studies students from The University of Melbourne and Monash University with major international figures: pianist Danilo Pérez and bassist Linda May Han Oh. But, for me, the pick of the bunch is UK multi-instrumentalist Tenderlonious (AKA Ed Cawthorne), who will be taking a deep dive into John Coltrane’s classic 1961 recording Africa Brass.
The MIJF’s annual First Nations Artist Residency, run in partnership with the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO), has resulted in a significant body of new compositions since being inaugurated in 2021 (past commissions have included Bumpy, Brenda Gifford, and Amos Roach). This year sees percussionist, musical artist, and proud Kamilaroi composer Adam Manning joining forces with a stripped-back AAO (featuring pianist Aaron Choulai, bassist Tamara Murphy, drummer David Jones) playing in the intimate confines of the Primrose Potter Salon. Manning and the AAO will perform his composition First Rhythms, a new work exploring connections between culture, Country, and contemporary performance.
As could be expected, there is no shortage of big international names lined up for this year’s MIJF. Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez, best known for his contributions to the late Wayne Shorter’s classic quartet, will present an afternoon solo performance at the Recital Centre on 18 Oct. The spacious Hamer Hall will host acclaimed vocalist, and multi-Grammy winner, Gregory Porter (his ‘1960 What?’ is one of the great soul classics of the modern era); along with newcomer Samara Joy (who has already bagged five Grammys by age-25); and Grammy-winning Japanese pianist Hiromi, who will perform with her quintet.
In what promises to be a special performance, ex-pat Australian bassist Linda May Han Oh returns to premiere a new large-scale composition Invisible Threads, commissioned specially by MIJF, featuring vocalist and media artist Pamela Z, pianist Andrea Keller, and trumpeter Mat Jodrell. Since re-locating to the US in 2006, Oh has forged an illustrious career, releasing numerous albums under her own steam, holding down the bass chair in Pat Metheny’s band, and collaborating with the likes of Dave Douglas, Terri Lynne Carrington, and Vijay Iyer. In a word: essential.
A preview is just that, and can do little more than scratch the surface. For those with stamina, there’s Festival opener Night Crawl, a free event featuring over 100 musicians stretching across 11 city venues. Then, there are the late-night jam sessions; plus a jazz on film strand showing classic films – from Sun Ra to a documentary on Art Kane’s immortal 1958 photograph A Great Day in Harlem – and more. Head to https://www.melbournejazz.com/program/ to check out the full program.