My Account
Jazz fans are in for a treat this month when Wellington-based ensemble the Ben Wilcock Quartet plays Warkworth Town Hall as part of a national tour, on Saturday, July 29.
Renowned pianist Ben Wilcock will be joined by Tristan Carter on violin, Daniel Yeabsley on double bass and award-winning drummer John Rae keeping the beat on percussion.
The playlist will be made up of improvised arrangements and contemporary takes on jazz standards, such as 1940s show tune Star Eyes and Dizzy Gillespie’s Groovin’ High, along with original pieces from Wilcock’s latest album, The River Tethys.
The album, which Melbourne radio station PBSFM hailed as “bold and stylistically varied”, takes its name and inspiration from a series of science fiction novels, The Hyperion Cantos, where the River Tethys is an interplanetary waterway that flows between worlds. Wilcock has written a diverse spectrum of different pieces inspired by these various worlds, with much of the music improvised as it was recorded.
London Jazz News said he was an engaging pianist and composer, with his playing bringing Thelonious Monk to mind, “particularly in the faster bop tracks”.
As an ensemble, the Ben Wilcock Quartet is said to deliver dynamic vocal and melodic clarity and music that ebbs and flows, from up-tempo standards to melodic ballads.
The concert is being staged as part of Warkworth Music’s annual series and it runs from 4pm to 6pm.
Tickets cost $35, or $25 for members, and are available on the door or from www.trybooking.com/nz/events/landing/8190
