Perth International Jazz Festival in the CBD on November 5-7 & Saturday, November 13, in Busselton

“Come Play” is the invitation from Perth International Jazz Festival to singers, musicians and audience alike, over a weekend in Perth on November 5-7 and the following Saturday, November 13, in Busselton.

A range of free and ticketed events includes a Jazz Parade in Hyde Park, where anyone is welcome to bring their instrument to join in the jam.

“We’re offering the very best jazz in WA to WA audiences, a three-day event in Perth and then also a one-day event in Busselton the following week,” PIJF artistic director Mace Francis said at the program launch on Thursday.

“We’ve got a little bit of everything — from interactive music via livestream from overseas from a group in the Netherlands (Dutch trio Tin Men and the Telephone), to a tribute to Helen Matthews, who’s a great singer in WA and has done a lot for the scene — and everything in between.”

“There’s a lot of local professional musicians, we have artists from interstate coming over, from South Australia (Adelaide multi-instrumentalist Adam Page and dance trio Er@ser Description) and Tasmania (trumpeter Scott Tinkler and guitarist Julius Schwing).

‘We had people booked from Victoria and NSW but that had to change for obvious reasons.

“We’ve got professional musicians but also emerging artists, musicians from WAAPA — we’ve got a WAAPA stage — really a bit of everything.

“There’s eight venues and over 50 performances in the CBD.”

Last year was a challenge because all the COVID disruption was new, Francis says.

“This year we’ve had a lot of challenges because there was the expectation that it was going to be better than last year, with the border closures,” he says.

“But being able to put on an event in WA is a bit of a dream at the moment, compared with other places in the world, and even interstate — so no complaints!”

Friday opens with a free show at the State Theatre Centre Courtyard featuring WA’s Dr Richard Walley’s Six Seasons with Junkadelic Orchestra, and Daniel Susnjar’s Afro Peruvian Jazz Group.

On screens over in Yagan Square and Northbridge Piazza is Tin Men and the Telephone’s “GREATEST show — Global Relocation of Evolved Apes Towards Exoplanet Suitable for Terraformation”, a journey in space and cyberspace as audience members connect with the group by dedicated app, riffing on climate change.

The Rechabite will be the festival hub for ticketed events, with Cotton Club Dance Party featuring the OZ Big Band and 1920s swing to the small hours.

Ali Bodycoat and Libby Hammer’s tribute to Helen Matthews, “WA’s First Lady of Jazz”, is at The Rechabite, as is saxophonist Jamie Oehlers’ homage to John Coltrane, with Ben Vanderwal on drums, Zac Grafton on bass and Harry Mitchell on piano.

Other venues include Cathedral Square, a Secret Rooftop in the CBD, and Grooves’n’Brews at Northbridge Piazza with Northbridge Brewing Company featuring Liquid Project, Supathick, Trisk & Optamus Present: Prime Time, and the Flewnt Boorloo Block Party.

Forrest Place on Saturday and Sunday will showcase new work, big bands and panels featuring WAAPA jazz alumni and graduating students.

On Sunday, Hyde Park hosts a jazz picnic and the all-comers Jazz Parade.

The tributes continue at Ellington Jazz Club with piano soloists Hanna Kim, Tristram Wills, Brodie Stewart and Russell Holmes honouring the late lamented Graham Wood — pianist, teacher, founder of PIJF and co-owner of the club.

And there’s a whale of a time on offer at the WA Museum Boola Bardip with Tasmania’s Scott Tinkler, WA’s Ghost Gum Reverb, and Charles/Lee.

At Busselton the following weekend, artists include the Gemma Farrell Quintet, the Libby Hammer Quartet, Oz Big Band, The Love Rats, Welcome to Country – all appearing free at the Amphitheatre on the Foreshore, PIJF’s first “On Tour” event since its foundation in 2013.

Tickets are on sale via Megatix.

For more information, go to www.perthjazzfest.com.