Jazz and Blues Festival back for another year

The Bay of Islands Jazz and Blues Festival has been a regular on the calendar for 31 years and this year will feature 49 bands over three
days.

Established musicians such as the Nairobi Trio and Midge Marsden and Chet O’Connell are familiar enough to not need an introduction but a few are either new, or relatively new, to the festival.

Chihiro Yamasaki and Route 14 band hail from Kanagawa in Japan. They played at the festival four years ago and were among the most popular bands on the card. The two men and three women play jazz, fusion, classic and a few other styles besides. They have had more than 20,000 in CD sales and belong to the major Universal Music label.

Of the seven bands coming from Australia, Dezzie D & The Stingrayz are arguably the most experienced. They were formed in 2013 and have made regular international, interstate and local performances from their hometown of Brisbane. They concentrate on the early rhythm and blues music of yesteryear, staying true to the old-school sounds of the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Ruff Copy – The Band are new to the festival but also have a lot of experience from performing around Australasia for 30 years from “smoky bars to clubs and stadiums” according to their bio, and “from Mississippi to Memphis, Chicago, New York and down to Texas”. They have performed with many top New Zealand and international acts.

Promoter Shirley May said six venues will be used over the three days – The Duke of Marlborough Hotel and Nauti Penguin in Russell, Kingsgate Autolodge, the Ex-servicemen’s Club and the Sports Bar in Paihia and the Twin Pines Brewhouse in Haruru. It makes for a busy performer schedule.

BOI Jazz & Blues Festival, August 12, 13 and 14. boijazz-bluesfestival.co.nz

New book launched

A new book called Kaumatua Tamaterau was launched yesterday at the Tamaterau Hall in what was called “Matariki style”, which meant shared kai, bean bags, blankets and “fairylight bling”.

It is written by June Pitman from Tamaterau with photographs by Claire Gordon of Kerikeri and evolved from an exhibition the pair held at the Tamaterau Community Hall in December last year comprising of narratives, landscape images of the area and a calendar.

The book entails Pitman relating the living history of her kaumatua while they are still able to give their narrative. The idea was to help the community of Tamaterau to identify with, and understand, the cultural significance of their area.

She approached the kaumatua and drew up a list of 10 who were happy to share their stories. What followed were two-hour interviews with each kaumatua in their homes, which Pitman and Gordon attended.

“I took their images while they were in a location that was meaningful to them and their narrative,” said Gordon.

“I could not have taken the personal images without attending the interviews and gaining an understanding of, and a rapport with, each kaumatua,” she said.

Pitman spent a significant number of hours whittling down the full narrative to smaller excerpts, which were printed and exhibited alongside the images. Many of the immediate family were moved, even to tears, as they heard stories about their whanau they were previously unaware of.

Kaumatua Tamaterau is self-published and distributed through Motuomoana Enterprises Limited with design and print by Jeff Olive Print, Whangarei.

The ‘Tucker’ gets spruced up

The R. Tucker Thompson, the gaff-rigged schooner that calls Opua Wharf home, is getting a spruce-up.

The work will take six weeks and is preparatory to another eight youth sailing voyages which start on August 15 in time for the start of the summer sailing season.

The work involves installing engine compartment ventilation, fixing damaged water tanks, replacing the bilge manifold system and updating the electrical systems in the head. After that they will install deck flood lights, down-rig all three sail yards and generally tend to the aesthetics of the boat.

The engine and electrical work and the rigging work is carried out by the onboard crew. The project is led by Rangi Ferris who is the full-time maintenance manager who said the annual checks are requirements for the Maritime New Zealand survey.

Jo Lynch, chief executive of the R. Tucker Thompson Sail Training Trust, said the aesthetic work, the sprucing up, is carried out by all the crew.

“They rust bust, paint the hull, sand and varnish all the yards, which have been removed. Then they paint and refresh topside, oiling the timber work and generally freshen up the surrounds.”

Russell Harris, a former part-owner of the R. Tucker Thompson, has returned to do some welding work and one trainee is coming back to volunteer to help. The crew also does all the de-rigging and the reassembling of the rig and sails.

Kerikeri teenagers chosen to represent New Zealand

Two Kerikeri teenagers have been selected to compete for New Zealand in their respective age grades at the premier in-line hockey event at the start of next year in Los Angeles.

Zane Cooper, 17, and Aaron Riddell, 16, both from the Northland Stingrays In-Line Hockey Club have been selected by Inline Hockey New Zealand to play for under 16 and under 18 teams at the North American Rollerhockey Championships).

Cooper has been playing since he was 8 years old after he went to an inline hockey public skate session.

“We didn’t even know there was a rink in Waipapa,” said his father Carl.

He has been selected for the past three New Zealand international tournaments and is sponsored by GDS Automotive. Riddell has made the past three inter-regional teams.

Both athletes recently competed in the invitational Matariki tournament held in New Plymouth where they were mentored by premier league players. The only rink north of Auckland is at BaySport in Harmony Lane, Waipapa, so extensive travel is required by the athletes, primarily to Hamilton or New Plymouth.

In-line hockey is a fast-paced sport similar to ice hockey but played on inline skates (Rollerblades) usually on a plastic tile or wooden court. The teams consist of 10 to 12 athletes with four players and one goalie on the rink surface at any one time. Goalies can face shots of over 100km/h.

Goalie Cooper and player Riddell have experienced the speed and skating skills required at international level when they played for New Zealand at the 2019 AAU Junior Olympics in Hawaii. Cooper got two silver medals in the club and the international event as well as a gold medal in the skills competition. Riddell won a silver in club event and bronze in international event.