bands
Photo credit: Hannah Mackintosh
Bazurka are a collective of Wellington musicians, coming together to present their modern take on balkan gypsy and folk music. Intricate and exotic melodies, driving rhythms and tear jerking ballads are all on the menu as this seven piece powerhouse present some of the best music to come out of Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria and more.
Photo credit: Sarah Natalie
Hypnos is a trio from Wellington who explore a selection of Eastern European and Mediterranean musics. In particular they delve into the murky world of Rebetiko, an urban folk music of the Greek underclass borne out of the various hardships experienced in Greece and Turkey in the early 20th Century.
One of New Zealand’s most original and engaging ensembles, their quasi-anarchistic brand of meticulously composed music goes from the crass to the sublime, the emotive to the absurd. Their music is inventive, passionate, honest, and wholly life affirming.
Photo credit: Sarah Martin
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya is a group of New Zealand musicians dedicated to the study and performance of Balinese music.
They specialise in contemporary music for Gamelan Gong Kebyar, and frequently incorporate western instruments into the ensemble. They perform on a set of instruments made by Pak Rantes in Denpasar, Bali, and bought by Gareth Farr in 2003.
Shades of Shakti explore the fusion of`classical Indian music and Jazz. As well as playing detailed homage to the music of John McLaughlin and Shakti, Shades of Shakti also perform original new works in the idiom. This unique project brings together some of Wellington's finest musicians, Chetan Ramlu (tabla), Justin Firefly Clarke (guitar), Tristan Carter (violin), Thomas Friggens (drums).
Photo credit: Cristohper Ramos Flores
With a sound that is melodious, beguiling, and sometimes startling, the Noveltones fuse spontaneous improvisation with the lush sonorities of chamber music.