Jonathan Crayford announces string of shows in different incarnations
Jonathan Crayford is most often associated with his compositions and performances on piano. However, in the coming months Crayford, one of NZ’s most inventive and genre defying musicians, will be performing a series of shows under several different musical monikers, before heading to Spain in August for an orchestral project.
Like a rhythm section mutinied from their band, Crayford dons an electric bass and accompanies Ross Burge on drums forming a dynamically interactive punk, jazz, grunge, free-form music powerhouse entitled Spanner.
The duo will perform every Wednesday evening in the month of May at The Golden Dawn Tavern of Power, featuring some equally talented special guests each week including Julia Deans, SJD, Lucien Johnson, Neil Watson and Jeff Henderson.
May 13th sees Crayford perform at Freida Margolis with the 3 piece Meteor – The Jonathan Crayford Electric Trio featuring Marika Hodgson on bass, Chris O’Connore on drums and Crayford on electric keys with a guest appearance from Lucien Johnson.
Meteor and Spanner team up at The Wine Cellar on July 6th for a the Crayford quinella – guaranteed to get bums off seats.
Jonathan returns to the piano on June 8th and 9that Suite Gallery, Wellington for 2 solo piano concerts just in time for the Wellington Jazz Festival.
Catch Jonathan Crayford in one of his many manifestations at a venue near you.
Jonathan Crayford Forthcoming Shows:
* Jonathan Crayford Trio’s recent album East West Moon (Rattle Records) selected as finalist for Best Jazz Album 2017 (featuring Ben Street and Dan Weiss)
Praise for Jonathan Crayford:
“He’s an artist embedded so deeply within his music that his persona reflects in those terms. It’s as if he were the embodiment of sonic shapes and forms.” John Fenton
“This is the kind of piano I totally relate to: exploratory, thoughtful, soulful, focused. Those qualities are all sort of contradictory, or at least contrasting, which is why this kind of work is meaningful: because it is multi-dimensional.” Thomas Conrad critic for Jazz Times
“The title track of pianist Jonathan Crayford’s latest album is a stunning meditation in colour and tone. It establishes its bearings and then heads into the unknown – the piano probing and searching sometimes pensive at others strident and rambling. It’s a towering composition on an album that clocks in at a perfect 45 minutes and leaves you gasping at its beauty, richness and assuredness.” Mike Alexander – Review of Dark Light (2014 trio album w/Ben Street, Dan Weiss)
