Phlat 9 Friday win NZSM Combo Competition
Phlat 9 Friday have been named as the winners of the NZSM Combo Competition, held on Thursday 15 September.
Phlat 9 Friday is a contemporary 5 piece ensemble comprising of students currently studying at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music. The group’s members include Katelin Little on vocals, Sam Smith-Nakamura on guitar, Fraser Walker on piano, Christopher Beernink on bass and Luther Hunt on drums respectively.
There were five groups in the competition. This is the first year that the NZSM Combo Competition has been coordinated by, and held at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University. In previous years the competition was run by the Wellington Jazz Club. The Wellington Jazz Club continues to sponsor prizes for the competition, and in 2016 they have sponsored prize money for the event and will also host the winning combo at the Wellington Jazz Club’s gig at Meow on 20th November.
Read Phlat 9 Friday's notes on the pieces they performed as part of the competition below...
“Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” composed by Charles Mingus with lyrics written by Joni Mitchell. The jazz standard was originally recorded in 1959 and released on his album ‘Mingus Ah Um’. Written as an elegy for saxophonist Lester Young who sadly died two months prior to the recording session, the piece is a lament to the man who was known to wear a broad-rimmed pork pie hat. It is one of Mingus’s best-known compositions and has been recorded by many jazz artists throughout the years.
“Harvesting Dance” written by New York based jazz pianist, Aaron Parks. The composition first appeared on Terrence Blanchard’s 2005 album ‘Flow’, however Parks’ revisited the tune on his 2008 Blue Note debut album ‘Invisible Cinema’. Parks describes the piece as a sweeping drama with hints of rock anthem and admits that he based the song on ideas from Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt’s, ‘Fratres’. It is jazz that rocks.