Mambolicious: Jodrell Screams Puente
The WA Youth Orchestra (WAYJO) presents Mambolicious – a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tito Puente, one of the most influential Latin big band leaders of all time. Featuring one of Australia’s greatest trumpet players, Mat Jodrell, with the St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, these shows will have your feet tapping and hips shaking to the sounds of Latin jazz and mambo.
Mat Jodrell recently returned to Australia after eight years living and performing in New York City and teaching at Juilliard School of Music. He’s performed with the likes of Benny Golson, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, and the Mingus Big Band to name a few, and has toured throughout Europe, Russia, Asia, South America, and the Middle East, performing at festivals and world-famous jazz clubs.
Paying homage to Tito Puente’s seminal big band recordings, Jodrell’s screaming trumpet licks accompanied by the infectious swing of the St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra (directed by Marty Pervan) is a night you’re not going to want to miss.
Mambolicious: Jodrell Screams Puente
7:30pm – 9:30pm, Saturday 1 July
The Milk Bar, Inglewood
BOOK TICKETS
Mambolicious: Jodrell Screams Puente
The WA Youth Orchestra (WAYJO) presents Mambolicious – a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tito Puente, one of the most influential Latin big band leaders of all time. Featuring one of Australia’s greatest trumpet players, Mat Jodrell, with the St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, these shows will have your feet tapping and hips shaking to the sounds of Latin jazz and mambo.
Mat Jodrell recently returned to Australia after eight years living and performing in New York City and teaching at Juilliard School of Music. He’s performed with the likes of Benny Golson, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, and the Mingus Big Band to name a few, and has toured throughout Europe, Russia, Asia, South America, and the Middle East, performing at festivals and world-famous jazz clubs.
Paying homage to Tito Puente’s seminal big band recordings, Jodrell’s screaming trumpet licks accompanied by the infectious swing of the St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra (directed by Marty Pervan) is a night you’re not going to want to miss.
Mambolicious: Jodrell Screams Puente
7:30pm – 9:30pm, Friday 30 June
Margaret River HEART
BOOK TICKETS
Marty Pervan on Mambolicious
We sat down with Musical Director of the St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, Marty Pervan, to find out a little more about the Mambolicious Program.
‘Mambolicious: Jodrell Screams Puente’ features one of Australia’s greatest trumpet players, Mat Jodrell, and pays homage to influential Latin jazz pioneer, Tito Puente. Performing in Margaret River on 30 June at Margaret River HEART, and then in Perth at Milk Bar on 1 July, these concerts are guaranteed to have your feet tapping and hips shaking.
Why are you excited to collaborate with Mat Jodrell and what are you hoping he’ll bring to the St John of God Tuesday Night Orchestra?
Given that Mat is a WAYJO alumnus, this collaboration is an opportunity to reconnect on both a personal and musical level. The wealth of knowledge and experience that comes with a musician that has lived and worked professionally as a first-call jazz and session trumpet player in places like New York is informative and inspirational for the band members. After leaving Perth, Mat attended the Julliard School of Music, and this also brings a unique set of experiences that bend members who are also tertiary music students will find enlightening. I am confident the anecdotal element of Mat’s communication and engagement with the band will be just as invaluable as his musical contribution.
What are you looking forward to on the regional tour to Margaret River?
There are no amount of rehearsals that can simulate the positive musical effect of a tour. The shared experiences and time spent together allow the musicians to connect in a way that is impossible to imitate. The shows, workshops and rehearsals will all be great musical experiences that will create lifelong memories for the band members (and probably the staff too).
What do you love about Tito Puente’s works?
Tito Puente was my first introduction to Son/montuno (Salsa), Mambo, Guaguanco and Cha Cha – it is something for which I have had a lifelong passion. I enjoy educating the band members about this genre of music and the various musical elements that make it unique. It is consistently exciting to play and listen to. This is always evident in the expressions of awe and joy on the faces of the band as they are performing.
Is there anything else you can tell us about the Mambolicious program?
We will be performing some of Tito Puente’s most popular tunes that most audiences have heard of as well as a selection of other music from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Columbia, and New York.
“I will be immensely surprised if any of the audience isn’t up and dancing early in the performance.”
Other artists that we will be performing the music of include Cubanismo, the Afro-Cuban All Stars, the Buena Vista Social Club, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Poncho Sanchez, Matt Harris, and Mike Tomaro.
Experience Mambolicious: Jodrell Screams Puente
7:30pm, Friday 30 June | Margaret River HEART | TICKETS
7:30pm, Saturday 1 July | Milk Bar, Inglewood | TICKETS
WAYJO’s 40th Anniversary Weekend
Celebrating 40 years of the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra
You’re invited to the jazz party of the year as the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra (WAYJO) turns 40!
With thousands of events under its belt and a special place in many a WA musician’s hearts and memories, WAYJO is marking the occasion in style – bringing together Perth’s biggest jazz names alongside future stars of the Australian jazz scene for one special weekend at the State Theatre Centre’s Studio Underground and Foyer.
The celebrations begin with a Gala performance on Friday evening featuring WAYJO big bands alongside special guest alumni including Perth’s premier jazz vocalist, Libby Hammer, the versatile trombonist Catherine Noblet, the accomplished saxophonist Gemma Farrell, and the elegant vocalist Lucy Iffla.
On the big night, all three bands – MinterEllison Monday Night Orchestra, St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, and Wednesday Night Orchestra – will take to the stage to perform commissioned works, band and fan favourites, and classic big band jazz repertoire.
Then on Saturday, take a trip down memory lane and immerse yourself in our mini festival hub of in-conversations, small group jazz ensembles, historic photo displays, alumni appearances, and big band performances.
Be transported through time as all three big bands celebrate the greats playing classic big band jazz, music from the depths of the WAYJO library, and a line-up that traces jazz through to contemporary, translating be-bop to hip-hop.
With guest artists Jamie Oehlers, Libby Hammer, and Zero Emcee, this is an event not to be missed.
Join us as we celebrate WAYJO’s 40-year history and look towards the future of jazz!
WAYJO’s 40th Festival Weekend
WAYJO’s 40th Anniversary Concert
7:30pm, Friday 26 May
Studio Underground
SOLD OUT
WAYJO’s 40th Anniversary Festival
4pm – 10pm, Saturday 27 May
Studio Underground
BOOK TICKETS
40th Anniversary Program
Friday Program
The guest alumni are some of the most accomplished jazz musicians in WA. Libby Hammer, recipient of the Perth Jazz Society’s Award for Most Outstanding Individual Contribution To Jazz in 2005, spent two years as resident vocalist for WAYJO and now returns to grace the stage in celebration of WAYJO’s four-decade history.
Catherine Noblet, who played for over 10 years in WAYJO in the late 1990s to mid 2000s, studied at WAAPA and undertook a master’s in jazz studies at the University of Illinois, studying with legendary trombonist Jim Pugh, and receiving a fellowship and teaching assistant position.
Saxophonist Gemma Farrell, leader of WAYJO’s Progressions program and winner of WAM’s Best Brass, String or Woodwind Instrumentalist in 2020, is the founder and musical director of the Artemis Orchestra, a predominately female big band which performs the original music of Australian women, non-binary, and transgender people.
And recent WAYJO alumni, vocalist Lucy Iffla, who is already carving a successful career and following achieving a Top 10 Nominee for the Wangaratta 2020 National Jazz Awards, showcases an elegant and timeless voice beyond her years.
Rapper Zero Emcee – who joined WAYJO last year in a collaboration called Beats & Pieces and was a highlight of last year’s program – will join the Wednesday Night Orchestra to add some hip hop flavour to the big band repertoire.
Saturday Program
WAYJO's 40th Anniversary Concert & Festival
You’re invited to the jazz party of the year as WAYJO turns 40!
With thousands of events under its belt and a special place in many a WA musician’s hearts and memories, WAYJO is marking the occasion in style – bringing together Perth’s biggest jazz names alongside future stars of the Australian jazz scene for one special weekend at the State Theatre Centre’s Studio Underground and Foyer.
Join us as we celebrate WAYJO’s 40-year history and look towards the future of jazz!
40th Anniversary Concert
The celebrations begin with a Gala performance on Friday evening featuring WAYJO big bands alongside special guest alumni including Perth’s premier jazz vocalist, Libby Hammer, the versatile trombonist Catherine Noblet, the accomplished saxophonist Gemma Farrell, and the elegant vocalist Lucy Iffla.
On the big night, all three bands – MinterEllison Monday Night Orchestra, St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, and Wednesday Night Orchestra – will take to the stage to perform commissioned works, band and fan favourites, and classic big band jazz repertoire.
WAYJO’s 40th Anniversary Concert
7:30pm, Friday 26 May
Studio Underground
40th Anniversary Festival
Then on Saturday, take a trip down memory lane and immerse yourself in our mini festival hub of in-conversations, small group jazz ensembles, historic photo displays, alumni appearances, and big band performances.
Be transported through time as all three big bands celebrate the greats playing classic big band jazz, music from the depths of the WAYJO library, and a line-up that traces jazz through to contemporary, translating be-bop to hip-hop.
With guest artists Jamie Oehlers, Libby Hammer, and Zero Emcee, this is an event not to be missed.
WAYJO’s 40th Anniversary Festival
4pm – 10pm, Saturday 27 May
Studio Underground
The Groove Merchants: Tessie Overmyer Plays Thad Jones
The Groove Merchants: Tessie Overmyer Plays Thad Jones sees guest artist, Tessie Overmyer, one of Sydney’s most exciting emerging jazz alto saxophonists, and the WAYJO Wednesday Night Orchestra playing the music of seminal big band composer Thad Jones, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.
In 2020 and 2021, Tessie was selected to play lead alto in the Australian National Youth Jazz Orchestra and plays lead alto with the Sydney Conservatorium Jazz Orchestra.
The Groove Merchants: Tessie Overmyer Plays Thad Jones
7:30pm – 9:30pm, Saturday 1 April
Downstairs at The Maj
BOOK TICKETS
The Groove Merchants: Tessie Overmyer Plays Thad Jones
The Groove Merchants: Tessie Overmyer Plays Thad Jones sees guest artist, Tessie Overmyer, one of Sydney’s most exciting emerging jazz alto saxophonists, and the WAYJO Wednesday Night Orchestra playing the music of seminal big band composer Thad Jones, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.
In 2020 and 2021, Tessie was selected to play lead alto in the Australian National Youth Jazz Orchestra and plays lead alto with the Sydney Conservatorium Jazz Orchestra.
The Groove Merchants: Tessie Overmyer Plays Thad Jones
7:30pm – 9:30pm, Friday 31 March
Fishtrap Theatre, Mandurah Performing Arts Centre
BUY TICKETS
WAYJO's 40th Anniversary Season Launch Block Party
WAYJO is celebrating our 40th anniversary this year, and we’re throwing a free Season Launch Block Party to get the festivities started!
Join us at Lyric Lane in Maylands for performances from all three big bands; MinterEllison Monday Night Orchestra, St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, and Wednesday Night Orchestra.
As well as their swinging sounds, you’ll hear all about our 2023 program, learn about our guest artist touring program, and be the first to know about our upcoming 40th year two-day festival.
We can’t wait to welcome you to the launch of our fourth decade as Australia’s leading youth jazz orchestra!
WAYJO’s 40th Anniversary Season Launch Block Party 2023
3 – 5pm, Sun 5 March 2023
Free event – all invited!
WAYJO thanks Government Partner the Department of Local Government, Sport, and Cultural Industries, Principal Partner North West Shelf Gas, Major Programs Partner Minderoo Foundation, MinterEllison Monday Night Orchestra Naming Rights Partner, St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra Naming Rights Partner, and Healthway Act Belong Commit for their continued support.
WAYJO celebrates 40 years as Australia’s leading youth jazz orchestra
WAYJO is celebrating our 40th anniversary this year, having been at the forefront of forging professional jazz artists aged 14 to 25 since 1983.
To celebrate, we’re throwing a Season Launch Block Party to get the festivities started!
All are welcome to attend this free community event, from 3pm – 5pm on Sunday 5 March at Lyric Lane Laneway in Maylands. The Block Party features sets from the MinterEllison Monday Night Orchestra, the St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, and the Wednesday Night Orchestra.
WAYJO's 40-Year Anniversary
WAYJO Artistic Director & Musical Director (and Band Leader of the Wednesday Night Orchestra), Mace Francis, reflected on the 40-year anniversary:
We are honoured to present an annual program that both celebrates WAYJO’s 40 years and gives our musicians the very best big band experiences.
In 2023 we will work with alumni, previous guest artists and future stars of the Australian jazz scene. Perth’s jazz lovers are invited to join us at WAYJO's first performance of the year showcasing all three bands and launching the 2023 40th birthday program.
Over its 40-year history thousands of young musicians have performed with us at over thousands of events. That is an incredible number of young people who have reaped the benefits of everything being in a big band has to offer; teamwork, communication, connection, purpose, inspiration, personal and professional development, passion, and pride. Benefits that are now, more than ever, so important to young people in our ever-disconnected world.
WAYJO holds a very special place in many WA musician’s hearts and memories. It is a place where they not only made great music in a great band but met their musician colleagues, future partners, and lifelong friends. WAYJO changed my life for the better after first joining it as a guitarist in 2001.
The opportunity to rehearse and play amazing jazz repertoire with like-minded musicians on a regular basis is an absolute blessing and WAYJO is so proud to have been able to do this for 40 years.
Each year the young musical talent in this state keeps getting better and better as WAYJO musicians go on to teach, their knowledge and skill development distilled and amplified.
We look forward to connecting young performers and composers with each other for another 40 years to create experiences, friendships and memories that live longer than anyone's time as a member of WAYJO.
-Mace Francis
Head along to our Season Launch on Sunday to be the first to hear the full 2023 program. Alternatively, sign up to our e-news to get it directly to your inbox!
The Best of WAYJO 2022 - SELLING FAST
In a grand finale to the season, WAYJO presents three big bands in one glorious night under the stars in The Best of 2022 at Quarry Amphitheatre, Friday 25 November.
With three big bands presenting all their favourites from the year, tickets represent exceptional value for a fantastic show of diverse jazz to suit everyone’s taste.
These bands have never sounded better after a year of working and touring together. A sell out several years in a row, be sure to book soon!
The Quarry Amphitheatre is one of Perth’s premier outdoor performance venues. Nestled in the tranquil bush setting of Bold Park Reserve, it offers a stunning skyline view. Bring a picnic, choose from the Limestone Cafe menu on the night, or pre-order a picnic hamper, and enjoy a jazz picnic under the stars with friends and family.
Tickets this year are General Admission, so please arrive early for your favourite spot!
Gates 6.30pm
Show 7.30pm
WAYJO thanks Government Partner the Department of Local Government, Sport, and Cultural Industries, Principal Partner North West Shelf Gas, Major Programs Partner Minderoo Foundation, MinterEllison Monday Night Orchestra Naming Rights Partner, St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra Naming Rights Partner, and Healthway Act Belong Commit for their continued support.
Photograph Josh Wells (2021 WAYJO Quarry Amphitheatre show)
