Since publication of this story The Andy Sugg Trio show at the Whanganui Musicians Club, scheduled for Friday, July 16, has been cancelled. Sugg, who lives in Victoria, Australia, has flown back to Melbourne due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases there and the potential risk of not being able to return as planned.
The transtasman bubble has released tenor saxophonist Andy Sugg to "take to the road" after an 18-month hiatus. Andy lives in the state of Victoria, which remains free of Covid, but with movement restrictions between states in Australia always changing since the start of the crisis, it has been impossible to plan tours.
Coming to tour in New Zealand is his best option, and he is well connected to the jazz community here. He will be performing in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and here in Whanganui alongside some of our finest Kiwi musicians.
Andy Sugg plays from the jazz saxophone repertoire with originality and passion. Australian Jazz.net describes his playing as "revelatory, yet always with deep soul and humanity in his delivery".
On Friday, July 16, Andy brings this "deep soul music" to the Whanganui Musicians Club.
"Jazz doesn't have to be complicated," he says. "The best jazz just grooves so hard you can't sit still. That's the way it was with the greats of the jazz sax. Before folks like Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins or John Coltrane became the famous beboppers we know them as today, they could all get people up and dancing to the sound of their horns."
Mark Lockett on drums and Umar Zakaria on bass complete the trio, which will perform a selection of hits from the giants of jazz. Both Mark and Umar are Wellington-based musicians of renown and we can expect an exciting night of great music.
