If you play jazz, you can travel. Our returning guest artist is Mark Lockett, an enterprising jazz drummer who has just returned from his self-promoted tour of Japan and Europe.
Not only did Mark organise 10 shows in four countries, but he also arranged for his compatriot and fellow musical collaborator saxophonist Roger Manins to embark on the journey with him. What followed were three weeks of travel, adventure, discovery and of course, great musical exchanges as the Kiwi duo mixed it up with international jazz musicians, adding players to the band in each of the cities they played.
Mark Lockett is an experienced drummer, composer and educator who has studied and performed with some of the finest jazz musicians on the jazz scene today.
He started on drums at the age of 10 and by the age of 17 was playing professionally. He graduated from Massey University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in jazz performance and shortly afterwards relocated to the vibrant jazz scene in Melbourne Australia. Between then and relocating back to Wellington in 2016, Mark divided his time between those cities and New York, always studying, recording and performing.
Since 2016 he has been a stalwart of the Wellington scene, establishing The Wellington Jazz Co-operative (WJC) which is a not-for-profit initiative that presents concerts of mostly original new music and hosts weekly jazz jam sessions.
