Ella & Louis

Ella and Louis
Michael Taylor and Ella Dunbar-Wilcox present an evening of the music of Ella and Louis at Hawke's Bay Jazz Club. The great recordings from the 50s had an all-star line up of Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Buddy Rich and Herb Ellis and featured such songs as They Can’t Take That Away from Me, Can’t We Be Friends, Stompin at the Savoy, and Moonlight in Vermont among so many others. Songs will also be presented from Louis' and Ella’s extensive catalogue.

Michael Taylor trumpet, vocals
Michael Taylor is an accomplished musician who has travelled the world performing and has recorded extensively. He returned to New Zealand in 2017 after nine years in New York, where in 2009 he gained his Masters in Music from Manhattan School of Music with scholarships from the Manhattan School, AMP, Creative New Zealand and Dame Malvina Major. Mike has performed with Bobby Sanabria, The Tommy Igoe Birdland Big Band, Candido Camero, Taj Mahal, Matt Penman, Dame Malvina Major, The Roger Fox Big Band, among many others. He was the trumpet player for the Black Seeds for 2 years prior to moving to New York. Records that he has played on have been nominated for a Latin-Jazz Grammy in the USA, gone platinum in New Zealand, and twice won the Tui award for ‘Best Jazz Album of the Year’. In New York, Mike played in Off-Broadway shows and he has toured the USA with ‘In the Mood Live’. Mike is currently an artist teacher at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, where he teaches Jazz Trumpet, combos and the Latin Ensemble. Recently, Mike composed and organised an original fanfare for Wellington’s CubaDupa festival that saw 57 trumpet players of all levels come together to play. Mike performs regularly around New Zealand with various groups including The Wellington City Shake-'Em-On-Downers, The Richter City Rebels and his own Quintet and Sextet.

Mike’s recent obsession with Louis Armstrong was kindled in part by a re-visit to Satch’s solo’s that Jon Faddis encouraged him to learn along with the passing of Mike’s first trumpet teacher, Warren Orr, a Taranaki Jazz icon who started the Jazz Club in Taranaki and was an avid Louis fan.

Ella Dunbar-Wilcox vocals, piano
In 2019, Ella Dunbar-Wilcox completed a BMus majoring in jazz performance from the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University of Wellington, studying both voice and piano. This year she is studying for a BMus with Honours. She has been the pianist and vocalist for the New Zealand Youth Jazz Orchestra and has been the vocalist for the New Zealand School of Music Big Band. In 2019, Ella was chosen to give an Emerging Artist concert in both Auckland and Wellington. She also gigs around Wellington with various groups including her own.

Alexander Boulton, guitar and banjo

Alistair Isdale, double bass

Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa, drums

Cash bar and meals available.

The Club Night is subject to being in Covid-19 Alert Level 1. If we're in Alert Level 2 the Club Night is cancelled.

All welcome.