Presenter: Dr Aleisha Ward
Title: Saxophones sobbed out jazz: New Zealand's first jazz recording
Abstract: In December 1930, New Zealand’s first locally produced jazz recording was captured not on record, but on film. Featuring Epi Shalfoon and His Melody Boys performing a jazz arrangement of the Māori song He Puru Taitama, the one-minute sound-on-film recording became legendary within New Zealand’s jazz community after being considered lost for decades. This session explores the fascinating story behind the recording, the court case surrounding the film, and what this rare piece of footage reveals about the emergence of jazz, entertainment, and popular culture in New Zealand during the early twentieth century.
Date:
This World of Music Workshop will run on Wednesday 17th June from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm and include a tea / coffee break.
About the expert
Dr Aleisha Ward
Dr Aleisha Ward is an award-winning writer, jazz historian, and lecturer in music history. She was the 2017 Douglas Lilburn Research Fellow and a recipient of the 2018 Ministry of Culture and Heritage New Zealand History Research Trust Award for her work on the Jazz Age in New Zealand. She is one of the first graduates of the Bachelor of Music (Jazz Performance) at the University of Auckland, holds a Masters of Arts degree in Jazz History and Research from Rutgers University, and a PhD in Music from the University of Auckland where she researched jazz in New Zealand 1920-1955.
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