From October 14–23, Melbourne International Jazz Festival will return with an explosive ten-day city-wide celebration of the diversity and dynamism of jazz. Featuring an incredible mix of over 400 artists—from both home and abroad—the 2022 Festival will see Melbourne reverberating with rhythm, and bursting to life with more than 85 performances and events across the city.
From exclusive international performances from a five-time Grammy Award winner to ten electric club nights featuring the world’s very best jazz exponents; family-friendly collaborations, world premiere commissions from across the country, and the festival’s biggest-ever event; this is your chance to experience a season of jazz like no other this spring.
Once again, MIJF is getting loud and local, with jazz out west, north and south. Close Encounters is your chance to get up-close and personal with your favourite artists, and it wouldn’t be the Melbourne International Jazz Festival without our inimitable Late Night Jams. Helmed by almighty local legends The Rookies, these spontaneous, all-improvised and unrepeatable sessions are the beating heart of ten epic nights of entertainment.
Tickets are now on sale—so head to our website and explore the whole program, or read on to explore some of the 2022 MIJF highlights. And don’t forget to join MIJF’s Jazz Club to make the most of your Festival experience—and get 10% off most Festival performances and events!
LALAH HATHAWAY
Over two incredible nights at Hamer Hall, in partnership with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, MIJF will present living legend of R&B, soul and jazz: 5-time Grammy Award winner, Lalah Hathaway performing in Australia for the very first time.
Known for her powerful vocals and mesmerising range, Hathaway has shared the stage with a host of music royalty including Prince, Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock and collaborated with modern heavyweights Pharrell Williams, Dr. Dre, Snarky Puppy, Robert Glasper and Esperanza Spalding. The ‘First Daughter of Soul’ and the MSO will honour the legacy and work of her illustrious father—singer, arranger, composer and soul music legend, Donny Hathaway.
USE PRE-SALE CODE “HATHAWAY” WHEN BOOKING BELOW
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AL DI MEOLA
Sitting firmly among the greatest guitarists of our time, Al Di Meola comes to Melbourne with a celebrated international career spanning almost five decades and numerous Grammy awards under his belt. A pioneer of blending jazz with musical styles from around the world, Di Meola’s dazzling technique on both acoustic and electric guitars has afforded him regal status among the hordes of fretboard fanatics who regularly flock to his concerts. Catch him at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
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MONONEON
In his only Australian performance, MonoNeon—one of the most revered electric bassists of his generation—brings his progressive blend of southern soul, funk, jazz and blues to 170 Russell along with his hard-hitting 4-piece band. Among the last musicians to work with Prince, the US experimentalist has been described as “the greatest electric bass player” by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers—and his extensive list of collaborators includes Bootsy Collins, NAS, Ghost-Note, John Madeski and Jacob Collier. Inspired by pioneers such as George Clinton, Prince, Victor Wooten and Anthony Jackson, MonoNeon’s characteristic funk and groundbreaking approach to the bass has put him in a category all of his own.
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MELISSA ALDANA
Internationally lauded, Grammy-nominated saxophonist Melissa Aldana is something of a trailblazer—she is both the first South American and the first female instrumentalist to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone competition. Bringing to Melbourne her remarkable quartet for three intimate jazz club sessions, Aldana will be performing music from her acclaimed debut Blue Note album, 12 Stars—an album that showcases the adventurousness and technical prowess of this incredible quartet.
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DISRUPTION! THE VOICE OF DRUMS
A co-production with the Melbourne Recital Centre, Disruption! The Voice of Drums explores the primal power of the drum; as a force for disruption and protest, ceremony and healing, and creating ecstatic and transcendental experiences. Composer-saxophonist Jeremy Rose is joined by two virtuoso drummers, Simon Barker and Chloe Kim, alongside the Earshift Orchestra—and powerful images by video artists Rachel Peachey and Paul Mosig—to present a thrilling tribute to the timeless, visceral and disruptive power of the drum.
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