Dazzling jazz pianist, composer and producer Dan Costa is bringing his quartet to Whakatāne for a night of musical entertainment.

In partnership with Chamber Music New Zealand, Music Whakatāne presents the Dan Costa Quartet on Wednesday, November 13 at 7.30pm at the reception lounge in Whakatāne War Memorial Hall.

UK-born pianist Costa has put together a band of top-tier New Zealand musicians to showcase his original compositions and Latin-inflected jazz piano style. Blending philosophical concepts, modern jazz colours, and world music influences, he brings his innovative music to New Zealand audiences performing alongside some of the finest jazz musicians in the country.

Featuring original compositions from his latest album, Beams, lead lines will be performed by Dunedin Jazz Club director Bill Martin on tenor saxophone; backed by Tūī Award winner Umar Zakaria on double bass and Carl Woodward on drums.

Warner Haldane, from Music Whakatane, said: “If you missed out on this October’s Wellington Jazz Festival, you can hear top-quality jazz right here in Whakatāne with the Dan Costa Quartet.”

Praised for his melodic sensibility by DownBeat Magazine, Costa was trained as a classical pianist in France, studied jazz and contemporary piano styles at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, and Latin music at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo in Portugal.

He released his first album, Suite Três Rios, in 2016, considered one of the best albums of the year by DownBeat Magazine.

His second album, Skyness, was deemed “rare and luxurious” by All About Jazz, while Live in California, his solo piano album released in 2020 was praised for “profound expression” by Jazziz Magazine.

Bill Martin is a jazz saxophonist, pianist and composer based in Dunedin. As the director of the Dunedin Jazz Club, he has performed concerts with the Nick Granville Quartet and Jesse Kokaua Quartet, as well as leading bands paying tribute to Wayne Shorter and Tadd Dameron at Hanover Hall.

As a pianist, he is the band leader of the Bill Martin Trio and Bill Martin Septet and has released original albums under these titles. He holds several long-term residencies in Dunedin, including the monthly jazz sessions at the Indigo Room and weekly sessions at the Inch Bar where he plays tenor. On the big band scene he is musical director of the Dunedin Youth Jazz Orchestra and often guests as lead tenor for the Dunedin City Jazz Orchestra.

Martin has played at jazz festivals around New Zealand, including the Wellington, National, Queenstown, and Harbour Street Jazz Festivals, performing with luminaries such as Michael Gordon, Jake Baxendale, Geoff Culverwell, Gwyn Reynolds, Nick Tipping, Michael Storey, Nick Cornish, Roger Manins, and Reuben Bradley.

Umar Zakaria is a New Zealand bassist and composer whose music unites diverse traditions that stretch across cultural boundaries. A student of legendary jazz bassists Cecil McBee, Lynn Seaton, and Paul Dyne, he was one of three bassists selected worldwide to participate in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead programme for performer-composers at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Zakaria’s orchestral scores were recorded for the NZSO/Todd Corporation Young Composer Awards in 2008 and 2010 and were performed by the NZSO and Royal New Zealand Ballet in a collaborative concert in 2012.

Influenced by the musical traditions of his Malay heritage, Zakaria’s innovative bass playing was featured on the album Gelombunk by Malay percussion virtuoso Riduan Zalani in 2018.

In 2018, he was named Best Jazz Artist by Recorded Music New Zealand and he was recently appointed as the 2023 Jazz Composer-in-Residence at the New Zealand School of Music-Te Kōkī.

Carl Woodward is a Dunedin-based session drummer who grew up in Liverpool and completed his musical training in the UK. He toured Europe for a decade in blues ensembles before settling in New Zealand to focus more on music education and a career in jazz drumming. He is a member of the Bill Martin Septet and was recorded on the Over to You album.

Woodward is the “go to” drummer at the Dunedin Jazz Club and has performed with Dan Costa, Nick Tipping, Jake Baxendale, Geoff Culverwell, Michael Gordon, Nick Cornish, and Edwina Thorne.

He works as the drum tutor in the University of Otago’s Contemporary Music programme.

Ticket giveaway

The Beacon is giving away a double pass to the Dan Costa Quartet – at the War Memorial Hall on November 13. Email [email protected]with Dan Costa Quartet in the message field to be in with a chance to win. Entries close Wednesday, November 6 at 5pm.

What: Dan Costa Quartet

When: 7.30pm, Wednesday, November 13

Where: Reception lounge, Whakatāne War Memorial Hall

Tickets: Adults $35, under-18 $5. $5 per ticket surcharge on door sales. Get tickets at The Good Life, 160 The Strand or through www.trybooking.com/nz/UID.