Rain has finally arrived in the Bay, which is alright with me; just as long as it clears up for next week.

It is, of course, nearly Easter, and the only religious festival to feature both bunny rabbits and chocolate eggs (yes, could someone please explain the exact religious significance of those icons one more time...) is rapidly approaching. About time too.



This year Easter is late. Being an occasion built around a full moon – which sounds a bit Pagan to me – it tends to bob around within a month's worth of possibilities, and this year it's about as late a date as is possible. Unusually, it's even after the end of daylight saving. Which, for organisers of a festival, is always a worry: the later in the year the more chance of rain.

And, let's face it, many of the Jazz Festival events not taking place in the secure warmth of Baycourt are rather rain-dependant. That's just the way it is. And we don't want a repeat of the astonishingly ironic news out of England this morning, that a screening of Russell Crowe's biblical epic ‘Noah' was cancelled – due to flooding. It's the sort of story weary journalists live for but not something that needs to be re-enacted at the Historic Village.

Actually, last weekend I convened a high-powered panel, officially comprising Musicians and Other People Who Like To Drink Red Wine, and we discussed the Jazz Festival at great length. It was a smart group and there were many intelligent contributions along the lines of 'where's the wine?”, 'can someone open another bottle of wine”, and, more directly relevant, 'would this wine go well with the Jazz Festival?”.

After a while we abandoned our deliberations and went to a website someone had found which tells you what country song was Number One on the day of your birth. His was Jerry Reed's ‘She Got The Goldmine (I Got The Shaft)' – don't country songs just have the best titles? Mine was ‘Wings Of A Dove' by Ferlin Husky, whom I've never heard of. But what an impressive name he(?) has, a name so screamingly country that
it probably comes with a free tumbleweed.

(You can do this yourself: just pop along to www.thisdayincountrymusic.com/birthdayno1.)

Anyway, getting back to jazzier matters, we all agreed that it'll rain this week and then be fine for Easter. So that's all good.

What we were checking out was the programme for the Downtown Carnival and Historic Village, the bits of the festival attended by the most people. The line-ups for each have recently been posted on the festival website and they look like a bunch of fun – there is a pile of music and a lot of interesting high-quality acts.

There are also some fascinating specialist events such as the renamed ‘House of Hammond' at the Village, which will, on the Sunday and Monday of Easter, feature Hammond organ virtuoso Alan Brown with his trio along with a documentary about the wonderful instrument.

Unfortunately, the slight problem I see for anyone except specialists is that there's absolutely no information on the festival website (which is at www.jazz.org.nz) about what any of the bands actually do. So, given that 95 per cent of the population couldn't identify a single jazz band in New Zealand, it could all be a bit hit or miss for punters.

It's all very well with a band such as the Jazz Guitar Trio. Good sensible, this-is-what-we-do name. But what to make of the other two bands at the village church on Sunday: Radius and Offshoot? Or someone like the BBC (Bay Blues Company) who play jazz, not blues?

Anyway, go online and have a look yourself. For the record, on the jazz front I'd try and check out the Frank Gibson Quartet, Spiral, the Trudy Lile Quartet, Adams and Gavin, The John Scofield Project, and the Cho Chaperon Quartet. Blues-wise, try Tom Rodwell, and The Mike Garner Band with (harmonica wiz) Neil Billington.

Most importantly though, check out the Bay's finest: The BBC, Marg Harper, the Aaron Saxon Trio, Shejus Greedy, Kokomo, Brilleaux, Alicesea and more.

There's a pile of great stuff – take a punt, even if you don't know exactly what it is.

Watusi@thesun.co.nz