I was down in Gisborne last weekend at the Harbour the Beat Jazz Blues & Roots Festival, which was a reminder that, however much we take Tauranga bands for granted here, our musicians are held in high esteem elsewhere.

It was a fantastic little festival actually – two days of top class sounds in four venues all within a couple of hundred yards of each other.

Music included Paul Ubana Jones, jazz singer Caitlin Smith, Auckland Americana duo Tattletale Saints (who used to go under the name Her Make Believe Band), Darcy Perry, Rotorua's Mike Garner, and Wellington's Darren Watson Band, who are doing great things at the moment, about to head over to Australia for their second festival this year.

And then there was the Tauranga contingent: Brilleaux, Kokomo and Grant Haua, all of whom drew big crowds of appreciative punters. What was equally striking is that the two international guests, Californian Diana Harris – who was backed by Brilleaux – and Chicago gospel soul singer Sister Jacqui Baldwin – who sang with Darcy – are both currently living in the Bay.

Diana has been based here for the past couple of months, doing various gigs with local musicians backing her, while Sister Jacqui is living at the Mount and hoping to get New Zealand residency. Also on-stage with Sister Jacqui (and at one point leading a dynamite soul set during the festival's big jam session) was Porina McLeod, another of the Bay's finest voices.

It was a nice to be reminded of the respect with which music from here is treated round the country. You find the same thing at the big annual Bay of Islands Jazz & Blues Festival where, in addition to those bands who were in Gisborne, you might also find Miles Ahead, Rob Smith's band The BBC, and even Woody Woodhouse. There's a lot of music here that we shouldn't underestimate.

And there's a lot of stuff coming up over the next week or so that might have slipped kinda under the radar with many people focused on bigger events.

If you want to get away from it all over Easter yet still catch some music, you could do worse than take a trip towards Katikati and on the way – on the corner of Lockington Rd and SH2 – is Browny's Brewery, Café & Motorcycle Museum. I must confess I hadn't been there till recently when they started regular Sunday sessions focusing on local singer/songwriters. It is actually rather cool; they're friendly people and do good food.

Over Easter weekend they are having a couple of days of music: On the Saturday afternoon you can catch John Michaelz, English-born singer Jessica Ross, who is just recording her first album, and Dylan Israel. On the Monday it's John again, along with Kelsi Bullot, who has also been recording recently, and Clark Reid, a gravel-voiced singer with country leanings who was up being filmed at Soundtree last week and can be seen on the latest episode of their webcast of Bay music at www.soundtreelive. There's no cover charge at Browny's, with music running from 2-5pm each day.
Shihad are also here at Easter of course, at Brewer's Bar, but if you enjoy acoustic music then there's a veritable feast of it next week.

First up, American singer Kristina Olsen is coming to the Historic Village Hall on Wednesday 11 courtesy of the Tauranga Acoustic Music Club. Kristina has been here before (though not for a while) and is really worth seeing, a superb multi-instrumentalist (great slide guitarist!), terrific songwriter and compelling singer. Tickets are $20.

The following night (Thursday 12), gypsy jazz group Bonjour Swing launch their new album, The Flame, at Le Chat Noire, the very groovy French café in Greerton. They'll kick off at around 7.30pm, play a few songs from the album and then a jam session is likely to ensue. Everyone's welcome.

And then, on Friday 13, Katikati Folk Club are hosting Sanders Alley Kahn, the dynamic trio who headlined the recent Acoustic Music Festival. Their music ventures everywhere from the Celtic heartland to the Mississippi Delta and all are consummate instrumentalists and great singers.

The concert takes place at the Katikati Bowling Club, 7.30pm. Tickets are $20.