Saturday, 27th August 2022

Live at The Village, a much anticipated all-day music festival, will take place in Springwood, The Blue Mountains on Saturday, 27^th August.

The festival includes jazz, folk, world and Bluegrass music and dance performances presented in partnership with the Blue Mountains’ premier destination for the performing arts, The Blue Mountains Theatre.

The program includes acclaimed and world-class Australian artists, many live locally in the Blue Mountains – jazz icon, Sandy Evans, the ARIA-nominated Zela Margossian Quintet, dual-ARIA-winning world music fusionists – the Mara! Big Band, and Bluegrass darlings The Morrisons.

“This Festival program is an opportunity to be part of some truly exceptional musical moments, right here in Springwood” says Festival Artistic Director Gary Daley.

“This event is the realisation of a long-held ambition: bringing together a series of master musicians, of diverse and compelling influences. We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity, to bring so many artists of an exceptional calibre to our local community”.

The program features four main concerts in the theatre which has been hailed by audience and performers alike as one of the finest acoustic venues in the wider Sydney region. Studio 1 is the more intimate space hosting three cameo concerts.

Devi Mamak, Caravan Dance Company and Caravan Band

Concerts will alternate between the two venues throughout the day, commencing at 1pm with Devi Mamak’s Caravan Band and Dance Company performing original classical, jazz and world fusion compositions and arrangements which will be mirrored in the movements of dance troupe Caravan Dance Company (formerly Ghawazi Caravan). This unique show finally combines local artist Devi Mamak’s 25-year dual careers as composer, pianist and bandleader as well as world-renowned dance and fusion belly dance troupe director.

At 2pm, the theatre program commences with a Welcome to Country from Gundungurra elder David King. The inimitable James Valentine as MC will introduce Bluegrass darlings The Morrisons who take the stage to perform a set of their trademark lightning instrumentals and sublime harmony vocals.

At 3pm in the Studio pioneering improvisers Keyna Wilkins and Shane Carpini will explore stream-of-consciousness improvisations inspired by contemporary human rights issues and more.

The Mara! Big Band, a 12-piece version of dual ARIA winning Mara! Band, take the theatre stage at 4pm to perform their new work Zashto?, setting poetry by Australian migrant and refugee poets to music from five composers and band members, telling stories of displacement, hope, longing, despair and resignation, in search of a dream. Their ‘killer line-up’ includes jazz and world music royalty – Lloyd Swanton, Sandy Evans, Paul Cutlan, Andrew Robson, James Greening, Gary Daley, Sam Golding, Jess Ciampa, Llew & Mara Kiek with Balkan vocal specialists Jarnie Birmingham and Jenny Dornan.

At 5pm, improvisers Simon Barker and Bronwyn Kirkpatrick will combine to explore the ancient and beguiling sounds of the Japanese Shakuhachi and Korean drumming in the intimate setting of Studio 1, taking you on an exotic and unforgettable musical journey.

In the theatre at 6pm, ARIA nominated Zela Margossian Quintet will perform original works in ethno-jazz, carrying influences from Armenian music that have been described as “…freshly minted contemporary jazz bursting with panache…” .

After a much-needed dinner break, a great opportunity for festival goers to sample local restaurants, patrons can settle back for the final concert on the festival program – Sandy Evans Quintet: Ahimsa Meditations on Gandhi. Created and directed by internationally renowned composer and saxophonist Sandy Evans, 150 years after Gandhi’s birth: Ahimsa fuses jazz, Hindustani and Carnatic chant with contemporary electronic sounds. Each of the movements is a musical response to a fundamental idea from Gandhi’s writings on Ahimsa (non-violence), translated from Sanskrit by Chris Whiteman and Vasudevacharya, and sung by the charismatic Sarangen Sriranganathan.

Festival Schedule:

1:00pm – Caravan Dance Company and Caravan Band

2:00pm – The Morrisons

3:00pm – Keyna Wilkins & Shane Carpini

4:00pm – Mara! Big Band: Zashto?

5:00pm – Simon Barker and Bronwyn Kirkpatrick

6:00pm – Zela Margossian Quintet

8:30pm – Sandy Evans Quintet – Ahimsa: Meditations on Ghandi

In Partnership with:

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