Jesse Kokaua Quartet

Jesse Kokaua is the friendliest man on the Dunedin Jazz Scene. He plays guitar in the style of Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass and provides a beautifully warm guitar palette which enables other jazz musicians to express themselves. Originally from the Cook Islands, Kokaua grew up in Dunedin and has learned to deal with the cold weather as well as teaching himself to play guitar. These days, Kokaua is holed up most days in “The Lab”, a windowless room with multiple computers where he practices guitar and ponders fractal geometries on the fretboard.

For the second gig of the “Pop-Up” jazz series at the Dish teams up with regular collaborators from Big Jazz Apple, including Bill Martin (tenor saxophone) and Andy Lynch (bass), with the addition of Kevin Finigan on drums. The perfect sound for your chill-out session on a Friday night, Lynch’s electric bass mingles perfectly with the warm sound of Kokaua’s Gibson jazz guitar, with Martin blowing up some overtones and Finigan simmering away in the background.

Kokaua takes his inspiration from Montgomery, Pass, Burrell, Green, Benson and Hall among others, and the selection of tunes will reflect this. Compositions by many of these players, jazz standards and bossa novas championed by Stan Getz will get an airing.

Door sales also available for $20.

Times:

6pm Doors
7pm Set One
7:45 break
8pm Set Two
9pm Finish

Full Bio:

Jesse Kokaua is a senior research fellow and statistician for the Va’a 0 Tautai - Centre for Pacific Health at the University of Otago. He is often hidden away, working in a data lab 'somewhere on campus. Raising the-questions among some of his musical colleagues, is the data lab a windowless room with multiple computers where he practices guitar and ponders fractal geometries of the notes on the fretboard. That is actually four things, to which the answers are: yes; yes; no; and occasionally. Jesse is a Cook Islands guitarist and like many great Cook Islands musicians of his generation he is self-taught with no formal training. He draws from popular music that he listened to while growing up in Aotearoa and Rarotonga in the 60's-70's. As well as the many Jazz guitar greats: Montgomery, Pass, Burrell, Green, Benson, Hall, Metheny, Malone, Remler, Broome, Collins, Hall, and many others.