$25.00 – $30.00

Fitzroy’s favourite jazz punks abscond from their regular Wednesday night haunt (the Rooks Return) for four special club sessions at the Jazz Lab. The Rookies recently crested a decade playing weekly on Brunswick St, carrying forward a long tradition in Melbourne/Naarm of “pub jazz” in the spirit of the Red Onions, Hoodangers, and Festa, and harkening back to the music’s roots in raucous social reverie. Now the band find itself seeking the less chaotic ambience of a dedicated listening space to develop material for their forthcoming fifth album Play Jazz 3. Keen to honour the rich paradoxical history of traditional and progressive creativity in jazz music, the Play Jazz series is the Rookies’ attempt to explore and reimagine works of the past for modern times, mining (and hopefully expanding) the so-called “standard” repertoire of jazz ensembles. Play Jazz 3 sees the Rookies exploring compositions from the black American spiritual jazz movement of the 1960s and 70s, as well as more recent works by lesser known artists who have contributed to the ever-expanding tapestry of socially-conscious and artistically-courageous jazz. During this residency the Rookies will explore and develop this music in real time, providing an opportunity for audiences to participate in the creative process of a band hungrily seeking connection and truth through sound.