About the Festival
2010 - CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF NOOSA JAZZ
2010 marks the 20th celebration of the Noosa Jazz Festival. After 20 years of bringing the cream of Australian Jazz talent to the beautiful resort town of Noosa Heads Queensland, the festival can now hold its head high as one of Australia’s longest running jazz festivals.
The list of performers who have electrified the venues of Noosa over the years is impressive. Greats like Bob Barnard, James Morrison, George Golla and Vince Jones are just a few of the big names who have wowed audiences in one of Australia’s most desirable beach resorts.
Noosa is blessed with pristine beaches, beautiful national parkland and a magnificent river, but when the jazz festival comes to town, jazz lovers can enjoy one of the most unique holidays imaginable. Because Noosa offers Jazz lovers a magical environment complimented by cool music played overlooking the river and beach all day long.
The festival was started by Melbourne jazz icon Frank Johnson, together with Richard Stevens, who understood that in the competitive Tourism world, the hotels and restaurants would benefit from a multiple day celebration of Jazz. Created to celebrate the start of Spring, the Noosa Jazz Festival plays an important role in attracting tourists to the region who are looking for an escape from the winter climate.
From humble beginnings of one restaurant, the festival today boasts over 90 performances in multiple venues on the infamous Hastings Street strip, a large purpose built jazz stage in Noosa Woods overlooking the beautiful Noosa River, Bicentennial Hall, which is the home of the Noosa Jazz Club and venues all the way to Noosaville come alive to the great sound of jazz music every year.
Today, the festival has grown from a community event to a sophisticated celebration of jazz which is a respected festival attracting thousand’s of jazz lovers to South East Queensland.
In recent years, performances from Cat Empire, Paul Grabowsky, Katie Noonan and the kings and queens of traditional jazz like The Syncopators, Peter Gaudion and George Washingmachine amongst many great performers, have given the Noosa Jazz Festival a new lease of life. The organisers have big plans for the future and are now investing in attracting international performers to the festival.
To celebrate 20 years of Noosa Jazz we are bringing contemporary trio The Bad Plus to the festival. They will be joined by the legendary Warren Vache who has also agreed to join jazz fans at a legends luncheon where they can hear stories from the life and times of Warren and his amazing stellar career in jazz.
By the time acts like the Paul Grabowsky trio who have invited Scott Tinkler to perform with them, the Phil Slater Quartet and the Idea of North take the stage, the audience who flock to Noosa will know that the Noosa Jazz Festival is alive and well with a big future ahead of it.
Join Jazz lovers from all over Australia at the Noosa Jazz Festival from the 2nd to the 5th September for outdoor lunches on Hastings Street to the magnificent river side stage in Noosa Woods and you’ll be rewarded with some of the best jazz on the planet.
See you in Noosa in Spring!