Lounge Sweet
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Lounge Sweet is a Far North jazz quintet led by saxophonist Reese Helmondollar, with Matt Watson on trumpet & flugelhorn, Barry Wilcox on piano, John Fraser on bass and Matt Hennessy on drums. Reese is an American who lived and performed on Waiheke Island for 20 years and is now resident in Kerikeri, and Barry is a well-known Kerikeri musician, former owner of The Sound Lounge, Northland’s hippest record shop. Both are on the faculty of the Kerikeri School of Music. John is an Auckland musician now based in Ngunguru and teaching at Northtec in Whangarei, and also, with the two Matts, a member of the ‘About Time’ jazz trio. Matt Watson (also ex-Auckland) is currently playing trumpet in Whangarei’s Basin City Big Band, as well as piano in ‘About Time’. Matt Hennessy is an American based in Whangarei for many years, always in great demand by visiting musicians. The Lounge Sweet quintet plays a mix of classic Broadway standards and popular jazz numbers from soulful ballads and bluesy grooves to bright swinging tempos. Familiar songs by Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and other great popular composers alternate with jazz originals by Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and others. They also feature bossa nova and other Latin rhythms in tunes by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luis Bonfa and others. Their sound is mellow, laid-back and cruisey, with just the right amount of beat and bite.
Lounge Sweet is currently playing bi-monthly concerts at The Centre in Kerikeri, as well as performances in various Whangarei venues like Reva’s On The Waterfront, The Butter Factory Bar & Restaurant and Salut Bar & Brasserie. This past year has seen them at Jazz Festivals in Whangarei, Dargaville and the Bay Of Islands. The band is also available for weddings, parties, house concerts and other functions.
Lounge Sweet’s debut CD, ‘Stolen Moments’ was released in 2009 to popular and critical acclaim, and the band can be heard and seen online at: www.youtube.com/loungesweetjazz .
Please contact:
Reese Helmondollar at (09) 401-7083 or e-mail: dialogue@ihug.co.nz
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