Auckland Jazz and Blues Club

Welcome to the home of jazz in Auckland

Birkenhead RSA, Recreation Drive, Birkenhead.

Please see EVENTS section for weekly concert details and GALLERY for weekly concert photos.

($10 members/$25 non-members - cash only - includes raffle draw for bottle of wine.)

Non-member contact registration required at time of entry.

Restaurant (downstairs) open 5 - 8.30pm. Full bar services.


The club was formed around 1992 to further the interests of jazz & blues music in Auckland.

The club has a membership of around 250 and has regular club nights every Tuesday evening at the Birkenhead RSA.

Concerts start at 7.30pm and finish at 9.30pm with a break at half time. Meals are available before the concert. Full bar service.

Ample off-street parking. Come early to secure your seating.

Each night features a different local or out of town band.. Sometimes an International star makes an appearance.

Back to All Events

Lauren Nottingham and Mark Donion

  • point chevalier RSA 1136 Great North Road Auckland, Auckland, 1022 New Zealand (map)

Lauren Nottingham Bio:
Lauren Nottingham is a vocalist from New Plymouth whose serious interest in Jazz began in 2011 after she won the award for Most Outstanding Vocalist at the inaugural New Zealand School of Music (NZSM) Jazz Festival.  This led her to study Jazz Performance at NZSM from 2012 – 2014 where she established a profile as a promising young musician. Alongside her love for jazz is her love for choral singing. Lauren was a member of the 2014–2016 New Zealand Youth Choir, who went on a European Landmark Tour last July, and won the Grand Prix in the 2016 IFAS in Pardubice Czech Republic and also all four categories it competed in. Other recent projects include featuring alongside Jamie Oehlers in UK pianist & composer Mark Donlon’s latest album release ‘Shadowbird’, and releasing an album as the lead singer of Multiplayer - a band showcasing the original works of Californian Jazz pianist & songwriter Matt Sagen. After spending the past year living in Berlin, Lauren is back home continuing to develop her own musical collaborations.

 

Mark Donlon Bio: 
Mark Donlon is a renowned British pianist, composer and educator currently based in New Zealand. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM). Recent and upcoming album releases include ‘Southern Shift’, which is an album of improvised solo piano pieces and ‘Between Moons’ - a duo album with New-York based, Grammy Award winning trumpeter Alex Sipiagin. 2017 will see the release of ’Tales From The Diaspora’ - a quintet album recorded in New York and featuring Seamus Blake, Alex Sipiagin, Boris Kozlov, Mark Donlon on piano and Donald Edwards on drums. 2016 saw the release of the debut album ‘Shadowbird’ by his Australasian group which features Australian saxophonist Jamie Oehlers.
He has performed with artists such as George Coleman, The Machito Orchestra, Maceo Parker, Dave Valentin, Dave Liebman and Kenny Wheeler to mention but a few. He moved to New Zealand in 2013 to take up the post of Head of Jazz at the New Zealand School of Music, where he teaches Jazz improvisation and Jazz piano along with being a busy performer.

 

Quotes from reviews in the UK national press:

‘a fabulously gifted pianist’ (Manchester Evening News - Alan Brownlee)

‘brilliant, focussed playing’ (The Times – Alyn Shipton)

‘Streaming up-tempo freedom, at times suggestive of the implacable precision of early Paul Bley . . . Donlon’s take on ‘My Foolish Heart’ and ‘Recorda Me’ was a revelation (The Guardian – John Fordham)’

 

Door Charge

Members and Students with ID $5.00
Non Members $15.00

Earlier Event: November 14
Hetty Kate
Later Event: November 28
Ben Wilcox and the Jelly Rolls