Return to the Foreign Tours Page
 |
2001 - Jazzin' with the Kiwis:
HOTS tour New Zealand By: Barbara Nielsen |
The New HOTS Jazz Orchestra with some of its friends, 23 in all, enjoyed 17 wonderful days in New Zealand, 9-25 February, 2001. We flew from Dulles to Los Angeles, then on to Auckland - nearly a 24-hour trip. The tour took us to several cities on the North Island.
Seven vans were rented, one to haul the band equipment and the other vans to transport the members from city to city, sightseeing along the way. Members of the group took turns driving the vans and each van chose what they wanted to see and do en route.
Brett Lowe and his New Internationals were our hosts in Auckland. They,
like HOTS, are members of the International Society Of 1920s Orchestras (ISTO).
About two years earlier, Brett had e-mailed HOTS asking to exchange musical
arrangements. HOTS said, "Sure, but how about setting up a visit?"
| Over the the next two years the orchestras exchanged charts and one
day, Brett wrote to Napier's Art Deco Festival offering to play -- and
mentioned that HOTS would like to visit, too. Within a matter of weeks,
both bands had confirmed. Jim Jones of Yester tunes put HOTS in touch
with Barbara Hoffmann, his travel agent, who arranged the airfare,
hotels, rental vans, and several sightseeing tours. Having a firm date to play in Napier allowed HOTS to propose specific dates in other cities. HOTS got gigs at Rotorua's annual jazz festival and one-niters with jazz or swing dance clubs in Auckland, Tauranga, Taupo, and Wellington. Fourteen gigs in fourteen days -- all arranged via the internet! |
|
|
Since not all HOTS regular members could make the trip, the Orchestra asked Brett Lowe to accompany them on the tour and play piano when Brett's band was not also performing. Discovering that another ISTO band leader would be in New Zealand at the same time playing tuba for the New Internationals, HOTS asked Greg Sumner of Victoria, BC's Belvedere Broadcasters to accompany us and play Banjo. Brett sang and demonstrated how to do a mean Charleston, and Greg Sumner turned out to be a fine singer and multi-instrumentalist. New International's "12th Man" Arthur Finch also sat in on trombone. Arthur was HOTS' "man Friday" - our guide helping us navigate the cities and our logistics troubleshooter. |
|
|
The first night in Auckland we attended a performance
by other fellow ISTO members, the 1932 Jazz Orchestra -
a top-quality hot dance orchestra playing for
enthusiastic ballroom dancers. New Zealanders are
especially fortunate to have well-supported Returned
Services Association (RSA) or Cosmopolitan
(workingmen's) Clubs with facilities for dining and
dancing in each town and city. The next morning was overcast. Some tour members visited the War Memorial Museum (world's largest Polynesian/Maori natural history collection), the America Cup Village, and Kelly Tarleton's Antarctic Center and Underwater World. Others went "canyoneering" -- rappelling in wet suits down ice-cold waterfalls and swimming at black sand Piha Beach. |
| The second night HOTS played for the Auckland Jazz & Blues Society at a local nightclub, the Gables. We discovered that we had left our music stand bases at the airport, but were able to borrow sufficient stands to carry on. The following day we recovered out music stands, then took a ferry to Waiheke Island, a nearby artists' colony. We played in the sand on Onetangi Beach and had the rare opportunity to go to Whittaker's Music Museum to learn the history of and see various antique predecessors of the accordion and piano. |
|
That evening we listened to HOTS and Brett Lowe's New Internationals in tiny Onetangi Hall. Each band played a set, then the bands intermingled and played each other's charts. We caught the last ferry back to Auckland.
|
|
From Auckland we traveled south to Tauranga, sampling the national "L&P" lemonade soft drink and eating "Hokey Pokey" ice cream in Paeroa's dairy store, then hiking along the scenic Karangahake Gorge historic gold mine walk. After a late lunch at the Landing in Katikati -- a town noted for the murals adorning many of its buildings -- HOTS played for a Valentine's dance for the Tauranga Jazz Society. |
| Next morning, we drove inland through beautiful farm county -- hilly paddocks filled with sheep, cattle, deer, emus and ostriches. We stopped at a kiwi fruit farm and tasted yummy kiwi ice cream. Next on the agenda, we stopped to take a spin in jet boats up the Waikato River to beautiful Huka Falls before having lunch at the fresh-water prawn hatchery. That evening HOTS played a joint dance with the Taupo Jazz Orchestra. |
|
Hastings was our home for the next three nights as we enjoyed Napier's Art Deco Festival. Arriving at noon Friday, HOTS played a concert in downtown Hastings. Some drove up Te Mata Peak (the sight of first daylight for the new millennium) for a panoramic view of Hawke's Bay and there encountered a woman whose profession is painting designs on nude bodies so that the "wearers" can attend parties. None of the group accepted her services, however.
|
|
That evening we joined the costumed crowd and danced to the excellent Hawke's Bay Big Band at the outdoor band shell in Napier. Sharing a motel with the members of Brett's New Internationals in Hastings lead to a late-night jam session. If you like the 1920s era, Napier's Art Deco Festival is a dream come true. Napier is an architecturally rich city with luxury and decadence which gives it unique character. The Art Deco Festival had everything: a vast array of vintage dresses worn by the festival participants gathered from all over the world, antique cars and motorcycles galore, a soap box derby, the elegant Great Gatsby picnic, and the sound of Dixieland jazz bands on every corner. |
|
|
Assisted by the New Zealand Navy Band, there were ceremonies to commemorate the rebuilding of Napier in Art Deco style after a tremendous earthquake and tidal wave leveled the town in 1931 and stranded the New Zealand Navy ship "Veronica" when Hawke's Bay's bottom rose from the sea. HOTS braved heavy rain and paraded twice on Saturday through downtown Napier -- complete with a "second line" sporting Potomac River Jazz Club umbrellas(!) - once for the antique cars, then again for the costume contest. |
Between parades HOTS jammed with other Dixieland Bands playing along the route. HOTS' Grand Marshals Jamie Phares and Keith Negrin were singled out for their excellent costumes. The costume contest winner for the third year was a lady lawyer from Ohio who makes her home in New Zealand. HOTS photos made the local and Wellington papers next morning. Saturday night HOTS was a big hit at a private dance party at the Cosmopolitan Club with jitterbuggers from Auckland, Wellington and Singapore.
Sunday
was
another
rainy
day, and
HOTS'
afternoon
concert
in the
band
shell
was
cancelled.
We
strolled
the
city,
visited
"Opossum
World"
(dedicated
to
wiping
out New
Zealand's
imported
population
of
forest-destroying
marsupials),
shopped
until
dark,
then
dined on
a
19-course
Indonesian
Rijstafel.
| Monday, HOTS took a well-deserved night off. En route to Masterton, we saw more beautiful countryside, purchased knitwear in Dannevirke, kayaked in the river, and stopped off to see the real live Kiwi (he wouldn't show himself) at the Mount Bruce National Wildlife Center. Some of us detoured to Castlepoint Lighthouse and climbed to the top of the hill to enjoy a breath-taking view of the Pacific Ocean. That night we dined well and luxuriated in the hotel's hot tub. |
|
|
|
Tuesday morning we visited the Wairapa vineyards, tasted excellent Kiwi wines, and passed through Victorian Featherstone before driving into Wellington and up Mount Victoria for a panoramic view of Wellington and the barely visible mountains of South Island across the straits. That evening HOTS played for the Wellington Jazz Society at their nightclub, the "Flamingo". It was the opening of the club's concert season and our dance was well-attended. |
The following day, some of us visited their parliament buildings, saw the "Beehive," the Te Papa museum, and took the funicular up to the botanical gardens, while others took a morning hike to visit a seal colony on the nearby cliffs. We caught a noontime performance at the Civic Center by an Australian high school band, and then were treated to a seafood dinner by the Wellington Jazz Club.
| That evening HOTS played Jimmy's Cafe and Bar in the newly renovated Saint James Theatre for the Wellington Swing Dance Club -- which had invited other dance clubs -- tango, salsa, ballroom, etc. The swing revival is just beginning in New Zealand and HOTS was pleased to give the local dance clubs an occasion to perform to live music. |
|
|
OTS departed early next morning for the long drive
to Rotorua via the Rangipo Desert Road past Mount Raupehu Volcano in the Tongariro National Park. En route, three of HOTS' members did a 154-foot bungee jump into the Waikato River near Taupo before continuing to Rotorua. Rotorua is the tourist center of New Zealand's North Island and center of thermal activity and Maori culture and handicrafts. That evening we participated in a Maori Hangi (luau and war dance) at the Tamaki Pa (fortified village.) Tenor Saxophonist Howard McCullers was elected HOTS' chief and lead us in the customary rubbing noses with our hosts. It was raining hard again the next day as HOTS explored the native wildlife -- petting trout -- and finally getting to observe the elusive kiwi in its special day/night reversed Kiwi House. We watched sheep sheering and working dogs in the Agro dome and explored geysers and boiling mud pools. |
| That night HOTS opened the Rotorua Jazz Festival playing at the Royal Lakeside Novotel, alternating sets with the Sulpher City Jazz Band. The party was a big success. After HOTS -- bedecked with Chicken Hats -- played "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens," the audience was ready to get into the act. HOTS launched a grand march to "Zulu Wail" and then a Conga Line that left the ballroom, paraded through another band's gig, and returned to the ballroom three tunes later. HOTS regaled their audience with a routine to "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" and a comic tango demonstration. Vocalist Jamie Phares and partner Keith Negrin danced the Lindy Hop and HOTS performed another choreographed routine to "Stompin' At The Savoy". |
|
|
|
Saturday morning HOTS played a street concert before leaving for the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. The Orchestra arrived back in Auckland just in time to play a swing dance for Michelle Stoupe's Jitterbugs. Sunday morning the sky cleared and many rode to the top of Auckland's Sky Tower (tallest in the Southern hemisphere; taller than the Eiffel Tower) for a view of the harbor. The tower features plate-glass floors which make one a bit uneasy. HOTS returned to Selwyn College for a final joint rehearsal with Brett Lowe's New Internationals and to pack up our instruments for the return trip. After a farewell lunch on the beach at Mission Bay we returned our vans to the airport and checked in for another 24-hour flight.
|
| Many thanks to Jack Elder, Director of the New HOTS Jazz Orchestra and the many people who helped make this trip a success. HOTS has been to France twice now and once to New Zealand. Jack is open to suggestions for the next adventure. Suggestions so far include New Zealand's South Island, Hong Kong, Northern Italy, and southwestern France for 2002. |
 |
Return to the Foreign Photos Page