Mangawhai Soul to raise spirits for the festive season

JULIA WADE

A cosmopolitan mixture of internationally-acclaimed musicians will be bringing their own style of Christmas soul to Mangawhai in a weekend packed full of uplifting rhythm and beats and sublime jazz.

Taking to the stage for two concerts at Mangwhai Activity Zone (MAZ), ‘The Nanny Assis & Maggie Gould Band’ – aka Brazilian musician Assis, kiwi jazz songstress Gould, fellow kiwi’s jazz pianist Kevin Field, bass player Alex Griffith, Canadian master drummer Ron Samson along with English-born kiwi resident, guitarist Paul Ubana Jones – will entertain locals with their unique blend of jazz, bossa nova, rock and blues, at their Mangawhai Soul 2020 event on December 12.

The following day the band will also be part of the line-up for the ‘Christmas Concert and Carols’ bringing the night to a close with an hour of jazz.

The show will differ from the two Mangawhai performances the band gave last year, promising to be ‘a bit louder, more of a party-style concert’ with audience participation, singing along to known songs and of course lots of dancing, Assis says.

“Paul Ubana Jones is well-known here, he’s funky-rocky and we’ll mix it up… it will include a repertoire of a lot of music from our albums, a blend of Brazilian jazz with funky new arrangements and also songs that people will know,” he says. “Concerts are not about how good you perform on stage or how amazing you can play an instrument, performing is about making people relate to the music, making them happy… about lifting people up.”

Assis and Gould have been musical collaborators for six years, performing together around the globe, and between them they form an impressive resume. Nanny [Na-ne] Assis, is a world-renowned songwriter, vocalist and percussionist who has performed with the likes of Paul Simon, Kenny Baron and John Patitucci, and was awarded the lifetime achievement for his Brazilian Jazz in 2017.

Gould’s sultry vocals have also taken her around the world, from jazz festivals in Rome, Venice, Samoa, Tauranga, to New York and London clubs, as well as performances with legends such as Dionne Warwick and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. As an award-winning photojournalist, Gould also has 20 years’ experience capturing events and people on film including Queen Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela, Dame Whina Coper, Audrey Hepburn and the Dalai Lama as well as BB King, Paul and Linda McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone and Johnny Cash.

With MAZ’s natural ‘acoustically beautiful’ amphitheatre, and plenty of space for people to picnic, buy food from local food carts or dine at supplied chairs and tables, the BYO concert is going to be ‘a fabulous event for Mangawhai’ Gould says.

“All the band members are top-of-their-field, Nanny has won many life-time achievement awards and he’s also a visual artist so his drum and congo solos are amazing,” she says. “This year’s event may be relatively small as we couldn’t get some of our international stars here this year due to Covid, but next year when we have a budget, we will be encouraging other local bands to join in. We see this event growing

annually into an even more amazing act… and possibly marking Mangawhai as a real musical-art destination.”

§ Mangawhai Soul 2020, December 12. See advert this page for details.

Bringing music to the people; Maggie, Nanny and the band performing at Bennetts cafe last December. This year’s concert promises to be ‘a bit louder, more of a party-style concert’. PHOTO/FILE