![IN TUNE: Norm Gray will perform some classic jazz songs from Broadway and Hollywood productions on June 17. Picture: NONI HYETT IN TUNE: Norm Gray will perform some classic jazz songs from Broadway and Hollywood productions on June 17. Picture: NONI HYETT](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/dNmjTCUWGCi8W4CsChEdGZ/5c2ae829-7e01-4540-af96-b659c7586d7c.jpg/r0_218_4256_2611_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A TRIBUTE to the great jazz songs featured in Broadway and Hollywood musicals will feature at the Engine Room in June.
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Bendigo jazz musician Norm Gray will sing with Ballarat vocalist Paige Duggan as well as a host of regional musicians at the show Jazz meets Broadway on June 17.
The 90-minute concert is something Gray and fellow musician Simon Wigney have been thinking about since 2013.
“After a concert called American Songbook in 2013 at the Bendigo Bank Theatre, Simon suggested we do another one,” Gray said.
“So we picked all the great jazz tunes from Broadway shows and movies and decided to to do that.
“There’s not a lot of jazz in Bendigo. We used to have a good jazz scene 10 years back but not anymore.”
Gray and Wigney had a tough time picking the set list but are excited to show audiences some great songs.
“Simon and I have played together for 30 years, mostly in a band called Loose Goose Jazz,” Gray said.
“There’s not much work for jazz groups now, so we said ‘what about duet work?’ It’s a bit daunting but we have been enjoying it and getting good reviews.”
Gray said he wanted the show to appeal to people who like good music.
“We want to have songs that appeal to people or that they remember from their childhood,” Gray said.
“I like to sing songs that have meaning. A lot of great jazz songs were written through war years and have meaning for people.
“They not only well-written songs but written by great songwriters. There’s not many truly great songwriters these days. Popular music today is not very chromatic, jazz needs people to be quite skilled to do it.”
When asked what his favourite song in the Jazz Meets Broadway concert is, Gray struggled to pick just one.
“I think my favourite one in this show would be a song called Everything I Love from a 1941 musical called Let Face It,” he said.
“It has great words and a nice meaning. But it also depends on who I’m playing with. Some musicians treat songs differently.”
The show will also be a pre-cursor to the Castlemaine Jazz Festival which runs from June 9 to 11.
“We want to feature what the region can offer jazz wise,” Gray said.
“Hopefully from this show and the Castlemaine Jazz Festival, we can promote jazz in Bendigo and build upon it.”
Jazz Meets Broadway is on June 17 at the Engine Room ion View Street, Bendigo.
Log on to www.thecapital.com.au/Whats_On/Jazz_Meets_Broadway for more details or to book tickets.