UNWIND Jazz Trio @ Porridge What's On

Description

UNWIND jazz trio features Hayden Chisolm on alto sax with Paul Dyne on bass and Norman Meehan on electric piano.  Free Entry

Hayden Chisholm and Unwind: 2024 New Zealand Tour

Hayden Chisholm, originally from Taranaki, has made his home in Europe for 30 years. Since moving to Germany in 1993 to study at the Cologne College of Music, he has performed in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and of course—when the chance arises—around Aotearoa. That opportunity has arisen again this summer when he will perform around New Zealand with his local group Unwind. Joined by sympathetic New Zealand musicians Paul Dyne (bassist with Malcolm McNeill, Rodger Fox, Sustenance) and pianist/composer Norman Meehan, Hayden will be performing original music that might know about jazz, but also dances with Indian raga, chamber music, and folk traditions.

Although the pandemic kept him close to his home in Belgrade where he lives with his family, he has resumed active touring in the past couple of years to consolidate his reputation as one of the most individual and outstanding voices on his instrument worldwide. He has gathered a collection of important prizes and accolades and been active as a producer and festival director, working hard to promoting young talent throughout Europe. His yearly masterclasses in Greece and Germany have come to attract some the world’s best young saxophone talents from across the globe. 

While Hayden may have lived away from Aotearoa for a long while, he still feels his music is connected to the country. He said ‘A good half of my life I have been based in Europe, but I still feel very much like a New Zealander. You carry that with you wherever you go. I think the strongest underlying current you take with you, as a New Zealander, is the feeling of the land you get growing up here: being bare-foot on the grass; the colours and the smells. That connection to the land is a very powerful thing, and while that will not necessarily pull you back here, it will define you in a strong way.’