Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2016 Summer Sessions

Overview

This January, the sun is shining and music is in the air — with the latter courtesy of the team at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Now, technically, this year's festival isn't set to take place until June. But to tide you over until then, they've programmed five unique summer sessions, featuring an eclectic mix of musicians from around the world.

The sessions begin on the evening of Saturday, January 9 at the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, with a performance by the Vince Jones Quartet. Next up is improvised jazz trio Swooping Duck in Shebeen's Bandroom on Thursday, January 14, before the program heads back to Bennetts for a night with trailblazing Ethiopian jazz performer Hailu Mergia on Friday January 15.

A group of local musicians will pay tribute to recently deceased Australian saxophonist David Ades on Saturday, January 16, before the program concludes with an evening of collaboration between Japanese duo Kaze and French collective Muzzix on Sunday, January 17.

Starting times vary. For more information on the summer sessions, visit melbournejazz.com.

Image: Kaz Harada.