Postmodern Jukebox show promises energy, emotion and heart

Postmodern Jukebox will perform at the Napier Municipal Theatre on October 15. Photo / Dana Lynn Pleasant

As a trombone came flying at Aubrey Logan, her mind went in two directions; the instrument could break, or if she didn't catch it, she may never get the opportunity to film the first video with Postmodern Jukebox again.

It was perhaps an unlikely turn of events. The Seattle-raised, LA-based singer had captured the eye of Scott Bradlee and his Postmodern Jukebox - a rotating musical collective founded by the aforementioned arranger and pianist - with her Missy Elliot and Pitbull tribute, done in a jazz way.

It landed her the opportunity to perform at a little club in LA, but with the flu, she was unable to. Then came the trombone with her take on Taylor Swift's Bad Blood.

Fast forward four years, and now Logan is about to embark on her first tour to New Zealand with the group who have amassed over one billion YouTube views and 3.5 million subscribers.

"We're like the musical version of Saturday Night Live," Logan says, over the international phone line.

"This is my first tour with PMJ in about two years.

"It's a family reunion ... it is a very warm environment among everybody and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

The product of two music teachers, the 31-year-old grew up hearing everything from Beethoven to Ella Fitzgerald and Whitney Houston, played on loudspeakers.

Logan believes it is a case of "you output what you input".

"I had a lot of input. So I really do have them to thank for the wide array of music I was exposed to from the beginning," she says.

It is evidenced in her ability to change genres so effortlessly - from traditional jazz to more "funky" and produced. But Logan believes her sound is evolving constantly.

"It just depends on what the mood of the year is, or the mood of the record," she adds. "I think it kind of comes in cycles."

Her album Where the Sunshine is Expensive - a love letter of sorts to LA - was released earlier this year and has already gained widespread acclaim.

Her next one will most likely be her first Christmas album, she says. But in between, she is always creating and uploading new music.

While she considers herself a writer first, for her, performing is the "reward of writing the song". Travelling x number of hours to get there, however, is not.

"You know what's not my passion, sitting in an aeroplane seat for 12 hours. But I will do it if it means getting on stage in that city across the world to meet new people and perform for them. The running joke is we do the show for free and we get paid to travel. That's sort of how it feels," she laughs.

To usher in the upcoming Twenty-Twenties, the famed time-twisting musical collective is circumnavigating the globe with their Welcome to the Twenties 2.0 Tour.

Logan says fans can expect to see PMJ at their very best - "the music of today done in a vintage way".

Even though she's in the show, Logan says she feels "a part of the audience half the time".

"The show is filled with several different artists who come on tour with PMJ and every single artist I have the honour of sharing the stage with is basically a superhero.

"I mean they go on and they each have something incredibly special to offer the crowd and everybody is so incredibly unique.

"The entire show from front to back is a ton of energy, a ton of emotion, and a ton of heart."

*Postmodern Jukebox will perform at the Napier Municipal Theatre on October 15.