James Dawes is playing saxophone with Jam Sandwich, a local Bay of Islands band playing at the Jazz and Blues Festival this coming weekend.
Local Bay of Islands five-piece band Jam Sandwich will be performing at the Bay of Islands Jazz and Blues Festival this coming weekend.
They weren’t always called that. Originally they were known as “Late Night Meat Sandwich” but after a couple of years they had to change the name because those in the audience were expecting the band to feed them when they played.
Besides that, the Urban Dictionary defines late night meat sandwich as something else somewhat provocative and inappropriate.
They formed in 2010, the five were all surfing buddies who travelled to surf competitions.
They decided to host a competition in Northland and to then put a band together. They had all played in other bands over previous years.
They all have busy day jobs and families so full band gigs are fairly rare but they often do smaller two- or three-piece gigs, especially in summer.
For the jazz festival they expand to bring in some local kids from the Kerikeri High School music programme.
Cath McGlinchy is a teacher at the high school and band “mother” who spots and mentors the talent from there.
If one or two of them show promise, she will see if they are keen to play with the core group at the festival.
Rhys Johnston, who plays guitar and trombone with the group, said they have enjoyed playing with the students over the years.
“We get a kick out of helping them write songs, develop horn section parts or backing harmonies and we really see them grow as musicians.”
This year they will have Bella Mason and James Dawes with the group.
They have both gone on from Kerikeri High School to study full time and complete masters degrees while still performing as solo artists or in a variety of bands while they have been studying.
Johnston said James is a virtuoso who is in high demand in Auckland, being continually asked to play in a variety of bands. He’s on saxophone for the festival.
Bella, he said, is a great performer, she is classically trained but can “absolutely belt out big rock and blues numbers as well”.
“She is a talented guitarist too, but we’ve asked her to just get out front this year and strut her stuff on vocals.”
This year the band have written and picked a song list that will allow these two performers to demonstrate their abilities.
“It has been an absolute pleasure to see these two grow from shy young Kerikeri High School students into incredibly talented and confident performers,” said Johnston.
For the festival group Cath plays keyboards, Rhys guitar and trombone, Chris is on guitar and Bill on bass. Their usual drummer (Jesse) has gone back to the US for a couple of months so they have brought in Maki Tuisano, another surfing buddy from Gisborne to fill the gap.
The music festival runs over three days from Friday. There are six venues across Paihia and Russell, with more than 40 different bands and artists performing. Tickets and the schedule are available from www.boimusicfestivals.com
Ministerial advisory group to hold meeting in Kerikeri
The Ministerial Advisory Group for Victims of Retail Crime is seeking feedback through a series of events around Northland aimed at shaping the Government’s response to rising retail crime in the region.
Retail crime currently costs the country $2.7 billion annually. The group has been consulting with business communities around the country and says feedback will help shape the Government’s response to the escalation of retail crime in communities.
The initial objectives of the Ministerial Advisory Group are to provide advice on possible legislative changes to empower security guards to deal with retail offenders, allow retail business owners to deal with shoplifters and to enable the use of facial recognition technology.
Entry is free to the Ministerial Inquiry into Retail Crime – Kerikeri, August 13 from 5.30pm-7pm at the Turner Centre.
Competitive picking of moth plant
Between April and July this year a competition was held to see who could collect the most moth plants and pods throughout Northland.
Participants from the Bay of Islands collected from Kerikeri to Kawakawa and were made up of individuals who picked by themselves or in groups as, literally, a collective exercise.
The competition was originated last year by Kate Crawford, one of the school’s teachers, who heads up the Senior SAVE students, which is an environment initiative focused on promoting sustainability and environmental awareness within the school and wider community.
She approached the Northland Regional Council and Far North District Council to see if either wanted to run the competition for the pervasive weed and both said they didn’t have the time or funding to do it.
She approached the senior SAVE group at the school and they took on the challenge both last year and for this year and head boy, Solomon Dickey, made the website in 2024.
“With the help of Ben Perry from Vision Consulting we made the website more legally sound and easier to use,” said Crawford.
“We gained more prizes with Ngāti Rehia Takou Kauri Sanctuary matching the Rotary and Vision Consulting donations.”
The winning team went by the name of Chasing Kings. They are a family from Pakaraka who collected 5776 pods and plants on 30 different trips to various locations, which proved their dedication. They won $500 in cash and a native plant voucher.
Second prize went to the Bay of Islands Walkways and Walking Trust with 4072 pods and plants collected. They received a $200 cash prize and $100 native plant voucher.
Third place went to Kerikeri Homeschoolers, who collected 2611 pods and plants and won $100 cash prize and $100 native plant voucher.
As a fulltime teacher, Crawford doesn’t have the resources to connect to as many people as she would like. She is hoping a bigger group will run the competition next year and that it will become established in Northland as a yearly drive.