And just like that New Zealand Music Month comes to an end. Not that you'd notice…

Perhaps I have become cynical but the whole ‘music biz' seems such a mess these days it's hard to know what will help.

But – hey – it's a clear frosty morning and I'm not going to get hung up today on the fact that the most common thing I hear from musicians is they see no future in recording since there is no way anymore to recoup the cost.

It's a sad fact that a business model where nothing is coming in is not really sustainable. I hear of bands playing live so they can save money to record songs that they will then essentially give away. You can't do that forever...

I fear we are about to return to a similar wilderness as the seventies and eighties, where most Kiwi bands lacked access to recording and thus most music was lost to the mists of history.

At least live music has returned. I've got two gigs from next week, then we'll check out a couple more shows from Matariki's Jazz Festival. Next week? Both these shows are happening Friday, June 3; each very different so they don't really clash...

Shows

Somewhere, at a secret location, Georgia Lines is playing a solo show in support of her latest single ‘Leave Behind'. It's a laid-back slice of delicate electro-pop for which you can see two versions on YouTube, the official video and a live performance from Parachute Studio which is rather lovely.

Georgia played at the Auckland War Memorial Museum last week and is off to Dunedin and Christchurch next week before returning here where her Tauranga show will be a chance to hear Georgia's voice matched purely with her keyboards. Grab $20 tickets from UndertheRadar.co.nz and you'll find out on the day of the show where you'll be heading.

Also on June 3 at the Mount's Totara Street, the Jon Stevens ‘Noiseworks + INXS Collection Tour' is finally arriving in town after the now common Covid postponement. Tickets purchased for previous shows remain valid and there are also extra tickets on sale.

Jon Stevens is a Kiwi of course. He was born in Upper Hutt, brother of singer Frankie, and released his first album, ‘Jezebel', in 1980 before decamping to Australia. During the eighties he fronted Ozzie rockers Noiseworks and had a stack of hits before resuming a solo career and then becoming the new lead singer for INXS as they struggled to continue into the new millennium following the death of Michael Hutchence.

Jon Stevens. Photo: Supplied.

So you can look forward to hearing a bunch of hits from INXS and Noiseworks and, as an added bonus, you get support from a stripped-back Narcs playing songs such as ‘Heart and Soul' and ‘Diamonds on China' as well as the new material they have released in the past couple of years. Tickets are $74 from the Totara Street website.

Jazz

And, as I promised, let's move forward to Matariki weekend or just before it in fact, since the Port Of Tauranga 59^th National Jazz Festival is taking an early bow with a Baycourt concert on Monday, June 20, which I reckon will be one of the unheralded gems of the festival.

It features the assembled judges from the National Youth Jazz Competition, and since they're judges you can rest assured that they're about as good as you get. It's a mouth-watering line-up, featuring Rodger Fox on trombone, saxes from Eilish Wilson and Dave Wilson, and Ben Wilcock on keys. They'll be joined by the legendary ‘Cairo' rhythm section of Max Stowers (bass) and Mickey Ututaonga (drums). At $25 tickets are a steal.

The other show I'd like to mention is ‘Love Miles ‘n' Chet' on the Friday, June 24, a show celebrating the music of two of the world's greatest trumpet players. As a Chet Baker lover this is going to be the bee's knees, especially since the trumpeter is Wellington's Geoff Culverwell, who is a superb player. He's joined by esteemed bass player Paul Dyne, drummer Des Mallon and Duncan Haines on keys. It costs $47 – yum!