Sydney Con Jazz Festival 2024 hosts the best of Australian jazz

The Sydney Con Jazz Festival, now bi-annual and in its sixth year, is a unique boutique festival, with events scheduled in six beautiful concerts halls nestled around the Sydney Con atrium. With three events happening every hour, there is plenty to choose from.

On Sunday 2 June, the 2024 Sydney Con Jazz Festival will present over 130 artists in 26 concerts, showcasing the best of Australian jazz.

This year, the Sydney Con Jazz Festival’s headline act is Remy Le Boeuf. A Grammy nominated, New York-based saxophonist and composer, Le Boeuf blends jazz, classical forms and cutting-edge composition and is exciting audiences world-wide.

His Australian debut will see him joined on stage by drummer Ben Vanderwal, double bassist Sam Anning and pianist Steve Barry, who is head of jazz at Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Pianist Mike Nock will perform an opening solo set before Le Boeuf performs at the festival’s evening gala concert in Verbruggen Hall.

Also on the Verbruggen Hall stage is Katie Noonan’s band Elixer and Quiet Country, a Perth-based jazz collective. Electronic jazzrock trio Brekky Boy will play in the Music Workshop and experimental jazz artist Freyja Garbett will play in Recital Hall West.

The festival was formed in 2017 by David Theak, a respected saxophonist, composer and bandleader on the Australian jazz scene and Senior Lecturer in jazz at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

He says all six concert halls and performance spaces of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music will be on show. “Audiences can immerse themselves in a myriad of contemporary and traditional jazz styles,” Theak said. “The festival is designed to be affordable, accessible and to showcase the best of jazz from Australia, Sydney and the world."

The festival features performances by the cream of the Australian jazz scene, including: Mike Nock, Katie Noonan, Brekky Boy, ANJO Youth Big Band, Ten Part Invention, Laneous, Quiet Country, Freyja Garbett, The Greasy Chicken Orchestra, Paper Tiger, Freedman Jazz Fellowship winner Phillipa Murphy-Haste, and more.

The 2024 Sydney Con Jazz Festival offers cutting edge jazz, international guests, female led projects, emerging artists, swinging bands, and a selection of Australian jazz documentaries in the Con’s new ‘El Roco’ room.

Sydney Con Jazz Festival is on Sunday 2 June, from 12pm to 9pm at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, 1 Conservatorium Road, Sydney. Read the full lineup and book tickets at this link. Top photo: Katie Noonan and Elixier. Credit: Zoe Worth