Uptown Jazz Cafe - Melbourne's newest jazz and improvised music venue

Craig Fermanis is one of Melbourne’s most in-demand jazz guitarists.  He has shared the stage with a diverse range of artists including Ricki Lee Jones, Mavis Staples, Mary Wilson (The Supremes), Tim Ries & Bernard Fowler (The Rolling Stones), Vince Jones, Joss Stone, Archie Roach, James Morrison, Paul Grabowsky, Michelle Nicole, Mat Jodrell, Julien Wilson, Jamie Oehlers, Kate Ceberano, Christine Anu, and The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, to name just a few.
Craig has studied in Melbourne with jazz guitar master Doug De Vries, and in New York with jazz legends Jim Hall and John Abercrombie.  He has toured Europe 15 times and recorded on over 90 CDs and records.  His debut album Machines was rated 9/10 and ranked as the third best Australian jazz release of 2002 by All About Jazz.  A Cadence magazine review of Machines states “Fermanis is as strong a modern guitarist as any of the Scofields or Abercrombies.”
Over his 30-year career Craig has performed more than 7,000 gigs at concert halls, festivals, clubs and bars.  He was a finalist in both the Wangaratta National Jazz Awards and the James Morrison Jazz Scholarship.
“One of the most gifted young guitarists I have had the pleasure to teach.”  Jim Hall



Melbourne based saxophonist, Carl Mackey has been a stalwart on the Australian jazz landscape for more than three decades. Renowned for his versatile and emotionally charged playing style, he has shared the stage with a diverse array of artists, including Lionel Hampton, Kurt Elling, Sammy Figueroa, Ben Wendel, James Morrison, Kate Ceberano, Boy and Bear, Blur, Noel Gallagher,
and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
He has supported international stars such as James Brown, Harry Connick Jnr, The Yellowjackets, Ray Charles and Dianne Reeves.
Co-leader of award-winning group Speedball, he is a member of the Sam Anning Sextet, Australian National Jazz Orchestra, lead alto in the Vanessa Perica Orchestra and can be heard in groups as diverse as Andrea Keller’s Composer’s Circle through to latin orchestra, La Influencia.
A two time James Morrison Scholarship finalist, and a Freedman Fellowship finalist in 2006, Mackey has toured extensively with appearances in the United States, UK, Italy, India, and is a regular fixture on the national jazz festival scene with regular performances at the Melbourne, Perth, Wangaratta, Brisbane and Sydney International Jazz Festivals.




Tix $30/25 concession - seats still available

Cash entry - cards fine at the bar

Doors open 7.30, music from 8pm.

bookings please email us - uptownjazzcafe@email.com

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It's going to be great to play a bit of music with this band; we had a show late in 2025 and there was CHEMISTRY. It was lovely.
We're going to be playing mostly standards, plus a few originals here and there. Ellington up through to pre‑bebop kind of stuff. It'll be swinging, but restrained, a bit more on the sophisticated side, and it'll be pretty.

John and Howard have a beautiful rhythmic concept that's been developed over decades. Eamon and Lachie also have decades of experience playing together, and there's a depth to their interplay that comes from that. Steve of course, plays incredibly beautiful stuff, often strange and unexpected.
It's gonna be good to get a few shows in row with these guys, we're looking for a band name if anyone has a suggestion?

Eamon McNelis ‑ Cornet & occasional singing
Lachlan McLean ‑ Tenor Saxophone
Howard Cairns ‑ Double Bass
John Scurry ‑ Guitar
Steven Grant ‑ Piano

www.eamonmcnelis.com

Tix $30/25 concession - seats still available

Cash entry - cards fine at the bar

Doors open 7.30, music from 8pm.

bookings please email us - uptownjazzcafe@email.com

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Introducing the Shackmen. A very rare coming together of old friends who happen to make up one of the best rhythm sections in the country. The engine room of legendary Melbourne funk gods The Bamboos for 10 years, they are now the mystical unicorn of funk rhythm sections.

Featuring -

Ben Grayson (Hammond)
Lance Ferguson (Guitar)
Yuri Pavlinov (bass)
Daniel Farrugia (drums)

A special gig not to be missed



Tix $35/30 concession - seats still available

Cash entry - cards fine at the bar

 

Doors open 7.30, music from 8pm.

bookings please email us - uptownjazzcafe@email.com

More

bookings - email uptownjazzcafe@email.com and just pay for tickets on arrival

New York pianist Brett Williams up this Saturday playing modern standards and ballads to blow your mind. Although well known as the keyboard player in the Marcus Miller Band, his love and proficiency in straight ahead jazz is outstanding and a joy to experience. Expect tunes by Thelonious Monk, Fats Waller, Charlie Parker and more....

Brett has performed with artists & musicians including Stevie Wonder, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Marcus Miller, Mumford & Sons, Billy Joel, Chris Thile, Mino Cinelu, Kevin Garrett, Snarky Puppy, Robert Glasper, Jose James, Sean Jones, Keyon Harrold, & Charles Haynes. He has also performed regularly with Jon Batiste on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Williams has already accomplished a significant level of experience on the bandstand & more recently in the studio as well. It is Williams’ openness to a wide range & myriad of musical styles & genres, his “old soul”, & his musical honesty that have helped him create & mold a dynamic sound & voice as a pianist & composer. He released his debut EP S3asons in 2019.
 

Tix $35/30 concession - seats still available

Cash entry - cards fine at the bar

Doors open 7.30, music from 8pm.

bookings please email us - uptownjazzcafe@email.com

More

bookings - email uptownjazzcafe@email.com and just pay for tickets on arrival