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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Dedicated to jazz, Tony has spent years immersed in the jazz repertoire and performing regularly around Melbourne. Since 2023, he has been a member of the Melbourne Youth Jazz Orchestra. He earned second place in the VCASS Outstanding Soloist Competition, making history as the first jazz guitarist to receive the award. Tony has also been featured as a soloist with the Daryl Mackenzie Jazz Orchestra and was selected as a finalist for the James Morrison Scholarship, performing at Mount Gambier.

His primary musical influences include guitarists James Sherlock and Mike Moreno, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. Tony has studied extensively with Melbourne jazz guitarist James Sherlock, and under the mentorship of Mike Moreno. He has also studied with other notable Melbourne jazz musicians.

 

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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bookings - uptownjazzcafe@email.com

Andrea Keller is one of Australia's leading contemporary jazz pianists and composers. Multiple ARIA and Bell Award winner, famous for the Andrea Keller Quartet, she has now embarked on a series of trios, inspired by the philosophy and legacy of the much loved and respected mentor Allan Browne. 
Based on a collective approach, the music strives for human connection and meaningful dialogue. The trios perform compositions by all members, free improvisations and a few standards as well.
With their beginnings in January 2016, Andrea assembled a series of trios inspired by the philosophy and legacy of esteemed mentor Allan Browne. Based on a collective approach, the music strives for human connection and meaningful dialogue. The trios perform compositions by all members, free improvisations and a few standards as well.

“Wonderful compositions by Keller and Anning. Keller’s tribute to the late John Taylor, a pianist and mentor, entitled “Grateful, Hopeful, Joyful”, was breathtakingly beautiful.” “There was so much magnetism and space in the originals they played that I did not want to leave”
- Review of Transients I at Wangaratta Jazz Festival by Roger Mitchell, Ausjazz, November 1, 2016.
2 sets from 8.30pm



Tix $30/25concession - 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

bookings - uptownjazzcafe@email.com

One of Australia’s finest jazz musicians, internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Mark Fitzgibbon returns to Uptown.
 
Having lived in London in the 1980’s performing at Ronnie Scotts and throughout Europe, Mark has accompanied many international jazz stars such as Lee Konitz, John Stubblefield, Curtis Lundy, Claire Martin, Mark Murphy and George Coleman jr.
 
Winner of the National jazz awards at the Wangarratta jazz festival, he has worked and recorded with with many of Australias finest jazz performers including Dale Barlow, Bernie Mcgann, Vince Jones, Christine Mcnulty, Jamie Oehlers, Scott Tinkler, Ian Chaplin and Wilbur Wilde, as well as his own trios and quartets.

The quintessential bebop jazz pianist, his swinging touch and virtuosity is the reason why he’s one of the most in demand players in Australia.

 

 “Mark Fitzgibbon is one of the most under rated talents in the country. Always musically tasteful , a consistently sympathetic accompanist , a repository of a vast repertoire and an impeccable touch, he can produce blistering solos and lift the music to another level” -Adrian Jackson the AGE



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