"It was a bit of a risk," society president Joe Carbery said yesterday. "But it paid off handsomely. It has exceeded expectations as we have been getting capacity crowds."
The Northern Wairoa Hotel dining room was packed for a dine and dance on Friday night, which opened the three-day festival. Performances by the 11 participating bands at the Hotel, Dargaville Club and Lions Hall on Saturday and yesterday were similarly well attended.
"We needed to print extra tickets on Saturday because the shows were so popular," Mr Carbery said.
He particularly appreciated the Dine with the Divas show, featuring singers Maura Flower, Claire Deighton and Carol Power at the hotel on Saturday night.
"It was really special, and the jam session that followed was great," he said.
Society treasurer Phil Cullen attributed the festival's success and "beautiful, light atmosphere" to the exclusion of blues bands which "get away from jazz and turn it into a rock festival".
"There are only basic PA systems with one microphone at each venue in Dargaville," he said.
"We want to keep it jazz. We don't want rockers coming in with big sound systems."
The festival got off to a bubbly final day with a packed champagne breakfast at the Hotel to the accompaniment of the Tony Parker Breakfast Club, a jazz band especially brought together for the occasion. Jazz continued there and at the Club until 3pm.
Mike Nettmann, in his column "About the Arts" in the Northern News of October 14 had this to say:
In pursuit of a decent jazz weekend I headed for Dargaville two weekends back. No rock, no country, no line dancing, no reggae, no imported acts claiming to be jazz.
I wondered to myself if at last there is a jazz god. And yes there is, as the weekend featured only jazz performed by musicians and singers from all over Northland to Warkworth. The packed venues buzzed with with smiling, happy punters and musos. We were treated to all forms of the genre from New Orleans to contemporary and everything in between, even to a traditional jug band - Railway Pie - and man they were good.
Highlights for me were the Whangarei group Jazz Inspired, Kerikeri's Lounge Sweet and the thrilling performances by the Divas - Carol Power and Hokianga's very own Claire Deighton. Congratulations to organisers Joe Carbery and Carol Power. You have shown the way - bring on the next one!
