Thank You
Thank you for making the 21st OzManouche Festival a success!
Huge thanks to everyone who joined us for the 21st edition of OzManouche. Despite competing with the AFL Grand Final, the Brisbane Festival, and a packed calendar of other major events, we welcomed capacity audiences and celebrated another fantastic year of gypsy jazz.
This year, OzManouche stretched across two weeks and four fantastic Brisbane venues: our home at the Brisbane Jazz Club; multiple stages in Queen Street Mall; The Point Hotel and The Burrow; plus a satellite event at the Sunday Hot Club at New Tricks in Albion. It was wonderful to see the festival's spirit spread throughout the city.
Bringing OzManouche to life each year is both a joy and a creative challenge. Throughout the year, I spend countless hours imagining how the festival will unfold: how the program can reflect the many styles within gypsy swing, and how the artwork, branding and visual identity can tie everything together.
Every year, I begin by wondering whether I've run out of inspiration for the artwork, programming, and fresh ideas. Somehow, it all manages to come together. Even after eleven years as Creative Director, it never feels routine. There's always something new to learn, refine, or adapt, and that constant evolution keeps the festival exciting for me and, hopefully, for our audiences too.
The River Deck program has become an important part of OzManouche. This year, Matt Westwood and Ian Craig hosted our Opening Night Welcome Jam, and we welcomed community groups from Sydney, Hobart and Wollongong for the first time. We also presented a special project featuring the Anna Weaving Collective, Kathy Bluff from Sydney and Sam Cooke from New Zealand. It's been wonderful to see musicianship and confidence grow within our wider gypsy jazz community, and to see the audience's warm, engaged response. There's something particularly special about seeing this music grow from the grassroots up. And hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, we'll see some of those acts move to the main part of the festival’s program.
OzManouche is a collaborative effort. As I often say, it's our festival. I just send the emails.
Behind every performance, every jam and every memorable moment is an incredible team of people who help bring it all to life.
A warm thank you to our Patron, Ian Date, for your virtuosity, generosity and advice. To Ronnie Woods, thank you for your trust, guidance and forgiveness when the budget goes a little sideways — and, above all, for keeping this festival going for 21 years. To Hank and Carole Marvin and family, thank you for being an important part of OzManouche and for your continued support.
To John Jorgenson, a huge thank you for joining us as our featured artist this year. It took us ten years to make it happen, but we finally got there! It was wonderful to have you as part of the 21st OzManouche.
To Mark Allerton and Peter Malone, thank you for your moral support, your help with artist passes, and for transporting my amplifier to Brisbane and back so John could use it for his concert. To Jeff Young, thank you for proofreading the website and press releases, critiquing the artwork, and ensuring the festival’s timings were consistent across all our platforms. To Jan Van Dijk, thank you for coordinating your venue’s programming with the festival.
To our incredible musicians and community groups:
Charlie McCarthy, Nigel Date, Rick Caskey, David Squires, Sam Cooke, Daniel Weltlinger, Emily Gelineau, Danilo Da Paz, Rodrigo Santiago, Lachie Alexander, Rory Dillard, Benja King, Ian Craig, Matt Westwood, Anna Weaving, Georges Magnon, Kathy Bluff, Peter Malone, Mark Allerton, Jeff Young, Sydney Gypsies, Coucou Zazous, Rebekka Neville, the Tazzmania Jam group and the Hot Club of Wollongong.Thank you for bringing the festival to life, sharing your music and helping make this year's celebration such a success. And apologies to anyone I've inadvertently missed!
To the Brisbane Jazz Club committee and operations team:
Helen Abrahams, David Tambyah, David Herbert, Alan Western, Michael Osmond, Cameron Jeffs, Bob Drumgold, Ian Lock, Mal Wood, Karli Westley, Rachel Grant, Irene McLeod and Lisle Kelly — thank you for everything you do behind the scenes. And to all the Brisbane Jazz Club duty officers, bar staff, and volunteers, this festival is possible because of you. We couldn't do it without you.
Huge thanks to Mark Smith for expert sound production; Mary Brettell for photography and social media; Mandy Hall and Martin Cillia for media coverage; and Alex Crighton for the airport shuttles and for your friendship.
To John, Sione and the Brisbane Economic Development Agency, thank you for your continued support and for making another year of live music programming in Queen Street Mall possible.
And special thanks to Mick Donnelly for organising the after-party jam. Because apparently, five days of gypsy jazz just aren't enough.
As always, a very special mention to Ewan Mackenzie's family. Your continued support means the world to us, and Ewan's legacy remains at the heart of this festival.
To our generous sponsors, Point Hotel, Brisbane City Council, and Black and White Cabs, thank you for supporting OzManouche and helping us give this music, and the musicians, the stage they deserve.
Finally, thank YOU — our audiences, supporters, dancers, jam-session players and gypsy jazz enthusiasts. Whether you travelled across the country, came along for one show or joined us for the whole celebration, you are an essential part of what makes OzManouche special. And to those who sent me messages of encouragement during the busiest periods of festival planning: thank you. I’m deeply grateful for your support.
Twenty-one years on, the music keeps growing, the community keeps expanding, and that is at the heart of what we do and what keeps us going.
See you at OzManouche 2027
Mark your diaries: 22–26 September 2027.
Cameron Jones
Creative Director
OzManouche