Viktor Zappner

Viktor Zappner has been the musical director of Devonport Jazz since its inception in 2002. He is a talented pianist and writer with a passion for jazz, and has played a significant role in the Tasmanian jazz scene since his arrival as a Czech refugee in 1979. He performs occasionally at Melbourne’s Bennett’s Lane jazz club with some of Australia’s big jazz names and can be seen regularly at Stage Door, the Café in Burnie. At Devonport Jazz 2008 Viktor will direct the festival Rhythm Section featuring Nick Haywood and Allan Browne.

Kelly Ottaway

Playing piano, keyboards and vibraphone, he has performed for more than ten years with leading Australian artists in jazz, funk and soul. His primary interests are jazz composition and arranging. He currently does occasional gigs with young Jazz ensembles in Hobart and Launceston and plays with “eKlectiKa”. Kelly Ottaway was recently chosen as one of four finalists among 35 entries in the “National Big Band Composition Awards”.

Halfway to Forth

Whether grooving through a mellowed out cover version, pumping out a classic blues riff or feeding the crowd something new from their original repertoire, Halfway to Forth plays to suit the vibe.

Billy Whitton & Randal Muir

Billy Whitton is the consummate lounge performer. He will ease you back into last century with his smooth vocal stylings and vast repertoire of Jazz standards. Always with guitar in hand, Billy teams up with keyboardist, Randal Muir to create a full sounding duo that create light background jazz that will complement a meal in any venue.

Note Worthy

The members of Note Worthy play together in the Ross Challender Big Band and have worked together for other smaller settings and performances. Many of the songs have been arranged by Andrew Lamb who has an incredible talent for turning what was far from a Jazz number into something that really should have been. The audience will enjoy picking some famous tunes in a different style… maybe even some Michael Jackson and Crowded House! We have the mainstream sound with contemporary lyrics… there are still some traditional favourites.. it wouldn’t be a gig without a bit of Sir Duke, Holiday, Gershwin and Monk!

Shey & Scott

What makes this North West Tasmania based duo unique is their honest approach to performing and their ability to deliver a professional performance every show. Sheyana sings with a soulful and expressive blues voice and Scott Mainwaring is an intuitive guitarist. Their performances incorporate acoustic guitars, slide guitar and stomp box.

Eleanor & Nick

Eleanor Raine and Nick Parish form guitar/vocal duo D7. Although both were students at the Conservatorium of Music in Hobart they only began collaborating in early 2008 when they discovered they shared a passion for latin rhythms, unusual chord progressions and transcribing. While D7's set list features mainly Latin tunes, this is interspersed with some blues and swing.