The ultimate jazz playlist, thanks to National Gallery of Victoria headline acts

The tinkle of a baby grand and smoky vocal tones will fill the night air when the National Gallery of Victoria pairs with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival for the upcoming NGV Friday Nights winter series.

The program runs alongside the NGV’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition: “MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art” from June 15 to October 5.

The line-up draws inspiration from the global epicentre of jazz, New York City, and the rhythmic sounds of the Great American Songbook, neo-soul, gospel, jazz-blues, hip hop and funk.

Some of the NGV’s headline acts, from ARIA award nominees Cookin’ on 3 Burners to Zimbabwean songstress Thando and acclaimed jazz pianist Joe Chindamo, share their favourite tunes that evoke the sultry sounds of the Big Apple, curating the ultimate jazz playlist.

Joe Chindamo, pianist and composer

Song: Some Other Time
Artist: Tony Bennett and Bill Evans
Album: The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album

“The track is by the great pianist Bill Evans, whose artistry I adore. This 1975 recording oozes New York on several levels. Here, Evans and singer Tony Bennett perform Leonard Bernstein’s Some Other Time from the Broadway show On the Town. What could be more New York than this intoxicating cocktail of romance and melancholy.”

Sam Anning, bassist from Speedball

Song: Chambers of Tain
Artist: Wynton Marsalis
Album: Black Codes from the Underground (CBS)

“This piece reminds me of New York because of the way it sounds. Ferocious, dynamic, contradictory forces working against each other; dissonance and consonance entwined in a steel scaffold that is at once confounding and alluring.”

Barney McAll, jazz pianist and composer

Song: Echoless Shore
Artist: Barney McAll
Album: Hearing the Blood

“This song was created when I found a poetry book on the street where I lived in Brooklyn, NY. As an experiment, I opened the book and sung the first poem I saw to into my phone voicemail. The whole song came out in the time it took to sing the poem. I like to think my mother helped write it from the other side and it always reminds me of New York.”

Thando, R’n’B songstress

Song: Autumn In New York
Artists: Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
Album: Autumn in New York

“Ella and Louis duets are timeless and stunning. The contrast in their voices creates a beautiful tonal palette, and never having been to New York, this song takes me the closest I’ve ever been.”

Chris McNulty, jazz vocalist, composer and educator

Song: Jitterbug Waltz
Artist: Chris McNulty
Album: The Song That Sings You Here

“This song evokes everything great about playing and recording in NYC. There’s no other place on the planet where you’ll find musicians who together, can get to the essence, groove, and soul of a song like Jitterbug. Love how that vamp ending moves effortlessly into a double-time shuffle feel.”

• Full NGV jazz program at ngv.vic.gov.au