Pōneke La Pompe

Jazz Manouche a la hot club.

Pōneke La Pompe is Wellington’s answer to a smoky Parisian side street, 1930s edition, minus the smoke, plus a bit more Cuba Street chaos.  

Named for Pōneke, one of the city’s Māori names, fused with “la pompe” (the relentless rhythm-guitar heartbeat of jazz manouche), the quartet steals shamelessly from Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli and gets away with it. Violinist Ana Henderson and clarinettist Josh Buckler duel it out on the melodies while guitarists Mike Kingston and David Harris hold the whole thing together with hands fast enough to set the strings on fire. Expect hot club standards, a few originals, and the kind of swing that makes sitting still very difficult.