Jazz Loft presents: the Ōtepoti Vocal Ensemble

The Ōtepoti Vocal Ensemble are back with an expanded repertoire including homegrown originals to celebrate Aotearoa NZ Music Month!

The Ōtepoti Vocal Ensemble (O.V.E) is the brainchild of vocalist Karin Reid who has gathered a small group of eclectic Ōtepoti-based singers who share a love of layering close and dreamy harmonies over arrangements of some jazz, soul, neo-soul & indie classics. Their repertoire consists of interpretations from the songbooks of, for example, Hiatus Kaiyote, Radiohead, Jamie xx, Maisey Rika and a range of jazz classics, and now, the addition of original songs from some of its members for these two special shows celebrating Aotearoa Music Month!

The Ōtepoti Vocal Ensemble is made up of Hagino Baker (The Wild Chitokakas), Claire Hones (Dangerous Women, Soul Deep),  Fraser Kay (Inati), Jamie-Lee Taucher (Soul Deep) and Karin Reid (Reid+Wolken). The individual voices of the group are both highlighted and blend exquisitely together to create a deeply soulful and velvety sound world with lashings of jazz harmony from the guitar accompaniment of Alex Wolken. Stripped back musically, their combined harmonic textures are groove laden and rich in sound and their repertoire develops and expands on Reid+Wolken's “Songs from Inside & Outside the Jazz Oeuvre” project started in 2019...

The ensemble debuted a ‘first draft’ set of songs at two SOLD OUT shows in December last year at the quirky and acoustically rich 'boutique' setting at Trident House in the Vogel Street precinct to the delight of audiences - and they return to present an extended repertoire and another chance for audiences to enjoy some convivial warmth while listening to luscious harmonies and lucent voices.

If you missed out last year - or would love to see O.V.E. again - please join us!

TWO SHOWS:

Saturday 2 May, 6.30pm (music at 7pm)
CASH BAR & DELICIOUS SUPPER AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE

Sunday 3 May, 3.30pm (music at 4pm)
SELECTION OF TEAS & CAKE AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE (no bar)

There will be an interval

Trident House, 88 Vogel Street, Dunedin

$25 + $1.05 booking fee

Limited seats

The Ōtepoti Vocal Ensemble are:

Hagino Baker (Sagittarius) Hails from Japan's northernmost island, Hokkaido, land of salmon, hot springs, and big snow. She first came to Dunedin as a university exchange student in 2004 and returned to the area to live in 2017. 

Hagino studied music and played piano and clarinet while growing up, but had not been actively making music as an adult until forming the Waitati-based band ‘The Wild Chitokakas’ with her husband and a neighbour in 2024.  With the Otepoti Vocal Ensemble, she enjoys learning from the other great musicians and exploring her musical creativity.

Outside of music, she enjoys yoga, including teaching classes in the Blueskin Bay area, as well as tramping adventures in the Southern Alps.

If she was a song, she would be something simple and cheerful like ‘Happy Day from Me to You' by Sir Victor Uwaifo. If she was a cocktail, she would be a sweet warm Japanese amazake with plenty of ginger for a kick.

Claire Hones (Scorpio): Born and raised in South Auckland, where music wove through daily life and was nurtured by her parents by way of piano lessons. Claire has been calling Dunedin home for nearly a decade and, in more recent years, taking a breather from care work and indulging in la-la-ing with some local legends. Drawn to singing alongside musicians from diverse musical backgrounds and exploring varying genres, Claire is a long time member of Soul Deep (an 11-piece Motown/soul powerhouse). She also sings in the Rainmakers (their take on an eclectic mix of left of center covers), Dr T and the dangerous woman (Cajun Americana folk originals and covers with grit and grace), and Ed and the Shadow Boys (where electro – house grooves meet Latin-jazz-esque originals and covers).

A long time admirer of the incomparable ‘Reid and Wolken’, being invited to be part of Karin's musical vision has been a real-life pinch me moment - a bit of a dream, really - and it's taken more than a few deep breaths to come back down to earth! Karin's collaborative spirit – playful experimenting with arrangements and gentle nudging towards individual exploration – has opened an exciting and fresh new way to engage with music.

A song that captures so much: “It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody” by Weyes Blood - a fitting anthem of connection and ache; predictably Scorpio, perhaps. If she were a cocktail, she'd be a mojito - a fast track to a daydream of basking in rhythms roadside in Havana, while the world spins slowly.

Fraser Kay (Scorpio): Born in London’s East End and proud of her Scottish and Goan heritage, Fraser Kay was drawn to music from an early age, thanks in part to her dad’s work touring around Europe with various bands, from the Bay City Rollers to Tina Turner. From attending her first concert at just three weeks old (Rod Stewart), to early fascinations with bat-biting Ozzy Osbourne (those Scorpio tendencies showing early) and the nose-striped Adam Ant, her musical tastes quickly grew eclectic. Influences ranged from her older sisters’ New Romantic favourites to attending Goan community festivals, watching Bollywood films, and the random CDs her dad brought home from work events.

Fraser Kay studied Performing Arts and Music in Leyton and Lewisham before completing a Commercial Music degree at the University of Westminster. Her funk/folk/rock band Koochie played small venues across London before she moved to Dunedin with her Kiwi love.

Over the past two decades in Dunedin, she has worked on a variety of musical projects, most notably with roots reggae collective Inati. In recent years music has taken a back seat to family, work, and other commitments, so Fraser Kay is stoked to be performing again—this time alongside the delectable sounds of O.V.E.

Jamie-Lee Taucher (Sagittarius): Born and raised in Timaru, she discovered her love of music at eight years old, falling head over heels for the piano. Her parents encouraged that spark, enrolling her with the New Zealand Modern School of Music, where she went on to earn a Diploma in Theory at 14 years old. By 19, she’d achieved her Teaching Diploma and began sharing her passion through piano, guitar, and woodwind lessons. 

In Timaru, she became a familiar face in the Bay City Big Band, performing with various orchestras and jazz bands on clarinet, saxophone, and bass clarinet. In 2003 Dunedin called — she completed an Arts degree in Music at the University of Otago, settled down, and raised four children, weaving music into everyday family life. Today, she sings with Dunedin’s long-standing band Soul Deep, grooving through Motown, soul, reggae, and blues. She’s also part of Kadodo Drumming and Dance, bringing West African rhythms to festivals and celebrations. In January, she’ll travel to Ghana for an immersive cultural and musical journey to expand her knowledge in this area.

A marriage celebrant for over a decade, she’s married over 80 couples in matrimony. Connection fuels everything she does and she is a firm believer that joy is the best medicine. If she was a song, she would be “You Learn” – Alanis Morissette. Imperfect and evolving. If she was a cocktail she would be a spicy margarita!  A little bit sweet, and a little bit fiery.

Karin Reid (Sagittarius): Ancestors hail from the gritty streets of London's East End, from Scotland and Spain and was raised in Essex, the notorious stomping ground of witches of yore. Has spent the latter half of her life acclimatising to Aotearoa and its Southern realms raising a child and cultivating creativity.

Currently ensconced in the Reid+Wolken hypno jazz noir/ chamber jazz duo project for the last 6 years, Karin has previously sung jazz with various musicians both in Aotearoa and in the UK. She founded: an independent performing arts initiative, Ad Hoc Productions in 2011 presenting quirky, original and irreverent cabarets, the boutique Mix Tape Choir singing empowerment project in 2015 and a charitable trust to support jazz and the performing arts in 2016. At times she has been a radio host; for Arts Hub on Otago Access Radio in 2015 and an occasional host for Jazz Junction on Radio One.

Her various involvement in the arts in Aotearoa spans over 30 years in both organisational roles as well as being an artist, including theatre, festivals, education and events. These days Karin mostly focuses on music, on being a low flying musician, running collaborative projects under the mantle of Jazz Loft and Sonic Soup Kitchen, the Mix Tape Choir project and currently facilitates an intimate song circle that centres more on the healing benefits of the voice.

If she was a song, she would be “The Wheels on the Bus” and Richard Thompson's “Beeswing”. If she was a cocktail she would be something with champagne in it!