KOKOMO
BLUES & BEYOND
www.kokomo.co.nz
Derek Jacombs – vocals, acoustic guitar
Grant Bullot - harmonica
Sonia Bullot - trumpet
Nigel Masters – bass
Mike Kirk – electric guitar
Ian “Beano” Gilpin - drums
Hailing from the sunny Bay of Plenty, Kokomo (originally “Kokomo Blues”) has been
together now for 23 years, and has become renowned for dynamic live shows and smart
distinctive song-writing, as well as the band’s unique harmonica-trumpet horn section.
During this time the band has toured extensively throughout New Zealand, performing at
the country’s major rock, blues, jazz and folk festivals.
Between touring the band has released ten albums and a live concert DVD. The first two
were collections of traditional blues, while subsequent albums feature the band’s own
songs.
Along the way Radio New Zealand has recorded five programmes focusing on
Kokomo’s music, and they have appeared from time to time on various TV channels.
Kokomo’s music has also been used as the soundtrack for projects as diverse as TV
gardening shows and surfing videos. It has also featured on such popular programmes as
Shortland Street and Jackson’s Wharf.
They have also played with and supported a number of overseas blues and jazz acts,
including Georgie Fame, Doug McLeod, Keb Mo, Buddy Guy, Mississippi Willie
Foster, The LeRoi Brothers, New Orleans singer Lillian Boutte, Hawaiian steel wizard
Ken Emerson, and legendary guitarist Amos Garrett (ex-Butterfield Blues Band).
On the local front they have performed and toured with the likes of Roy Phillips (exPeddlers), Hammond Gamble, Dragon, Jan Preston, Midge Marsden, Shona Laing,
Barry Saunders, Mike Cooper and many others.
A LITTLE HISTORY…
The band was formed in 1991 after a chance performance at the National Jazz Festival.
Derek Jacombs had been invited to present a set of solo blues and brought Grant Bullot to
join him. The concert turned into a runaway success and they decided to form a full-time
band to spread their love of acoustic blues.
Later that year the band set out on the road with a “we play anywhere” policy, which saw
them playing around 200 shows a year, everywhere from Great Barrier Island and the
smallest country towns to Auckland’s Aotea Centre. And they started recording. That set
the scene for following years.
Skipping ahead...
2007 saw the release of the Kokomo à Gogo DVD, a full-length concert film, and later in
the year harmonica player Grant Bullot featured on the Harmonica Masters of New
Zealand CD. 2008 marked a departure for Kokomo when the band released In The Well.
A long-planned labour of love, it is a collection of the songs of Bob Dylan, rearranged
and reinvented with inimitable Kokomo style. The album was launched at a headline
concert along with Billy TK Jr at the National Blues Festival in Rotorua.
During 2010 the band performed at the National Jazz Festival where trumpeter Sonia
Bullot released her first solo trumpet album, Tonight On Trumpet, featuring a host of top
New Zealand musicians including Julia Deans (Fur Patrol), Wellington swing kings
Shaken Not Stirred, and Sydney-based jazz piano virtuoso Gerard Masters.
In late 2011 Kokomo went back to its roots, recording a new album – It All Comes
Round - and returning to the original Kokomo Blues line-up of the early nineties: an
acoustic trio exploring early Delta blues and ragtime, with a scattering of contemporary
Kiwi blues and oddities from through the years. A year of touring and festival
appearances followed, during which time Derek Jacombs and Nigel Masters released a
second album under their nom-de-plume The Self-Righteous Brothers.
2013 saw Kokomo headline the National Jazz Festival in Tauranga, The Manawatu
Jazz Festival in Palmerston North, The Queen's Birthday Jazz Festival in Upper Hutt
and the Bay of Islands Jazz & Blues Festival. The full band hit the studio late in the
year to start recording on a new album...
Bigger Than Brando contains ten new songs. The first single, “Travel All Over The
World”, was released in mid-2014 and the full album launched in September 2014.
DISCOGRAPHY etc...
AS KOKOMO:
The Old Original Kokomo Blues (1992)
When In Rome, Do Rome (1994)
To Be Or What (1996)
Little Heroes (1999)
Blues And Beyond (2001) (limited edition 10th anniversary collection)
Songs Of Love And Not (2003)
Kokomo À Gogo CD (2006) (live)
Kokomo À Gogo DVD (2007) (live)
In The Well (2008)
It All Comes Round (2011)
Bigger Than Brando (2014
OTHER RELEASES:
Stromboling (1996) (Kokomo with Tracie de Jong)
RustySwingFeel (2006) (Derek Jacombs & Nigel Masters as The Self-Righteous
Brothers)
Tonight On Trumpet (2010) (Sonia Bullot)
Social Fretwork (2012) (Derek Jacombs & Nigel Masters as The Self-Righteous
Brothers)
MEDIA:
“These guys are a must to see - blues at its best.” BOP Times
“Riveting acoustic blues.” The Dominion
“Still the finest exponents of the blues New Zealand has… but there’s a little country and
a bit of rock and roll, a touch of jazz and a sniff of gospel thrown in for good measure…
thought provoking and spot on.” The Northern Advocate
“They played Strawberry Fields (rock festival) at Raglan one night and the Hamilton
Jazz Festival the very next. The crowds were radically different at each event, but their
reaction at each was superb” Bay News
FESTIVALS:
Kokomo have played many festivals over the years, as well as performing for events such
as The America’s Cup. Festivals include:
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Auckland Folk Festival 1998
Auckland Jazz & Blues Festival 1993
Auckland Viaduct Jazz & Blues Festival 2003/2004
Bay Of Islands Food & Wine Festival 1996
Bay Of Islands Jazz & Blues Festival
1993/1994/1995/1996/1997/1998/1999/2000/2001/2002/2003/2004/2005/2007/
2008/2009/2011/2012/2013/2014
Coromandel Blues & Roots Music Festival 2008
Gisborne Blues Festival 1996
Hamilton Traditional Jazz Festival 1993/1994
Hokitika Wild Foods Festival 1997
Marlborough Food & Wine Festival 1997
Manawatu Jazz Festival 1996/1997/2001/2009/2013
Martinborough Wine Festival 1997/1998/1999/2000
Mission Bay Jazz & Blues Festival 2001/2002/2003/2004/2005/2007/2010
Ponsonby Jazz & Blues Festival 1992
Ponsonby International Blues Festival 2010
Ponsonby Music Festival 1993/1994
Queens Birthday Jazz Festival 2009/2013
Rotorua National Blues Festival 2008/2009/2010/2011/2012
Rotorua Jazz Festival 1995/1997/1999/2002/2003/2004/2005/2006/2008
Strawberry Fields 1993/1994/1995
Sweetwaters 1999
Tauranga International Arts Festival 2007
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Tauranga National Jazz Festival
1992/1993/1994/1995/1999/2000/2001/2002/2003/2004/2005/2006/2007/2008/
2009/2010/2011/2012/2013/2014
Waiheke Island Festival Of Jazz 1996/1997/1998
Wairarapa Festival Of The Arts 1998
Walkworth Jazz & Blues Festival 1999/2001
Wellington National Folk Festival 1996
Whangarei International Blues Festival 2010
Whangarei Jazz & Blues Festival 1997/1998/1999/2000/2001/2002/2005/2007
Whitianga Scallop Festival 2006/2007/2009
CONTACT:
Kokomo are represented by Colin Lunt Creative:
0273 704188 or 07 562 2626
[email protected]
www.colinluntcreative.com
For more information please contact CLC or Derek Jacombs:
(07) 578 9578
[email protected]
www.kokomo.co.nz