LIVE AT THE COUNTS

Tucked inside Monash University’s Clayton campus, The Count’s is the south-east’s much-loved jazz club, a 150-seat room where some of Australia’s finest musicians play up close every Wednesday night. Curated by award-winning artist and producer Chelsea Wilson, the Live at The Count’s series delivers live music from iconic songwriters and cult jazz outfits to premier instrumentalists and emerging talent.

The 2026 program has featured Roscoe James Irwin’s Soul-jazz Special, Alinta and the Jazz Emperors, Nat Bartsch making her Count’s debut with her quartet, Mina Yu, Phil Dizack, The Pearly Shells, Ultrafox, Ruth Rogers-Wright, Henry Manetta, Doug DeVries, the Daryl Mackenzie Jazz Orchestra and the Monash Big Band.

On Saturday 21 March, MPAC’s annual jazz festival, the Big Jazz Day Out took over the precinct for its second year in 2026. The day featured Vince Jones, ARIA-winning act Mildlife, Mindy Meng Wang and Paul Grabowsky’s award-winning collaboration, Mama Alto’s tribute to Billie Holiday, The Shuffle Club with Rebecca Barnard, and Aaron Choulai and MC Roman with the Monash Art Ensemble. Big Jazz Day Out returns on Saturday 20 March 2027.

Since 2022, Zilla & Brook has been building awareness and growing the audience for The Count’s through a wide range of media coverage highlighting Chelsea Wilson’s curation of the program. Coverage includes reviews and features in The Age, live on-air performances on ABC Radio Melbourne and JOY 94.9, event mentions and full-page features in the Herald Sun, and interviews across community radio stations.