Jazz guitarist hire in Australia: the complete guide

A jazz guitarist is the most low maintenance live musician you can put in a room. One chair, one small amp, a power point, and a sound that swings gently under conversation for three hours without anybody having to think about it again. For cocktail hours, restaurant floors and corporate drinks, that is often the whole brief.

Prices below are live from the guitarists listed on this site. This is a category where the low end buys a lot, because the running costs of one player with a hollow body guitar are close to nothing.

The city table below shows what players are charging now. A solo set of two or three hours sits at the lower end of the range. Add a double bass or a singer and you are paying for a second professional, which moves the figure but changes the sound more than the number suggests.

Longer restaurant residencies and regular corporate work often come in under the one off party rate, simply because the player is not building a whole evening around a single booking. If you are looking at something recurring, say so early and ask.

Jazz guitar sits low in the mix by nature. The instrument is warm rather than bright, the volume ceiling is naturally polite, and a solo player can shift from nearly inaudible to genuinely present by playing harder rather than by touching a dial. That makes it forgiving in rooms with hard surfaces where a louder act would bounce off the walls.

It works especially well where people are eating. A guitarist can play under a speech, lift after the toast and then drop back for dessert without it being an event each time. That flexibility during a run sheet is a real part of what you are booking.

Solo is background and it is very good at it. A duo with double bass adds a pulse that makes the music feel intentional rather than ambient, and it is usually the sweet spot for a longer cocktail hour. A trio starts to feel like a performance, and with a vocalist it will pull attention whether you want it or not.

Pick by what the music is doing, not by budget alone. If guests are meant to be talking business, stay at the quieter end. If you want people to look up and notice the music at some point in the night, you need at least the extra pulse.

People shortlist both and then have to choose, so here is the honest difference. Jazz guitar is amplified, played on steel strings with a warm electric tone, and it swings. It belongs to bars, dinners and drinks. Classical guitar is nylon strung, usually unamplified, and it has the formality of a recital even when it is playing something modern.

Put simply, one suits a glass in hand and the other suits a seated ceremony. Neither is dressier than the other, they are dressy in different directions. If your event has both moments, ask whether the player covers both, because some do.

How many hours, split into how many sets, and does the room go silent while you rest? Do you bring your own amplifier and do you need a power point near where you sit? Can you play under speeches and lift afterwards? Are you solo for this price, and what would adding a bass or a voice cost? And have you played the style of room we have?

One more that saves trouble: ask whether they use backing tracks. Some solo jazz guitarists play to recorded bass and drums. It is a bigger sound and it is a legitimate approach, but you should know which you are getting.