The Grand Central Band is a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

-based band formed in 1997 by Chris Melville. The band has moved through several different formations, and over the years employed and guested around 60 different musicians, and esteemed local celebrities including Nathan Haines

Nathan Haines

Nathan Haines is a New Zealand jazz and adult contemporary saxophonist.-Life and career:Haines was born in 1972. His father, Kevin, played jazz bass, and his brother, Joel, played guitar. Haines played gigs with Joel across New Zealand, before moving to New York in 1991 to study jazz...

 and Joel Haines, Midge Marsden

Midge Marsden

Keith Douglas "Midge" Marsden MNZM is a New Zealand blues and R&B guitarist, harmonica-player, and singer with a musical career spanning four decades.-Biography:...

, Maria Paterson (now playing bass for Dave Dobbyn), and Kim Willoughby (from When The Cat's Away

When the Cat's Away (band)

The New Zealand Female vocal group When the Cat's Away, are Annie Crummer, Debbie Harwood, Kim Willoughby and Margaret Urlich. Original member Diane Swann left the band in the 1990s....

).

The band are now referred to as an 'institution', having been on the scene for almost ten years. The Grand Central Band released their first album Cook Street Sessions (Rhythmworks) in 2000, produced by Eddie Rayner

Eddie Rayner

Eddie Rayner , is a New Zealand musician who has played in bands such as Split Enz, Space Waltz, Crowded House, The Makers and 801....

, formerly from the iconic kiwi band Split Enz

Split Enz

Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...

 and had favourable writeups. The album sold out. The band then self-produced their second album Brightest Star (Rhythmworks) and again had some great local reviews. They sold out of this album too.

Recently they were seen in Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...

 at the inaugural jazz festival in Port Vila.
http://www.bluetrain.net.nz/music/grandcentralband.html

Members

• Chris Melville - vocals
• Alan Brown (from mp3.com favourite band Blue Train) - Rhodes piano
  Rhodes piano
  The Rhodes piano is an electro-mechanical piano, invented by Harold Rhodes during the fifties and later manufactured in a number of models, first in collaboration with Fender and after 1965 by CBS....
  
  , clavinet
  Clavinet
  A Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
  
   and melodica
  Melodica
  The melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,...
  
  
• Karika "Junior" Turua - bass
• Josh Sorenson - drums

Regular visitors to the group include guitarist Dixon Nacey from local band KICK, drummer Jason Orme and bass player Aaron Coddel.