The timeless essence of 1930s Paris comes alive as manouche outfit Blue Drag is joined by vocal sensation Chantal Mitvalsky for two irresistible Festival concerts.

One of the finest young singer-songwriters to come out of Melbourne in recent years, Jordie Lane makes his Festival debut in The Famous Spiegeltent.

The mastermind behind KEATING! The Musical shines a dazzling light into the dark nooks and draughty cracks of the Spiegeltent's past.

Described by The Age as a "star in the making", singer-songwriter Megan Washington is best known as a collaborator (Paul Grabowsky) and bandmate (Ben Lee, Old Man River). For these Festival shows, the chanteuse debuts as a solo artist in her own right.

Melbourne electric violinist Xani Kolac is joined by drummer/percussionist Tom Gannon to perform the music of The Twoks. The show features original compositions for violin and drum kit as well as spontaneous improvisations and songs for violin and voice.

Songs for swooning, songs for dancing! Minor keys with major rhythm! If Edith Piaf had been luckier in love, she would have been in a band like this!

Andrew Sterman and Mick Rossi are two of New York's most versatile musicians. Featured artists in the Philip Glass production Book of Longing, also a 2008 Festival presentation, the duo perform for one night only at The Famous Spiegeltent in an intimate concert of original compositions and improvisations, with perhaps a jazz standard in the mix.

Featuring members of Headbelly Buzzard, The Mick Cameron Memorial String Band perform a tribute to the late Mick Cameron, guitar player, singer and co-founder of Australia's premier 'old time string band' over two unforgettable Festival nights.

Over five nights Aaron Choulai invites a different guest soloist, whether Festival artist or acclaimed local musician, to perform a wealth of exciting new material with him. The tantalising aural curves of modern jazz in the intoxicating atmosphere of The Famous Spiegeltent make for a perfect end to a Festival evening.

Mixing musical styles from past and present, Pikelet's Festival debut combines traditional acoustic instruments with digital effects, synthesisers and live looping. Pikelet approaches harmony and melody refreshingly and idiosyncratically. While maintaining elements of traditional folk melodies and pop harmonies, Morris incorporates electronic technology and is able to produce a potent and beautiful sound entirely engineered by herself.

Top End star Shellie Morris makes her Famous Spiegeltent debut with her earthy, soul drenched voice and a disarming onstage warmth. Trained in classical opera with an extraordinary five-octave range, Shellie moved to Darwin in 1997 to trace her Aboriginal family heritage and began a career as a singer-songwriter recording earthy and honest acoustic songs with contemporary instrumentation.

In the raw energy and intimacy of Husky's performance, in the sometimes sweet, sometimes brutal nature of the songs, you will find yourself drawn into this world of strange characters and unfamiliar places, love and loss, joy and solitude.

Black Jesus Experience is a ten piece Afro-Jazz-hip hop ensemble led by composer and multi instrumentalist Peter Harper. The band members include three singer song writers from Ethiopia, Nambia and Burundi, master musician and keyboard player Danny Atlaw from Ethiopia and a powerful rhythm and horn section from Australia.

Known for large-scale and outdoor live shows, this concert brings Lowrider inside and focuses on the simplicity and layering of the soulful sound that is at the core of their music. The captivating combination of solos, extended jams and bluesy vocals is erudite and solid.

Vocalist and improviser, Julie O'Hara has been active in jazz for almost twenty years, performing with Big Bands, gypsy swing, traditional jazz, R&B swing, bebop and vocalese. A prolific songwriter and performer, O'Hara draws from Latin, lounge, jazz and contemporary pop presenting a program of original compositions with a few twists.

Much-loved local artist and singer-songwriter Ileana Posas brings to the Festival a concert of original songs all backed by a handpicked group of some of the most impassioned Latin and jazz musicians in Melbourne, bonding together for the love of music.

Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey have collaborated in creating music for fifteen years. In This Map is not to Scale, they amplify, extend and over-emphasise some of the musical ephemera they have created for dance, theatre and film. By adjusting the focus of the eyepiece and ear trumpet they create extended pieces from tiny moments, making works which feature the 'in-betweens, underneaths and rarely-mentioned' of their practice.

Utilising only a piano, a drum-machine, a pair of sunglasses and a hoodie, Kenny Mellman (he of Kiki & Herb fame) explores the connection between a gay Jewish piano-player and a black woman with a bad attitude who ruled the disco floors and the airwaves for many a year. Using Grace Jones' own interviews as text, Mellman presents a requiem for the loss of creativity in the nightlife world and a battle cry for resurrection.

For the first time in living memory, over twenty ukulele-wielding individuals will bravely tread the illustrious boards of The Famous Spiegeltent in a show which encompasses the grand archetypes of the human experience.

With that voice that swoops and hollers, sometimes sweet, sometimes stark, Harry James Angus debuts a selection of newly composed pieces for voice and guitar.

Easily the tightest local Latin outfit, with members from Chilean, Spanish, Indian, Mauritian, Persian, Irish, Greek and Australian backgrounds, San Lazaro bring tough, hip hop, rock and reggae infused edge to the traditional Latin sound. This 10-piece Latin Mestizo band features a horn and percussion heavy salsa funk diaspora that has been blowing audiences away in Melbourne and across Australia concert after concert.