Frank Gibson Jnr

Frank Gibson Jnr is New Zealand’s best known drummer as he has been playing and teaching for most of his life. He has accompanied numerous artists such as Milt Jackson, Emily Remler, Sonny Stitt, Joe Henderson, Randy Brecker, Slide Hampton, Mike Nock and the list goes on. He has also occupied the drum chair for many of Alan Broadbent’s recordings. Whether laying down sensitive brush work or powering an orchestra, Frank has long been a presence on the scene. He is a seasoned leader and it was in this role that he returned to the CJC with his ‘Hardbopmobile’ band. As leader he was able guide the proceedings without being overly dominant. He trusted his band to do the business and they responded in kind.

The ‘Hardbopmobile’ lineup is: Frank Gibson Jnr (leader, drums), Neil Watson (guitar), Ben Turua (double bass), Cameron Allen (tenor saxophone).

Neil and Frank have been playing together for some time and the ease with which they communicate on the band stand is translated into good musical outcomes. I noticed straight away that Neil was not playing his usual solid-body Fender, but he was stroking chords and runs out of a modern version of the D’Angelo 1947 arch-top. Man it looked beautiful, just lying on the piano during set-up.

The set list was mostly out of the Hardbop songbook but a few earlier placed numbers were tackled as well (‘Boplicity’ – Miles Davis). A spirited Wes Montgomery tune was played early on and Neil negotiated the changes and the octave chords in the best possible way. A straight out imitation would have sounded clichéd, but this was a respectful modern take on a classic sound. Like all gifted guitarists, he is able to negotiate complex tunes with apparent ease; dancing and leaning into the music as he delivers a storm of fresh ideas. This is wonderful to listen to, great to watch and but the very devil to photograph.

Two monk tunes were played: ‘Ask Me Now’ and ‘I Mean You’. This is where the tenor player Cameron Allen took the lead. In the former tune he took an angular approach, unravelling it as improvisers do and then diving deep inside the melody. I should probably have been aware of this tenor player before now, because he is very good. We appear to have a tradition of producing good saxophone players in New Zealand – getting wider recognition for them and finding them enough gigs is the real problem.

A couple of hard bop classics were played; Joe Henderson’s ‘Isotope’ and Horace Silvers ‘Senior Blues’. The band interpreted these tunes in their own way and to hear a ‘Hendrix’ like riff being mixed into ‘Senior Blues’ was as surprising as it was effective. I would also like to mention the bass player Ben Turua here. He took a few solos and above all he swung hard.

D'Angelo Archtop