It is always great to see the renowned tenor player Brian Smith performing in the intimate space of the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) and whenever he plays older and newer fans turn up to see him.   While it is tempting to refer to him as being ‘seasoned’ or ‘an elder statesman’, any notion of that has a built-in redundancy factor.   He is a ball of energy and ageless on the bandstand.

Brian has played with so many great artists over his long career that it would chew up serious bandwidth to enumerate even half of them.  Being a member of the Maynard Ferguson band and numerous other well-known line-ups saw him playing across the world.    His co-led genre stretching ‘Nucleus’ (with Ian Carr) won the top European band award at the Montreux Jazz Festival (1970).  Since returning to New Zealand to settle (if a musician ever really does that) he has worked on numerous film scores and put out some well received (and commercially successful) albums.  

Accompanying him on the 10th April gig were Kevin Field (piano), Kevin Haines (bass) and Frank Gibson Jr (drums).    With this particular lineup he could dive deeper into his favoured repertoire of Hard Bop Jazz standards (with a few originals thrown in).  When ‘Footprints’ was played Brian Smith approached the warhorse in an interestingly oblique manner; giving us a tune that contained the merest hint of familiarity and a large dollop of brooding mystery.  This was a highpoint of the sets and a good example of how good musicians can extract new wine from old bottles.  The introduction began with a very personalised statement on tenor which caught the attention while offering no insight into where it was going.  Then out of nowhere the melody was stated, only to disappear as quickly as it had appeared; merged in probing re-haromonisations and oblique explorations.

The tunes of Wayne Shorter have remained perennially popular with Jazz audiences and they are constantly being reworked and updated.  I have heard two versions of ‘Footprints’ performed in recent weeks and both mixed the familiar with the the new.  These re-workings of familiar tunes have always been the bread & butter of Jazz and in the case of reworked ‘Footprints,’ Wayne Shorter sets the bar high.  I saw him perform this in Verona, Italy a few years ago and after laying out a pathway to the melody he suddenly plunged us into a world of elision; forcing us to fill in the gaps as we listened.  A familiar tune floating between chasms of crystalline emptiness; a tune more implied than played.   I have posted a You Tube clip of the Brian Smith band playing  ‘Footprints’  at the 10th April CJC gig.

Accompanying Brian on piano was Kevin Field who is so well-respected about town that he is a real drawcard in his own right.   I have often mentioned his ability to add value to any band he plays with and this night was no exception (A post on his April 17th gig will be up shortly).  On bass was Kevin Haines who is not only the most experienced bass player about town but one of the best.  lastly there was Frank Gibson Jr on drums who is another respected and talented veteran Jazz identity about Auckland.     Frank Gibson Jr, Kevin Field and Kevin Haines have all appeared recently leading groups.  These guys will always impress and they proved that on this gig.

This particular CJC gig fitted in perfectly with the wider Jazz April ethos which is about profiling Jazz & Improvised music in all its diversity.    The month had kicked off with a co-led trio featuring guitar, bass and drums (all original music by Samsom/Nacey/Haines), A few days later we saw Nathan Haines at the ‘Q’ Theatre (a tentet complete with French horns and vibes) – a few days after that the Auckland ‘Jazz & Blues club’ featured a gig with a Caribbean-Jazz ensemble. The Kevin Field trio on the 17th.  Auckland benefits from a rich sonic diversity and clubs like the CJC, The Auckland Jazz & Blues Club and Vitamin ‘S’ deserve our ongoing support.  The month of Jazz April will conclude with two avant-garde bands (one local, the ‘Kparty Spoilers of Utopia’) at Vitamin ‘S’ on the 23rd at 8pm and one visiting from Australia (Song FWAA) which is a CJC gig on the 24th at 8pm.   This is a cornucopia of riches and not one of these gigs should be missed.  Note: The Vitamin ‘S’ gig is the last chance to see John Bell vibist, who departs for Korea on Thursday.

Who: the Brian Smith Quartet – Brian Smith (tenor), Kevin Field (piano), Kevin Haines (bass), Frank Gibson Jr (drums)

Where and When: The CJC (Creative Jazz Club), 1885 Building, Brittomart 10th April 2013

This is a Jazz April 2013 gig : links Jazz April or Jazz Journalists Assn FB page.