The joy of a nice gig

What a great little gig I played on Thursday night. It was just a piano trio with Peter and Brenton at the Tradies: quiet, spacious, relaxed. Peter was enjoying the Kawai grand, observing that it’s well maintained and the action is not as heavy as some Kawais and just how good it is to play a real piano. I hadn’t played for a while, but I had travels and European jazz clubs in my mind, as well as some recent listening to Scott LaFaro. His voluble, melodic style was in my mind. I was happy with my solos on the night, with space and melody and structure and some fast bits, but I still dropped back to 1s in accompaniment. But my pizz was working well, and that was pleasing. Strange to say, but for me the most important tone control is the volume control, meaning you have to get that right or your pizz is either pondrous or feeble. This night I got that right and dropped out some low-mid honk and it was sounding good. Ah, how nice is that! Brenton was also relaxed and enjoying the gig and our tempos were steady and solid. Just standards but it was a very nice gig and much enjoyed. I’m glad it was because I missed two others on the night, including Ben Hauptman just a few hundred metres away at the Loft. This one was worth it: this is why you bother with all the practice and the rest. Thanks to Peter and Brenton. Peter Kirkup (piano) led a trio with Eric Pozza (bass) and Brenton Holmes (drums).