They come out of the woodwork. Talented new bands with talented new players. These were particularly young. I asked drummer and leader Gus and he said they mostly had just finished Year 12. Where do they get such seriousness at a tender age, so they are writing decently inventive tunes and sympathetically combining covers of Beatles (that beauteous song, Taste of honey) with Miles (Ghetto walk from the Silent Way sessions, no less) and Brad Mehldau. And the originals were from three of four players. Adam amused us talking of greenhouses that need watering (who'd'a thunk it!), and there were several from Matt and an interestingly one from Gus. Drummers write less often but then often write quite successfully. I particularly liked Gus' playing, sturdy and correct and tight but the whole band melded well, in funk or jazz idioms. They could be incredibly quiet then run long crescendos to quite loud (but not very loud). It was a little joke that Gus had announced them as "excellent for dancing". Noone got up but band and audience had a good laugh about it. So, an impressive introductory concert that bodes well for the future. I look forward to watching these guys over coming years.
Gus Henderson (drums) led a quartet with Matt Trigge (trumpet, flugelhorn), Adam Davidson (piano) and Jack Smythe (bass) at Smiths Alternative.
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