Last Monday
night saw the final installment of season seven of the Arthur Street
Loft Orchestra. It was great to have a packed house with standing
room only (get there early folks!). It has taken a while to build the
following but they seem to get solid audiences on a pretty regular
basis now. Hats off to Jake.
This
week, John Rae was back with The Big Troubles, a group comprised of
strings (2 each of violin, viola, cello and bass), brass (2 trumpet,
3 trombones), reeds (3 sax, 1 clarinet), vocal, guitar and drums.
Unsurprisingly, it was a night of good vibes and plenty of energy.
Maybe it's just the flow on effect of having 20 musicians on the
bandstand, but there seemed to be a real buzz in the room before the
music started.
That energy carried through into the performance, and it was more
about the collective energy rather
than listening for delicate inner moving parts (although they do
exist). There
were some nice solo moments too - Ben Hunt's plunger work and Al
Campbell's blues solo - but it was Tristan Carter's violin solo
was my
pick for the evening (with bonus points applied for the scarcity of
string soloist on the local jazz scene). Vocalist,
Eugene
(what's his last name?) had a couple of features (the same two tunes as
the last time I heard the group). Once again, the blues was excellent.
Last time I heard them I wasn't convinced
by their take on “Crazy He Calls Me”, but it must be growing on
me (the vocals and the arrangement) as I started getting into it this time around. The balance of the
band seemed better, so maybe that helped.
After
a short break, ASLO will be back for season eight. If you're in
Wellington on a Monday night, they're well worth checking out.
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