Last Thursday, it was off to the Third Eye for the Wellington Jazz Cooperative gig featuring the Jasmine Lovell-Smith Quartet - Jasmine (soprano sax), Daniel Hayles (piano), Emma Hattaway (bass), and Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa (drums). This was the first outing of this line-up. I'd heard Hikurangi a few times with Jasmine and he is well-suited to her music - a sensitive and creative accompanist who isn't afraid to interject and kick things along as needed. I hadn't heard Emma before, and she slotted in nicely. At times her tone was a bit lost in the mix but it got better as the gig went along. Her melodic conception works well with Jasmine's compositions. I was most curious to hear how Dan fit into the group as I thought it was bit of an odd choice. It seemed to take him a while to settle, and for me there was a marked difference between his playing in the second set as he found his groove in the music. Overall they created a nice band sound that filled the room without being loud. There was nice mix of material from Jasmine's output - older pieces, new pieces, and adaptations of larger works - and her melodic, lyrical vibe hit the spot for someone who's brain needed to relax.
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