Jasmine Lovell-Smith (ss) Jake Baxendale (as/b.cl) Daniel Hayles (p) Emma Hattaway (b) Cory Champion (d)
It seemed like it had been quite a while since I had heard Jasmine play (Noveltones aside), I think the last time was a quartet gig during the festival last year... or maybe a gig at the Southern Cross. I forget, but it had been a while. I wasn't too sure if Jake would be the right fit, but the more notey contrast grew on me. He’s more melodic/lyrical on bass clarinet (less chops!) and that made for a change in pace too. Sonically, I find the pairing of bass clarinet and soprano really works (Jasmine used this on her album Yellow Red Blue). It's not a line up you encounter often, and I'd be happy to hear more (recommendations welcome!). I was looking forward to hearing Cory with this group as I hadn't heard him playing Jasmine’s music before - he was a great fit. Should I be surprised?.... not really, as Cory always brings something to the music. The live sound was more amplified than when Chris is on the desk, but the balance was pretty good if a bit bright sounding (especially piano and bass clarinet).
The volume got louder in the second set and I wasn’t digging the sound as much. Then I noticed he had moved from nearer the stage back to the desk. Surprise surprise... it was much better near the desk. And then when
he moved nearer the front the levels dropped a bit. The downside of a sound guy roaming with an iPad (set them and leave
them!). I minor complaint. On the upside, there was a decent crowd in and they were listening.
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