Hi Jazz Cats. What a month we had: two fantastic bands The Prohibition Big Band lead by Trevor Thwaites on Sunday the 22nd February at the Cosmopolitan Club, and then The Andrew London Trio at the Nivara Lounge on Sunday the 1st of March.
For those of you that missed it, The Prohibition Big Band came down from Auckland and gave us a terrific performance. For those of you that came along: the feed back was all positive. The “engine room” of Trevor Thwaites on drums and Craig Williams on double bass certainly did their job of keeping this great big band and delivered the big band sound. It was amazing to see Elena, the piano player, come out from behind the piano and sing, apparently for the first time, with the band. She should definitely do this more! Amazingly, she also took over the drumming when Trevor stepped up to the front to sing a few songs himself. All in all, a great performance from all the musicians who came down to Hamilton and performed for HJS. Thank you Trevor Thwaites and The Prohibition Big Band!
On the 1st March, at the Nivara Lounge, those of you that came along to support our Jazz Society, saw an amazing and hysterically funny performance from The Andrew London Trio. What a brilliant show they gave! The band commented on the venue, saying it was just like one of those atmospheric American Jazz Clubs where the audience sits close, which really suited their performance. On the night, there were members from other Jazz Clubs (Auckland, Tauranga and Rotorua), all of whom remarked how much they enjoyed the evening and that they would also be visiting us again at The Cosmopolitan Club. It was very gratifying to get such positive feedback, they all mentioned the excellent atmosphere, easy going attitude of the Jazz Society and that they felt very much at home with us.
Simon Hopewell
HJS President