TrumpetBoy

SMOKE is a great although little-known club situated at the southern end of Harlem in New York City. Formerly known as Augie’s, it’s located on Broadway between 105th and 106th Streets. They hold a regular Jam Session on Monday nights as part of a programme of regular events which features the same nights Sunday-Wednesday with different groups headlining on Thursday-Saturday. Each week, as with many similar venues around the world, they feature a special guest artist with the house band. When I arrived in New York on Jan 1st and checked the local listings, I was delighted to see that this week it was Eddie Henderson.

For those not familiar with him, Dr Eddie Henderson is a great Trumpet player who is probably best known for his work with Herbie Hancock in the late ’60s and ’70s. While known for this Jazz-Fusion work his playing is actually deeply rooted in the Hard-bop tradition. He has developed a quite unique style; certainly for a Trumpet player, combining remarkable rhythmic and harmonic flexiblity with a driving swing to create melodic lines which are simultaneously beautiful and mind-boggling!!

On this occasion, he was backed by a terrific band featuring some great musicians from the New York scene. Led by jam session host; John Farnsworth on Tenor Saxophone, the band comprised pianist Mike LeDonne, John Webber on Bass and one of my favourite Drummers; Joe Farnsworth. While these may not be familar names to many, I have enjoyed them for years in their many various recordings on smaller record labels such as Criss Cross and Sharp Nine. Seeing these guys live for the first time, I was not disappointed.

The gig opened up with a Wayne Shorter tune; "Black Nile". During the evening we were also treated to renditions of other tunes ranging from standards such as "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" to Freddie Hubbard’s classic "Hub Tones". There were particularly notable solos from LeDonne and Joe Farnsworth. Eddie Henderson was simply wonderful all night but a highlight was his exquisite reading of "What’s New?" which rendered a somewhat talkative audience speechless. The weak link in the proceedings was saxophonist John Farnsworth who seemed, frankly, out of his depth in these musical surroundings but that did little to distract from the great music being made by the other performers.

All round, this was a great gig. Unfortunately as the opening of a Jam Session, they only played one set but it was a good 75 minutes of music. I was pleased to note that Eddie Henderson is there again on the 14th and 15th of January with his own Quartet so I’ll have an opportunity to listen again at greater length. As for the Jam session, I didn’t stay. I was still acclimatising to New York time and so by 11.15pm local I was somewhat tired. Still maybe next week - another of my favourite Trumpet players; Jim Rotondi, is guesting!

Location:

SMOKE, Broadway & 106th St, New York

Musicians:

• Eddie Henderson - Trumpet & Flügelhorn.
• John Farnsworth - Tenor Saxophone.
• Mike LeDonne - Piano.
• John Webber - Double Bass.
• Joe Farnsworth - Drums.