Nick Hempton (alto sax, tenor sax); Ed Cherry (guitar); Kyle Koehler (Hammond B3); Fukushi Tainaka (drums)
BSH most recently heard Nick Hempton over the Christmas festive period live streaming from GB's Juke Joint. On that occasion the swinging tenor and alto saxophonist worked alongside guitarist Peter Bernstein. This evening at Small's ex-Dizzy Gillespie guitarist Ed Cherry was on the gig. As ever, Kyle Koehler stoked the B3 with Fukushi Tainaka swinging it along behind the kit.
Hempton's authoritative opening tenor sax statement on Heartaches set the tone for the evening's one hour set. Charlie Parker's Blues in F heard from all four musicians - Koehler superb, Tainaka featuring in an extended drum solo. Tainaka's Blakey-esque shuffle drive opened it up for Hempton (muscular tenor) and Cherry (a la Wes M) to stretch out on Hanky Panky (Vasilis Xenopoulos has been known to give Dexter Gordon's tune a workout!). Marlowe's Theme (comp. David Shire, from the 1975 film adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel Farewell, My Lovely starring Robert Mitchum) slowed things down (Hempton on alto), very much the calm before the storm.
Bandleader Hempton turned to his band mates saying: Let's do, ah...Oh, Lady be Good! Oh, yes! A fleet tenor solo, a brushed and sticks drum solo (Tainaka brushing his sleeve, no time to be dudin' up his shirt front, you could almost hear Astaire gliding across Small's cramped stage!). And to close, from Nick Hempton's 2017 album, the title track, Night Owl, our bandleader impressing once again on tenor sax. An excellent set, catch up with it (and literally thousands of other archived performances) via Small's YouTube channel.
Russell
Set list: Heartaches; Blues in F; Hanky Panky, Marlowe's Theme; Oh, Lady be Good!; Night Owl
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