\nThe Neil Gonsalves Trio has turned out to be one of the unremarked,\nthough more refined performances on the virtual\nStandard Bank Jazz Festival bill. There\u2019s an air of high\nmusicianship and a demand for near connoisseur level listening to the\nshow. In jazz, the trio is where we look for virtuosity unmitigated\nby frills that often gather around larger ensembles. The trio as a\nform tests both the musicians\u2019 ability to listen to each other, and\ntheir own\nimagination. This is a test that pianist Gonsalves and his\npartners in craft, drummer Riley Giandhari and bassist Talent Mzukulu\nMbatha. meet and pass with refreshing vitality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ntrio here presents music from Gonsalves\u2019s recently released album,\nBlessings and Blues. <\/em>The tunes are rendered with a welcome\nacoustic warmth lost in the recorded versions\u2019 use of electronic\nembellishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For\ninstance, the iteration of Let\u2019s Do It Again<\/em> is\ncharged with energy befitting a live\nstage such as this. There are echoes of an early crop of pianists\nlike Molelekwa, whose Mountain Shade<\/em> echoed here, even if\nunintended. Then there\u2019s A Dollar For Your Thought, a<\/em> ghoema\ngiving a nod to the great Abdullah Ibrahim\u2019s\nloftier musical vision. These are some of the elements by which\nGonsalves and the band locate themselves within the larger tradition.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s\na visible sense that they\u2019ve set out to play with abandon and joy,\nwhich is not to say to play without intellectual rigour.\nGonsalves’ music is underpinned by considered focus and clarity.\nGoing into this gig, where there was to be no audiences in\nattendance, the band which is made up of academics was in danger of\nplaying as though at a school recital. Safe, adequate but with no\nfeeling and risk. Far from it. These guys\ndelivered a masterful innings. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nan unannounced way, the gig is also a nod for drummer Riley\nGiandhari, who has long been counted among the\nyounger crop of jazz musicians on our national scene. Perhaps\nthe dexterity with which he plays will finally see him gain due\nconsideration. Mbatha too should see a fuller diary with calls for\ncollaboration. The empathy and smarts with which he carries the band\nis a joy to behold. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The great heritage of human virtuosity in life and in jazz has been defined by everyday people making incredible achievements look easy. Such is the spirit of this band, unassuming and radiant. Long may they groove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch them at the National Arts Festival <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo: Neil Gonsalves by Rogan Ward.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a92021\nThe Critter. This article is licensed under a <\/em>Creative\nCommons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/em>\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Neil Gonsalves Trio has turned out to be one of the unremarked, though more refined performances on the virtual Standard Bank Jazz Festival bill. There\u2019s an air of high … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":4615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1184],"tags":[577,773],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4614"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4616,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4614\/revisions\/4616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}