The return of livemusic
The crowd may be capped and well spaced, but the music will be live and the tone light.
Wellington pianist, trumpeter, arranger and composer Kevin Clark and vocalist Fran Barton will play at Little Savanna in Palmerston North on May 31, one of the first concerts to be held in the city under the Government’s alert level 2 restrictions.
Restaurants and pubs can open at level 2, allowing musicians to earn a crust.
It will be the jazz duo’s first gig after the lockdown, and Clark says they are ‘‘dying to get back out there’’.
They would be performing ‘‘unserious jazz and other stuff’’, bouncing from modern pop songs to New Orleans-style boogiewoogie, all with a playful jazz twist.
‘‘The locals hopefully will be bursting to hear some live music,’’ Clark said.
He and Barton have played together for about 45 years and have a huge repertoire.
He had played a range of styles over the years but had found a keen market for light, entertaining jazz.
‘‘Mainstream jazz – people get a bit fed up with it.’’
The concert was meant to be part of the Manawatu¯ Jazz Festival, but the event had to be cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions. But the show would go on for Clark and Burton.
They had been practising a lot and learning new material to keep the show fresh. ‘‘You never stop learning,’’ Clark said.
He said many of their gigs had been cancelled, and it was a case of wait-and-see for when bookings would start rolling in again. The live music scene was changing, and pubs could not afford to pay a high fee to musicians, he said.
As the hospitality industry felt the financial blow of the coronavirus pandemic, it would be an uncertain time for musicians.
The May 31 gig at Little Savanna is from 1pm to 3pm. Admission is free and via a table booking. Call Little Savanna on 358 7776 or visit littlesavanna.co.nz.
‘‘The locals hopefully will be bursting to hear some live music.’’
Kevin Clark Wellington musician