Shift Left live a special treat
Nathan Haines – Shift Left 25th Anniversary Tour
Theatre Royal, August 17
As a 14-year-old living in New Plymouth in 1995, I had a dubbed cassette of Nathan Haines’ Shift Left from my older brother. As a budding jazz musician, hearing rapping and scratching on a ‘‘jazz’’ album was a seminal moment in my music education.
I thrashed that cassette, and still have it today. Saturday night was my first and possibly last chance to see it played by the same band members who recorded it. From the opening track, I realised that Haines was not the only international star present.
Miguel Fuentes was in full flight on percussion, and showed us why he’s recorded with Grover Washington Jr. Mickey Ututaonga on drums and Richard Hammond on bass hadn’t played together for 25 years, but by the end of the night you would never have guessed it. It was also a real treat hearing Kevin Field and Alan Brown complement each other on keys.
Blistering solos were delivered by all, with Haines’ brother Joel providing phenomenally effortless electric guitar, including an introduction to his songwriting contribution to the album, During Days Like This. The immaculate timing between Joel and Nathan’s harmonic and melodic duet sections was something that isn’t often seen in the era of overdubbing and multiple takes in the recording studio.
Throughout the night, Haines – on flute, and tenor and soprano sax – commanded the stage and took the audience with him, especially on Lady J and Chinese Burn. The only indication of his recent sickness was when he spoke between numbers. As well as all the tracks from Shift Left, the band played an additional five songs from Haines’ nine other albums, and debuted a new track composed by Joel.
While it’s enjoyable seeing an artist play a favourite album, the concert was more than that. The band played the tracks how the audience wanted to hear them, but seamlessly added in a whole lot of notes they’d collected over the last 25 years.