Lifting the Blues for Strive garden
Cooking demo and international musicians lend support to project
brenda.vowden@nzme.co.nz
Acookery demonstration this week by renowned chefs Shaun Coulston and Steve Logan from Wellington restaurant Logan Brown is the first step towards a garden project being undertaken at Strive Rehabilitation @ Hawke's Bay.
Strive provides individual therapies, rehabilitation and support for people who have sustained a brain injury.
The chefs have been in the Bay before, cooking at several Flying Chefs dinners to raise money for the Hawke's Bay Brain InjuryAssociation, but this is the first time doing a demo at Strive, Shaun says.
“We were more than happy to help out. The cookery course Strive runs is probably the most popular course for their attendees, and it's great we can come in and do a demonstration for them.”
Shaun and Steve are not the only ones coming back to the Bay to help out Strive, with internationally acclaimed boogie-woogie pianist Ben Waters returning to wow audiences and raise funds for the project.
Strive Rehabilitation @ Hawke's Bay chairperson and long-term friend of Ben, Brett Morris, says they are looking at putting together a garden for their attendees who have suffered a brain injury, to learn life skills as well as grow produce they can cook.
“EIT has donated the land and now we need to buy specially adapted tools, plants, seeds and vegepods.”
Brett says it's great that Ben wants to help raise funds for Strive and can't wait to return to New Zealand.
“He loves the country and the people. Strive does not have the profile in the community that it deserves and so it is very special that someone like Ben wants to be connected and takes an interest in what we are trying to achieve”.
Ben, who has worked closely with some of the greats in the music industry including Sir Ray Davies of the Kinks, Chuck Berry, Rod Stewart, Lulu, Mick Hucknall, Bobby Womack and Noel Gallagher, and recently performed at Ronnie Scott's Club in London with both Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp, will be accompanied by his sax-playing son Tom, friend and drummer Ady Milward and newcomer Simon Rushbrook on bass guitar. His return comes after “retiring from music for many different reasons”.
“I had been doing it for 30 years and was doing 250 to 300 shows per year and it was taking its toll on my health and I just needed a break to reset really.”
Included in Ben's hectic touring schedule was son Tom, who had toured with his Dad since he was 8. He quit school to tour 900 shows, over three years, with Ben.
“He was getting much better than me. He is a very loyal, nice youngman and I knew he would always do my shows and I really felt it was holding him back as he is so good. I wanted him to do his own thing on a much higher lever and he has. The other reason is Iwanted to spend more time with my wife and my parents, as I am big on family.”
Apart from doing a few gigs with old friend and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, Ben had quit the music scene four years ago.
“I was finishing to concentrate on my family and on a little holiday company I had. That's how I would make my living, then, BAM! Covid hit.
All the holidays got cancelled, the Ronnie Wood shows were cancelled and I had to refund hundreds of thousands of pounds.”
Ben is philosophical about his unlucky break. “My family always say things happen for a reason. So after the break of two years and having no income, I came back to touring, refreshed and ready to go.”
Ben played his first Lifting the
Blues concert at MTG to raise money for the HB Brain Injury Association in 2016 and fell in love with Napier.
“Brett and his wife Gerry are two of the nicest people on the planet. They have taken the time to show me around the beautiful countryside, have taken me on tours of Napier and for me it feels like stepping back in time — the people are calmer, friendlier and have time to chat. I didn't know what to expect, I had done no research on Napier. I got there and was blown away by this little piece of heaven on the North Island.”
Ben says it feels different playing for a good cause.
“If it's something close to your heart and you can see some good that has come from it, then that's the best feeling in the world.”
He hasn't brought his own band over on previous trips because of the cost, but says he always felt guilty farewelling them in the UK.
“This time I thought let's just go, so my old mate Ady Milward can come with me. We are also bringing Simon Rushbrook on the bass and again it's his first time over there. We are all so excited.”
Ben says his favourite thing about playing in Napier is sound man Paul Jeffrey.
“He is the best I have ever worked with. If I had the money I would fly him everywhere in the world with me, he is a genius. The way he mics and amplifies a piano is the best I have ever heard. I hope he is doing the sound again.”
Ben says this concert will be different. “I have worked with these guys so long, they know all 500 tunes that I know, a lot of these tunes can't be jammed as it takes a long time to work themout. Havingmy old friends there is like unlocking the vaults to hundreds more tunes.”
■ This is a Public Interest Journalism funded role through NZ On Air