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Kansas Smitty's: Things Happened Here

By Chris May
June 25, 2020
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Kansas Smitty's is the house band at a London jazz bar of the same name. Band and bar are fronted by the American-Italian alto saxophonist, clarinetist and bass clarinetist

Giacomo Smith

clarinet

" data-original-title="" title="">Giacomo Smith, who with guitarist

" data-original-title="" title="">David Archer wrote most of the material on this album. The band's style embraces swing era Kansas City through to more recent styles and is chamber-jazz of elegance and substance.

The group cites

Django Reinhardt

guitar
1910 - 1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Django Reinhardt,

Ahmad Jamal

piano
1930 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Ahmad Jamal, Claude Debussy and

Brian Eno

synthesizer
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Brian Eno as influences, though you would be forgiven for missing the connections. On Things Happened Here, the clearest echo is that of

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington and

Billy Strayhorn

piano
1915 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Strayhorn. This comes in a general sense from the character of the material, Smith's

Johnny Hodges

saxophone, alto
1907 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnny Hodges-like tone on the alto saxophone and

Russell Procope

clarinet
b.1908

" data-original-title="" title="">Russell Procope-like tone on the clarinet, and the voicings of a frequently used trumpet, clarinet and tenor saxophone frontline. On one track the Ellingtonian influence is so marked that it must surely be intentional: "Temple Of Bel" is a close sibling of "Blue Pepper (Far East Of The Blues)" from Ellington and Strayhorn's The Far East Suite (RCA Victor, 1967).

Conscious or not, the Ellingtonisms are delightful. So too are the occasional brushes with British composer

John Barry

composer / conductor
1933 - 2011

" data-original-title="" title="">John Barry's 1960s film soundtracks (which are more The Ipcress File than From Russia With Love), the

Pat Metheny

guitar
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Pat Metheny feel in passages on the title track, and the township jazz resonance in the horns on "Sunnyland" (which was written in honour of blues pianist

Sunnyland Slim

piano
1907 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Sunnyland Slim).

Roll all this together and—even without Reinhardt, Jamal, Debussy and Eno—you have an engaging platform. Kansas Smitty's make good use of it.

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Track Listing

Riders; Dreamlane; Two Dancers; Sambre Et Meuse; Alcazar; Temple Of Bel; Sunnyland; Things Happened Here; Judgement.

Personnel

Giacomo Smith

clarinet

Peter Marshall

bass

Alec Harper

saxophone, tenor

David Archer

guitar, electric

Joe Webb

piano

Will Cleasby

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Adrian Cox: clarinet (6).

Album information

Title: Things Happened Here | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Ever / !K7

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