Hot jazz band hitting Queenstown
Jazz trio Love Square will take centre stage at Sherwood’s dedicated concert hall next Saturday. In Queenstown for the first time, the band will play an intimate session of seriously cooking, toe-tapping live jazz.
The band features Nick Atkinson on saxophone, Finn Scholes on trumpet and keys and Alistair Deverick on drums. The trio aim to launch you on a jazz journey from Bolivia to New York via Jamaica before returning across Ethiopia and the Andes, then circling for a thrumming lap of Pacific sounds.
Atkinson is one of the founding members of Supergroove and half of Hopetoun Brown. He says the band are looking forward to playing in Queenstown – not just for the scenery, but for the hiking. They’ll be heading up the Earnslaw Burn following a devious and little-used route over Lennox Pass before heading around and behind Mt Earnslaw into the Bedford Valley for an adventure post-gig.
“It’s the first time I’ve got the whole band to bring their tramping gear and we’re going to go for a big trans-Alpine trip up in the mountains, north of Glenorchy, which we’re really looking forward to,” Atkinson says.
The trio formed when Atkinson was working at Radio New Zealand – he discovered Finn’s band Carnivorous Plant Society. Alistair was also the drummer of the band, and Atkinson was immediately taken by the music.
“The first conversation we ever actually had was an interview for Radio New Zealand – I interviewed him and it’s quite a formal setting in the studio up in Auckland. He just has a very unusual outlook on life. He really sees things as they are – he’s also the king of the guileless Christian.”
He uses the example of if Finn discovers a shortcoming in his saxophone playing, he’ll simply ask ‘why can’t you play that?’ A simple question that can be challenging to answer and make you “actually re-evaluate all your life choices,” he jokes. While Finn is the more philosophical member, Al is a little more cynical, and Atkinson balances it out with a more ‘glass half full’ approach to things.
Each member of the band is highly talented and musicians through and through. They’ve been in many bands and have an ear for good music. Atkinson first fell in love with the sax at around 10 years old.
“It was the 80s, and the saxophone was having quite a big moment. There were saxophone solos in a lot of tunes back then and I also fell in love with The Blues Brothers. At the same time, a couple of kids in my neighbourhood, Carl and Tim, were also really into The Blues Brothers, and we formed a little blues band, which went on to become Supergroove.”
Today, the band are exploring the global sounds of jazz. Some of the music is influenced by reggae and rock steady, and some is similar to what you’d hear in Chicago blues clubs. There’s some grittiness with Ethiopian jazz, and a dash of a funk and soulful feel.
“I don’t know that the music we play is strictly jazz, but I feel like it’s easy to call us a jazz band because people will understand what that means. We’ve been really enjoying exploring those different sounds and scales and rhythms.”
The upcoming gig at Sherwood is a good opportunity for anyone wanting to dip their toe into the world of jazz music. The smaller space allows the trio to paint a picture, where larger venues can be quite loud. The concert will feature tender moments spotlighting solo wind players, as well as horn duets that will give way to shimmering percussion.
“No pun intended, but we have to blow our own trumpet a bit; I think it’s an amazing opportunity to see some really hot musicians in an intimate environment. That little Sherwood concert hall they’ve got going now – I think it only has a capacity of 75 – so you’re close to the musicians. You’ll hear every click and valve slide. In those environments, we can really do some nice stuff,” Atkinson says.
Love Square will perform on Saturday, 14 December, at Sherwood. Tickets and more information can be found at undertheradar.co.nz/gig/93179/Love-Square-Live-At-Sherwood.utr
