Review_ Jazz trombonist

Press, 22 June 1989, Page 6

Review _ Jazz trombonist

Bob Havens (trombone) with the Doug Caldwell Quartet, presented by the Arts Centre of Christchurch, at the Great Hall, June 21, 8 p.m. Reveiwed by Philip Norman. Dixieland is the two-speed bicycle of jazz. In top gear, musicians usually sweat blood to stay with the pace. The energy generated is often awesome. In bottom gear, performers can all but coast with the sound. The steady walking of the beat allows for the drawing of relaxed solo lines. With Bob Havens, American trombonist, the gearing ratio seems to work in reverse. Sheets of sound erupt from his instrument in hot passages without so much as a ruffle of his eyebrow. In ballads, his sounds are as intense as they are expressive. Bob Havens is heralded as one of the world’s leading Dixieland trombonists. Certainly he is a fine player, with a varied repertoire full of improvisational tricks, and a technique capable of handling with dexterity the fastest of double-time phrases. He has his music off pat. Choruses are hlnurn with linfolinrinrt —

shaped with unfailing sense of direction.

While it is obvious he has travelled the road of “Ain’t Misbehavin,” “St Louis Blues,” “I want to be Happy” and “Hello Dolly” many times before, he was nevertheless able to inject a sense of adventure in the exploration of each old standard. When he played, he looked as if he was enjoying himself, and that sight proved infectious. When he was not playing, however, he appeared marginally agitated, either darting from one musician to the next with verbal instructions, or semaphoring cues to the entire ensemble. He need not have worried. If Bob Havens is considered to be a world leader in his field then both Doug Caldwell (piano) and Stu Buchanan (reeds) deserve to be accorded a similar status. Their contributions last evening were every bit as musical; indeed I found as times I gained greater satisfaction from their articulate and elegant sounds.

Ted Meager on drums sustained a consistent quality and discretion in his rhythm work, and Vince Clark, when working with familiar material chipped