I’m reliably informed that that the London jazz club, KANSAS SMITTY’S is the latest go-to-place for hipsters old and new. The music policy is jazz all the way and the bar’s house band have built up a proper cult following for themselves.
To help you discover what all the fuss is about the band have just released a live album on United Agents Records. Actually, the eight track set wasn’t recorded in the club; rather the seven piece band decamped to Soho but the atmospherics and sonic quality give you a good idea of the “live experience” at the Broadway Market venue.
The long player offers a cross section of jazz genres. Styles range from the obvious rag time of ‘Whisky Rag’, to the New Orleans flavoured ‘She’s Got Soul’ while for those of a more melancholic persuasion there’s a couple of Chet baker flavoured ballads…. ‘This Is Goodbye’ and ‘Goodbye My Friend’. Vocalist, by the way, is “Sweet” Pete Horsfall. Other band members are Giacomo Smith (alto sax), Adrian Cox (clarinet), Dave Archer (guitar), Joe Webb (piano), Ferg Ireland (bass) and Pedro Segundo (drums).
