Australian guitarist Frank Gambale brought his All-Star band to Kings Place and announced he’d be playing a cross section of material from his long career. Although rooted in jazz fusion, the music threatened to stray from this brief any number of times. In all of that, there was always a melodic thread running not just through his guitar solos but also the compositions. There were straight ahead jazz rock numbers such as Isola D’Elba and Checked Out with dazzling solos from Gambale. A couple more numbers were edging into funk territory.
With A Little Something, from his days with Steve Smith’s band Vital Information, Gambale told us he was “Gonna play jazz”. The rhythm section was really firing on this one, driving this number along with Yoann Schmidt sustaining the drive on ride cymbal and Federico Malaman with his gorgeous fluid bass lines.
Photo credit John McGloin
Up in Beachwood was a quite heavy blues number, dedicated to the English guitarists that Gambale grew up listening to and had influenced him – Eric Clapton, Peter Green, John McLaughlin amongst others.
Unsurprisingly, there was a dedication to Chick Corea. Frank played in Chick’s Elektric band over a period of 30 odd years and he recounted what an influence Chick had had on him. Gambale’s composition, The Throne of Savitar, defined what he felt defined jazz fusion. It had the hallmarks of classic Corea – a twisting sinuous number peppered with key and time changes.
Things got almost “poppy” with a nod to Gambale’s Australian origins. Bondi Beach was a bright and breezy soft jazz with a melodic hook and a distinct Steely Dan/Larry Carlton vibe. Halfway through the show, the band was joined by Frank’s wife, Boca Gambale who contributed lovely jazzy vocals for a handful of numbers taken from the Soul Line and Salve albums. That said, Let’s Just Talk About It sounded like a country rock number with Frank and Boca duetting accompanied by deft brushwork from Yoann Schmidt.
This was a great All-Star band performance. Gambale plays with formidable technique but always with feeling and a strong melodic element. The rest of the band put in terrific performances too: lively propulsion from Yoann Schmidt, Jerry Leonide on keys producing a gamut of sounds from electric piano, synths and Hammond style organ, plus Federico Malaman’s superb bass playing which really caught my attention with its sheer musicality.
BAND:
Frank Gambale: guitar / vocals
Jerry Leonide: keyboards
Federico Malaman: bass
Yoann Schmidt: drums
Boca Gambale: vocals
SETLIST:
1. Isola D’Elba
2. (Unannounced)
3. A Little Something
4. Big Charmer
5. Bondi Beach
6. Love Set Me Free
7. Checked Out
8. Live Your Dream
9. Up in Beachwood
10. The Throne of Savitar
11. Let’s Just Talk About It
12. (Unannounced)
One Response
Like most of the audience, I could have done without the vocal stuff. But we were too polite to boo.