FIJM | Nate Smith and his Supremely Talented Quartet

Drummer Nate Smith assembled a supremely talented quartet for his show on June 30th; indeed, this lineup and their musical abilities had the audience at the Jean-Duceppe Theatre absolutely captivated. This was best evidenced by the cheers and requests for a third encore, which, understandably but unfortunately, would never arrive.

During the show’s preamble, Smith made a point to explain he was not truly “leading” this quartet consisting of Lalah Hathaway on vocals, James Francies on piano and synths, and Derrick Hodge on bass. Instead, he preferred to say that he was “hosting” this quartet since he held each member in such high esteem. And it’s true, it felt less like Smith was leading them as compared to a collaboration of the minds.

As concerns the music itself, I, of course, cannot describe a Nate Smith show without describing his drumming. For me it’s the epitome of “feel” and “groove.” In most things he plays, even when not expressly playing a backbeat with a big 2 and 4, one is implied. When he employs more ghostnotes or moves in and out of a sextuplet feel, a fat “groove” is still discerned. Smith gets a lot of mileage out of a four piece kit too since so much of what he does is concentrated in the bass drum, snare, and hi-hat. He does, of course, deviate from this and will play around the entire kit; however, with his style being so influenced by hip-hop, sometimes those three elements are enough for long stretches of his playing. In other words, he does a lot with just a little.

The lead synth sounds of James Francies were also a highlight for me. I couldn’t begin to describe the specific settings or the model he was using, but a well-chosen synth sound can be supremely important or you risk having your well-crafted solos sound cheesy by the tone of your synth alone. Francies sound selection and the playing choices were excellent, however.

Hodge’s bass solos were a little harder to appreciate, however. I found myself straining to hear exactly what he was playing as the EQ was a bit off. At times there weren’t enough high frequencies in his bass sound which made his various hammer-ons, pull-offs, and tapping runs harder to hear. This was remedied a few times by employing an octave pedal to play up the octave for some added clarity. It was well needed and one of my favorite “modern jazz” sounds; that is to say, a bass solo high on the fretboard with an octave pedal. Unfortunately this problem would come up again throughout the show as the bass drum and the bass guitar were fighting for the same frequencies.

Lalah Hathaway made her appearance closer toward the end of the show and impressed with her clear, held, straight tone, notes. On a few occasions, she would invent a run or embellishment and finish it with a note that she would hold without vibrato as if she was a horn. Not always the easiest thing to do. I only wish she had come out sooner because she joined the band for all of twenty-five minutes, it seemed to me.

The night would close with a second encore consisting of Smith playing a little drum solo and the audience clapping on two and four. He would play around with the established pulse by dropping the first beat, coming in on a small subdivision a hair before or after the main beats and employing slick triplet feels. It is his custom. It is his sound. And it absolutely killed. No wonder everyone wanted a third encore.

photo by Frédérique-Ménard-Aubin