Review: A Night Of Jazz With Tino Martinez
[Written by Dale Butler]
Tino Martinez is now broadening his Bermuda music experience with a variety of guest artists.
On Thursday, September 26 at 7:30pm at The Deep inside the Lido Complex [Elbow Beach], Tino pulled out all stops. Regulars in the band, Raymond George [piano] and Torey Tacklin [bass] had a joyous evening with guests:
- Adeen Peets, drummer, just back from the UK and performing in Europe, was an expert with great efficiency and strength as he nailed every piece. Drummers like Dexter Dillas, Stefan Furbert, and Denton Leader would have been pleased to see and hear a new face maintain the tempo and keep the beat. He has a bright future in Bermuda.
- Arthur Galt on trumpet is attending The University of Rhode Island and is currently in Bermuda taking classes at the Bio Station. Twenty-five additional students came well-dressed to support him. Young Mr. Galt was a master of his trumpet, playing without music sheets and demonstrating impressive improvisation on every song. Bermudian performers like Conrad Roach or Hiram Edwards would have been very impressed. Bermuda, unfortunately, has a shortage of trumpet players, so Galt’s shining star performance was greatly appreciated and serves as a reminder that we need to find a way to increase our number of trumpet players.
There is a new name in town called ‘Sweet Impressions,’ a name flutist Michael Taylor selected to describe the music performed by himself and piano accompanist Constance Riddley-Smith. Sweet Impressions stepped outside of their usual classical and hymn genres to open the evening with two jazz standards, “Autumn Leaves” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”
Constance delivered the vocals and accompanied herself on keyboards. She started gently with “Autumn Leaves,” a 1950 remake of the popular French jazz piece “Les Feuilles Mortes,” composed in 1947. Having studied French in high school and university, Constance made a sweet impression with the French lyrics, which were followed by the well-known English lyrics of “Autumn Leaves.” As if that wasn’t enough, she punched a stride piano bass on “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” a jazz favorite made popular by the great stride pianist/vocalist Fats Waller.
- Michael Taylor on flute delivered graceful solos on “Autumn Leaves” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” sprinkling each performance with graceful improvisation. Hence the name “Sweet Impressions.” TMQ drummer Aiden Peets added just the right amount of percussion to sweeten the performance.
- Shani Smith sang one song, “Misty.” I hope she will continue because she has a great voice and range.
The band was in great form and played the following:
- Blue Monk
- Footprints
- Clarence: written by Raymond in honor of the late bassist, Clarence Burrows, who passed in 2017. It has lots of promise to become a standard of the band and gain international popularity.
- Take 5
- Play on Playa
- Top of My Head
- In the Twilight
- Midnight Voyage
- St. Thomas
- A birthday tribute to Raymond George
- Street Life
- Oleo
- Soulful Strut
- Softly as a Morning Rise
- Straight No Chaser
It was an outstanding night worth a fortune. Thursday nights used to be a favorite, back in the day, but those patrons were home in bed. Building a Thursday night activity is needed but will not be easy overnight. Nonetheless, the management had a Jazz Night menu available, which was excellent, and ensured that service was prompt and efficient.
In closing, I salute:
- The management of Lido for taking the risk with live entertainment on a Thursday evening.
- The entertainers were first class.
- The atmosphere was perfect.
- The dining room course was excellent.
- The service was top-notch.
- The nightclub is in great shape.
We look forward to more performances from Tino and Friends.
Dale Butler is the Professor of Bermuda Music. He was a Director of the Lido [MEF Group] until his retirement. He writes book, restaurant and music reviews for Bernews. His current research topic is the Mu-en Chorale. He can be reached at daledbutler@gmail.com or 595-9841.
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