Adams and Gavin to play a house concert in Pakanae

                                  Richard Adams and Nigel Gavin 

                                            with special Guest 
                                      Harmen Hielkema

(ex Jews Brother Band) on percussion.

Acoustic swing Jazz with a twist of Reinhardt & Grappelli. Guitar and violin.

Old Pakanae Schoolhouse, 30 Waoitemarama Gorge Road.

Sunday 20^th May, 3.00 pm. afternoon concert. Ph: Harmen and Julie 4057855.

Great music and art comes about by some kind of alchemy: it is the result of painstaking study, a rare mix of ingredients, the moment of inexplicable magic, a wondrous consequence revealed . . .

Richard Adams and Nigel Gavin have worked like few other New Zealand musicians, crafting their art in rehearsal rooms and recording studios, and presented their magic in concert halls and to festival audiences at home, australia, the US and in Europe.

Violinist Adams is a gifted painter whose work has been exhibited internationally and who believes the visual and musical sides of his personality each set the other on fire. Richard has played for many years in the popular Nairobi Trio and co-founder of Neon Quaver--

Guitarist Gavin is probably well known to more people than they realise: he has played with the Nairobi Trio, the Jews Brothers, Bravura, created the guitar orchestra Gitbox Rebellion, and has been on albums by Wayne Gillespie, Whirimako Black, and most notably with Robert Fripp.

Here is that rare alchemy at work where each inspires the other, where melodies can twist on an emphasis, and the improvisation is instinctively taken in a new and rewarding direction.

This tour will bring together both the artistic adventures as well as the fun music Richard and Nigel have played and sung over the past years with the Nairobi Trio and the Jews Brothers.

"There is an ECM-ish feel about this collaboration between two of New Zealand's most original thinkers. The improvisation is of the highest order and , while there are occasions if you wonder whether they are just playing for themselves, the chemistry is engaging enough, particularly on the toe tapping "Sacred Hill" and the impressionistic "Daisy Chain". With crystal clear sound, it's seriously good listening. "

The Sunday Star Times

"first class musical alchemy!"

"...incredibly wonderfully intelligent!"

National Radio

"These performers play with a passion and flair that international audiences adore"

Stephane Grappelli

"Richard Adams beautiful light-and-shade violin solo playing will stay in memory for a long time"

Hastings Blossom Festival

"melodic, dazzling in its virtuosity and inflected with every sort of musical treasure"

The Daily Times

"There's genuine humanity, wit and even humour in Gavin's creations"

Tone Magazine

"... courageous ... sonically naked."

"..(Nigel Gavin's).. finger's must be wired directly to his brain!"

"Gavin's guitar is ringing with ideas and to simply sit back and soak them up is unadorned pleasure!"

Radio New Zealand's "the sampler"

My Cahon and I have a live gig

Richard Adams Nigel Gavin

Last Friday night Julie and I traveled to Kerikeri to meet up with Nigel Gavin and Richard Adams for a performance at the Marsden Estate Winery.

Nigel and Richard opened the evening with a couple of ethereal pieces before inviting me to sit in with them (literally) on my cajon.

We blended well, very quickly, with the cajon directly plugged into the PA system.
Plenty of bass, very little midrange and a tiny bit of treble gave us a very commanding drum sound in the mix. The AKG mike does the business again.

I had a blast, the audience did too!

Charley Chaplin in Kerikeri

It's extraordinary to imagine that here in New Zealand we can be but two to three times removed from the greats in history.

Julie and I attended a house concert on Wednesday night featuring Nigel Gavin (Guitar) and Richard Adams (Violin).

The venue was the Trussler Residence a stylish Mediteranian styled holiday house located in a landscaped exotic palm filled garden on the scale of a miniature Holywood mansion. The house was commissioned by a couple of wealthy internationals whose love of the arts leads them to open their home to the arts community.

The performance was most enjoyable something akin to an intimate evening listening to Al Demiola and Jean Luc Ponty. I exaggerate not! these guys can really play.

In the audience was none other than the great Russ Garcia with his lovely wife Gina.
Richard introduced a number early in the performance with a story about the writer "Smile" by Charley Chaplin. Richard impishly asked Russ if he had ever worked with Charlie Chaplin. Gina replied that he had regularly done so!

Later Nigel confided to the small audience that his mother who was living for some time alone in California was wooed by Charlie for some time, though by then his attention was unwelcome. "He's just too old for me" she said.

It occurred to me then how closely interwoven our relationships are.

I was invited to accompany Richard and Nigel for several tunes on my one string bass (which I have to confess I felt quite nervous about).

The audience was made up of well dressed, conservative looking folks, middle aged to elderly. My appearance with the string drum caused some consternation among them until the first notes sounded.
My response to music I had never heard before was informed by years of improvising with Nigel in the Jews Brothers Band. It wasn't long before I had the measure of what was being played and I settled in to the rhythm.

At the end of the first set we were surrounded by members of the audience who were astonished at the instrument I was playing. Russ Garcia himself came up and commented on the intonation that was possible though he was at a loss to explain how I could accurately pitch such a primitive thing.

By the end of the concert and after 3 encores the audience went home feeling very satisfied. Before Russ and Gina left Russ came up to us and he said, "You guys make me feel like a dinosaur, you've taught me a lesson in humility" High praise indeed coming from a man who has arranged music and worked with the likes of Frank Sonatra and Ella Fitzgerald!

If you can go and see Nigel Gavin and Richard Adams wherever they may be playing.

Harmen Hielkema