Jazz - Emanuel Schmidt

Warmdaddys in Philadelphia is one hot place to get a good old fashioned dose of jazz. Last time I was there I was fortunate to land on an evening when members of the audience were invited to sing whatever they wanted and the backing band would cover them – after a quick conference on stage with the singer to work out what they would all be performing. Even without the lashings of white rum those who got up to sing were brilliant. And that place is a cosy and welcoming den that makes you think you are in your own club.

Tailors on Central on the other hand is a garden variety semi modern pub in Sydney that is not sure what it wants to be. Ordinarily it would not be my choice of watering hole. But every now and then it does us all a favour and hosts the Emanuel Schmidt Trio who, led by good friend Emanuel, give us some outstanding jazz. Emanuel is a genius on guitar and passionate about his jazz (how many out there have a PhD in jazz after all?). His various musical colleagues are also passionate about their instruments and the music and we always have an evening in which the music uplifts, inspires, and makes us laugh.

It is always a bit tricky pulling various clips of music together in a short video and make them sound coherent. That has not really happened in this video but nonetheless here is a restricted sampling of what Emanuel plays. It concludes with about 40 seconds of “Shenandoah” – a very lyrical piece that Emanuel dedicated to Salem, good friend and who has just departed this week for the US after being part of our community and fraternity for the last two years.