Di Clark And Libor Smoldas @ Mt Nebo: Review

Di Clark and Libor Smoldas followed up last year's enormously successful Valentine’s Day Jazz Night with a refreshing new repertoire on Saturday night at Mount Nebo Community Hall.

Joined once again by Dale Rabic (keyboards) and Paul Hudson (drums), rock and pop classics from the '60s to the present day were given a new and jazzy twist, and set to a new beat to great effect. These included songs by The Beatles, The Kinks, The Clash (yes, really!), Corinne Bailey Rae, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. We’ve heard Di’s treatment of Kiss’ ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You’ before, and have really enjoyed how well it works as a jazz tune, so it was great to hear more in this line.

Libor Smoldas © Karen Hutt

With Di’s beautiful vocals and Libor’s exceptional guitar, these songs were reinvigorated and brought to life in an intriguing and most enjoyable melange of two familiar but usually disparate sounds. The whole was enhanced and expanded by virtuoso jazz improvisations by Libor on guitar, and by Dale Rabic playing the Hammond organ, Wurlitzer electric piano and pedal board (!)- it was all held together by Paul Hudson’s exemplary drumming.

Well-known jazz guitarist Libor Smoldas hails from Prague, and has a long association with Brisbane, and Di Clark in particular, with whom he has played many gigs, including at the Brisbane Jazz Club last year. We look forward to his next visit.

Just to the north-west of Brisbane, at the beginning of the D’Aguilar range, Mount Nebo village provides a lovely and unusual setting for these evenings. The Mount Nebo Hall is licensed, and excellent coffee from Ben of ‘Obsession’ was also available. Well within reach of the city, there are several local cafes, rainforest walks, and spectacular lookouts to either side of the range, overlooking the Samford and Brisbane Valleys. It is well worth coming up early, and making a day of it the next time they do this.

Sadly, Libor has returned to Prague, but you can catch Di singing with Jan Lennard in ‘The Diamonds of Swing’ at the Brisbane Jazz Club this weekend (Saturday 23rd January at 6:30) or with the ‘Di Clark Trio’ at the BJC at 10am for Sunday brunch on 31st January.