Sitting in with Old Friends
Bob Mamet. Photo by Robin Rout
Jazz pianist Bob Mamet plays Saint Rocke on Saturday evening
It’s good to have Bob Mamet back in town.
The accomplished jazz pianist was born and raised in Chicago, where he returned nearly five years ago after spending 30 years in L.A., with 10 of those here in the South Bay. Happily, he’s missed us, too, and so he’s performing with his trio (bassist Luther Hughes and drummer Sinclair Lott) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach.
But somewhere towards the end of his set you may see a familiar face joining Mamet on drums. Through their parents, PJ Pauly met Bob Mamet when the former was 12 and the latter was 13. Their dads had set them up to play at a Christmas party in the Mamet family home.
It was a friendship that never went away despite the divergent paths embarked upon by each musician. Pauly has been a rock drummer for 42 years, currently lives in Redondo and has made the South Bay his home for 28 of those years.
Nonetheless, Pauly says of his long-standing friendship with Mamet, “we’re brothers when it comes to music and brothers when it comes to life.”
A light, dancing touch
Bob Mamet has recorded several albums over the years, his latest being “London House Blues,” which has nothing to do with London and everything to do with Chicago. During the 1950s and ‘60s the London House was an upscale supper club and jazz greats such as Sarah Vaughan, Coleman Hawkins, and Gene Krupa recorded albums there. “London House Blues” is a tip of the hat to the now long-gone club, and also to the city’s other fine clubs and the musicians who graced them. The record begins and ends with Mamet’s own compositions, but sandwiched between them are tunes by Billy Strayhorn and Miles Davis, among others.
Mamet performs throughout the Midwest, Los Angeles and New York, but last fall he was in Paris, where he played for the very first time. It was, he says, “just a few weeks before the attacks. We were fortunate to have two sold-out shows there, in what now seems like a more innocent time for the world.”
Furthermore, he notes, “We recorded several tracks for an album in Paris and plan to go back there this fall to complete it. The people of Paris are passionate about their music, it’s very much a part of their way of life, and they’ve made it clear that no outside forces will ever change that. We’re planning a release in the spring of 2017 called ‘Bob Mamet Trio Live in Paris.’”
There’s an effortlessness to Mamet’s technique. His fingers dance lightly across the keyboard, with a range and agility that is impressive. Very smooth, true blue jazz. We’re in for a treat.
“The show at Saint Rocke,” Mamet says, “is all about returning to the South Bay and reconnecting with fans that were a big part of my earlier days in jazz. So I’m really looking forward to it.
“We are expecting a nice crowd and are going to be revisiting a bunch of tunes from my catalog, in addition to some new stuff I’ve been working on specifically for this show. And afterwards I will be signing CDs and greeting old friends and fans. I always felt that South Bay music aficionados are among the most sophisticated and enthusiastic that I’ve met, and I’ve long had a bond with many of them.”
The Bob Mamet Trio, with special guests, performs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday at Saint Rocke, 142 Pacific Coast Hwy., Hermosa Beach. Cover, $5 for the show and for the entire evening (which highlights the soft rock band Mustache Harbor Yacht Rock Explosion, with singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Josh Arbour and A Certain Groove, the latter a cover band with a funky twist). Call (310) 372-0035 or so to saintrocke.com.