Allana Goldsmith Group
Fresh from her standout performance at the 2017 Waiheke Jazz Festival Allana Goldsmith returns with her group to grace the Hallertau Biergrten, Sunday May 21 as part of Hallertau's Month of Sundays series in May.
Allana Goldsmith is a jazz singer in the classic vein of singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, backed by Jason Orme on drums, Jo Shum on bass and Marc Baynes on keyboards.
Allana Goldsmith has been singing as a part of the Auckland jazz scene for 10yrs. She came up through the ranks playing with and being mentored by some of the senior jazz greats of New Zealand, who were, according to Goldsmith ‘“highly instrumental in furthering [her] jazz education.”
Allana is New Zealand Maori/European. Her iwi are Ngati Porou and Ngai Tai. She was born in Ruatoria, East Cape, and moved to Auckland when she was 6yrs old.
Allana Goldsmith is a rare gem. The kind of artist one hears for the first time and is immediately captivated by. To skillfully blend Te Reo, her native language, with modern pop/ jazz standards, plus creating her own original songs, is a path less travelled and not for the faint hearted.
Her preparedness to take on challenging projects and to do them well is impressive. Her voice is strong and in many ways she is reminiscent of the great singers of the past.
What is not redolent of past singers, however, is her preparedness to tackle adventurous modern projects, also.
At a renowned 2013 CJC showcase Goldsmith selected a few well-known and some lessor performed standards, and, to stamp her own mark on them, sung often in Te Reo Maori.
Allana Goldsmith’s unique approach to the music is highlighted in her original voice. It is tempting to think of songs sung in Te Reo Maori as being different or apart from European traditions. In Goldsmith’s case that is not so as she has maintained the integrity of both traditions.
The best illustration of this at the CJC event was her brilliant rendition of the Miles Davis tune, ‘In a Silent Way’. This was the first tune of her set and she used it as a Karakia or blessing. The notion of using this open, spiritual number to unify the audience and to call down blessings was a perfect beginning.
