Kim Zombik Spices Up the Jones Trio at the Arts Block
Kim Zombik was glad to be back in the Valley, if only for a visit, not again as a resident. She moved to Montreal a few years ago after getting some attention with her singing down here. I last saw her sing at the Green River Festival with Unit 7 two years back and last night she was up on stage again at the Arts Block. The good news is that this same group is playing there again tonight at 8 pm, I’d definitely recommend you check it out!
The Jones Trio played the Arts Block and brought Kim out to sing for an enthusiastic crowd. Her wide smile and the contentment of the players (we’re so glad to be playing in Greenfield, they said) made it a nice night of music. The trio of Peter Jones on piano, Joe Fitzpatrick on drums Donny Hayward on bass put forth solid modern jazz, and added in some reggae and even a samba with Kim. Their guest horn player Ricky Page brought a soulful alto and soprano sax to the mix.
I spotted a few friends from Northampton, thinking that once again, here was Greenfield drawing people north on a Thursday night with cutting edge jazz, and Arts Block owner Ed Wierzbowski told me it was being recorded and taped…part of his ultimate plan to create television with the live music he’s made happen so often here at the ‘Block. He wants to find someone to run the bar so he can concentrate on making television out of these fantastic live performances here.
These days Kim doesn’t get to sing that much up in Montreal, though she loves living in this diverse city, “where people speak seven different languages on one block.” She teaches yoga five days a week, and thoroughly enjoys her life up north after nearly 20 years as a Valley resident.
From the gentle samba to a song “Sweet Thing” she said she first sang for another musician she wanted to date, Kim covered a lot of musical ground. They came back with an encore of an old Les McCann song, “Compared to What,” –a perfect question–since it’s rare to hear music like this in Greenfield on a typical Thursday night.