Nate Smith's Superstar Quartet

The Nate Smith Quartet made our journey to downtown Baltimore on a rainy Friday night worthwhile, with a great set featuring the Christian McBride (bass), Marquis Hill (trumpet), and Geoffrey Keezer (piano and rhodes). The overall vibe of the set was mostly straightahead jazz, and just a little of Smith’s forays into pop and hip hop shining through. Each band member contributed adventuresome solos to most songs, for example, some unusual piano solos by Keezer. As a bass player, I was particularly glad that McBride had space to stretch out and show what he can do. Marquis Hill covered a wide range of moods to perfection.

It was my first time to the re-incarnation of the Keystone Korner in Baltimore. The club has as storied history in San Francisco, closing in 1983 (I went to SF in 1985). It was a big, clean room with good sound and quite good food for a jazz club. Next time, I’d pay for the premium tickets to sit closer.

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