Celebrated sidemen share songs at Rex show
By Michael Witthaus
mwitthaus@hippopress.com
Alone or between them, Jeff Kazee and G.E. Smith have an enviable list of credits. Keyboard player and singer Kazee was Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes’ longtime Music Director. He’s toured with everyone from Dar Williams and Bon Jovi to the Blues Brothers, and occasionally filled in for Paul Schaeffer as Late Show with David Letterman’s band leader.
Guitarist Smith has served as the secret ingredient of superstars dating back to his days with Hall & Oates, where his licks were key to the duo’s run of five straight multi-platinum albums, starting with 1980’s Voices. Beyond that, he led the SNL Band for a decade, and supported big names like David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner and Roger Waters.
The two have a history of more than 25 years playing together. They’re in Manchester for an evening that promises spontaneity.
“We get together before a gig and rehearse a set list,” Smith said in a recent Zoom chat. “But in the middle of the gig, one of us will say, ‘Hey, let’s play … boom.’ We’ve never played it together before, but we do it because we know the songs.”
Along with a multi-genre concert that includes favorites from both along with solo songs, the two will share memories of their storied and eventful careers. As Smith has no plans to write a memoir, onstage tales like the one about how he came to appear in Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” video must suffice.
“A couple times, publisher-type people talked to me about writing a book, but they want to hear salacious stuff … sex and drug stories,” he said. “That’s so boring to me; that’s not the good stuff.” More interesting is talking about rehearsing a band backing George Harrison, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash and other greats for Bob Dylan’s celebration concert in 1993.
Another was how Saturday Night Live’s practice of having the band play bumper music to fill the gap between the end of a skit and commercial became a star-studded segment, with legends like Eddie Van Halen and Muddy Waters making pop-up appearances with Smith, T-Bone Wolk and the rest of their bandmates.
Created by producer Lorne Michaels, the first few used just the SNL Band, until Smith had an idea.
“I went to Lorne and said, ‘When there’s a good guitar player in town, can I have them come and sit in?’ It became a kind of a thing. A lot of bands on the road [told] me that they’d always look to see who was playing that week with the band. That’s a cool thing.”
In a 2006 documentary about Smith, 50 Watt Fuse, he likened himself to Harry Dean Stanton with a guitar. A supporting actor, he reasoned, excels by drawing attention to the best attributes of the people he works alongside. He’s tried to do the same in his musical collaborations.
For that, he’s grateful. He also believes getting his chance is down to good fortune as much as any other factor.
“I was just lucky,” he said. “You happen to meet somebody and then that person gets you on to the next person. That’s the way my … let’s use the word ‘career’ — that’s the way my career went.”
Among his many collaborations, were there any that surprised him? “I think they all did,” Smith replied. “Because you learn from these people. There’s a reason they’re well-known. It’s because they’re talented and they’ve got something to offer, whether it’s Daryl and John or Mick Jagger, Bowie or Bob Dylan, whoever.”
Asked if there were any he’d like to do but hadn’t, Smith answered, “I always kind of wished I could have been in one of Neil Young’s bands. I did get to play with him a little bit here and there, but to really be in his band and go on the road … I think I would have done a good job at that because I love his music, and I love his guitar playing.”
An Evening With Jeff Kazee & G.E. Smith
When: Thursday, Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester
Tickets: $35 at palacetheatre.org
Featured photo: GE Smith. Courtesy photo.
