Nate Najar Debut Event

Spaghettini, Seal Beach, CA

Guitar: Nate Najar

Keyboard: Ron Reinhardt

Bass: Rufus Philpot

Drums: Third Richardson

I arrived well before sound check. Okay, my jazzy readers, a little warm up, anyone? Mark my words, from what I’m hearing this moment. Something good is coming our way tonight.

Drummer Third Richardson~

“The bass right where it’s at is perfect!”

Bassist Rufus~

“I can hear a lot of you.”

Third~

“How can we rectify this situation?”

Music Director, Q~

“I’ve got three right now.”

Rufus~

“As long as we can get enough drums acoustically.”

Q~

“You wanna just take that?”

Rufus~

“So, let’s just do this! Let’s try it! I don’t wanna hear the drums overpowering. Let’s try it.”

Guitarist Nate pointed to the speaker~

“Q, this one’s comin’ up again! Just a hair of drums and a hair of bass guitar, I think that’s good. Can I have a little more reverb? We’re good, thank you!”

Lights went up and hat-clad guitarist Nate opened with his blissful half-smile and jazzy guitar riffs. Najar strummed a sassy attention getter and handed the tune to a cool-looking cat, drummer Third Richardson. Richardson fired up the drum corner wearing mysteriously-fun sunglasses while the rest of a perfectly-timed band slipped in on their opener, Human Nature. Nate continued to share an amazing chemistry with Third. The final fade was stellar.

Nate Najar~

“How y’all feelin’ tonight? Glad you came out on a holiday weekend! My name is Nate Najar. I came all the way from Florida, so I’m really glad to be here! All the stuff we’re playin’ is from our new CD which we’ll sign and sell a little later. This is a tune called Samba De Noite.”

It was evident early on that guitarist Najar possesses an undeniable ‘it’ factor. Stage energy was on high when he ignited a fully-engaged audience clap. Drummer Third threw out a little primal music banter as he dished out his fiery licks.

Nate~

“Com’on, we need a little encouragement!”

The crowd stepped up to his challenge when bassist Rufus Philpot edged his way front stage, center and walloped a thumpin’ bumpin solo. Everyone in the audience joined him in the zone, clapping eagerly.

Nate~

“Rufus Philpot on the bass!”

Third called out amidst a drumming party he had going in the corner pocket. His head swayed from side-to-side while he thwacked and whacked a rhythm second to none.

Nate~

“Thank you!”

Najar turned to the band~

“Alright, guys!”

After struggling with an electric cord, Nate joked~

“Now, I’m all twisted up here. And I was trying to be smooth! We’re gonna play It’s a Good Day, not to be confused with the Peter White version. This is It’s a Good Day and I hope you enjoy it!”

The tune was smooth, smooth, smooth and Nate nailed it! Najar made a California name for himself tonight with this triple wow. Keyboardist Ron Reinhardt grabbed a stray volley and gifted an off-the-chain solo.

Nate~

“Ron Reinhardt on the keyboards!”

The crowd went completely nuts! Still playing while clowning around with Ron, bassist Rufus didn’t miss a beat.

Nate~

“Thank you! Thank you! This next one is my absolute favorite song to play. We’re not gonna start preaching to you tonight because it’s Friday night. Except to say, this is my ABSOLUTE favorite song to play! This is called What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”

A mellow chill seeped in when Nate covered the stage with his passion for this song. He played with his eyes closed through most of the night and this cut was no exception. He took his strings along with us to jazz heaven while Reinhardt outdid himself with another keyboard solo.

Nate~

“Thank you! Thank you very much! This next song is off my new record. This song is named after my cat. It’s called D’jango and Mowgli.”

After a slight string adjustment, Nate quipped~

“These instruments have a way of going out of tune when you least want

them to. Bear with me!”

Nate shook up a little percussion between the strings while keyboardist Ron tore into it.

Rufus~

“Oooow!”

Bassist Philpot hit it hard and rolled the house. Guitarist Nate’s scattin’ style entered on the sly while Ron added his musical two cents. What a vibe these guys have!

Nate~

“Thank you very much! Thank you! We’re gonna slow it down a bit and do a slow jam. I wanna introduce you to these wonderful musicians. If you want, you can take drummer Third home for a small fee,” he joked. “With the exception of Rufus who swam across the ocean to get here, we all came from Florida. We’ll be selling CDs and we’d love to get to know you. Okay, I’m done talking. This song is called Until Now.”

The ‘sway’ entered the room immediately on this one. Ron took us to Never Never Land with his chops, then handed it off to Nate and the band for a smooth ride to jazz bliss.

Najar~

“So, you know how I said I wasn’t gonna preach? You know, there’s a story behind every song. Sometimes you just get up on the wrong side of a day. I wrote this song because I got up one day kinda like what we’re talking about, adversity. Sounds like what you’re supposed to do to get through it.”

Najar’s band offered the slow and easy with a thick, steady beat of positive energy on this cut. Keyboardist Reinhardt took this one to the moon along with the band. Guitarist Nate slipped off the stage, leaving Ron whacking the keys, Third getting’ crazy on the drums and Philpot being his off-the-hook self on bass.

Third Richardson said to Ron~

“Wow, that’s alright now, boy!”

Bassist Rufus, drummer Third and keyboardist Ron played like mad dogs while Nate weaved through the venue serenading an awestruck audience. He rejoined the guys on stage and the crowd went crazy.

Nate~

“Thank you! Look who I found out in the parking lot, ladies and gentlemen! This is my dear friend, Jessie J!”

Jessy~

“Show ‘em what you got!”

Nate started things off with another overhead clap while Saxtress Jessie blew it out! Her surprise appearance sent the crowd into orbit.

Nate~

“Jessy J!”

Jessy pointed to Najar~

“Nate Nadar!”

J volleyed back-and-forth with Nate until the two successfully blew the doors off the place. The entire band rocked the house sideways and inside out!

I took my usual second set breather but the pen was tough to set down! They realigned the stars! Drummer Third was positively lit up! Rufus threw quite a few wows into the mix and Ron cranked it out. Guitarist Najar took it upon himself to wire in some funky funk on Cold Duck. His rendition of Always There reinvented the guitar. That was a triple wow, my new friend! What a jam, what jazz and oh, what a night!

Thanks, to guitarist Nate Najar and his band for a great night of jazz. “Okay, guys, my question to you. When are you coming back? We want more!”