Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Affinity - Live Instrumentals 1969 CD (album) cover

LIVE INSTRUMENTALS 1969

Affinity

 

Eclectic Prog

3.26 | 12 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

kev rowland
Special Collaborator
Honorary Reviewer
3 stars By the end of 1968 singer Linda Hoyle had strained her voice and had to undergo an operation which meant the she was unable to sing or even talk for a month. But, there were still bills to pay so the other four members of Affinity decided to go it alone as an instrumental act until she could rejoin. They were booked into Ronnie Scott's and one night their session was taped and it nine tracks from this set that makes up the majority of this album. Four songs are taken from a radio session while the last number goes back to pre-Affinity days and 1965 and the US Jazz Trio.

None of the songs are originals but the band show that they can take a standard and adapt it with ease so at one moment they can be playing Miles Davis' "All Blues" then can go into "A Day In The Life" which actually works very well indeed as a jazz instrumental. While Mo Foster and Grant Serpell kept the rhythm section nailed it allowed guitarist Mike Jopp and organist Lynton Naiff to play melody or go off at a tangent as they desired. Given how powerful their arrangements are it is probably of little surprise to see that Lynton later worked as an arranger for bands as diverse as Gene, Gay Dad and Page/Plant!

After the first nine songs Ronnie Scott thanks the audience etc, then it is into the four songs recorded for an American Jazz FM station (three of the numbers are repeated) then finally into "On Green Dolphin Street" by the band that would become Affinity. Good sleeve notes and photos as well as powerful jazz make this an album that can be easily enjoyed.

Originally appeared in Feedback #72, Feb 03

kev rowland | 3/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this AFFINITY review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.