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| © John Lyons |
Lorne Lofsky
(guitar); Nigel Price (guitar); Jeremy Brown (double bass); Joel Barford
(drums)
As Russell, BSH's "have suitcase will travel" roving reporter, had already covered gigs by the quartet in Aberdeen and Hexham which followed the same set list, it left me little to add other than to tick all of the boxes in the previous reviews and to sum up Sunday night's session at the Globe in one word - PERFECTION!
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| © John Lyons |
It brought to mind a similar concert by Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis at the then Newcastle Playhouse (now Northern Stage) as part of the 1984 Newcastle Jazz Festival.
That concert too was perfection and surely it is no coincidence that Kessel and Ellis, like Lorne Lofsky, both cut their teeth with Oscar Peterson. Had Nigel Price been born sooner or Peterson later I'm sure that his name too would have been inscribed on that Roll of Honour.
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| © John Lyons |
The room was comfortably full and from the opening downstroke of the thumb, plectrum or whatever we were off to the races.Solos all round, fours and some awesome interplay between the two guitarists brought whoops and hollers that would have been as welcome at the Gallowgate end as they deservedly were at the Railway St. end. I Remember You and I'll remember them.
Blossom's Sweet Georgie Fame in 3/4 then an Invitation that began with a poignant opening chorus or two by Lorne that gradually built up to some powerhouse percushioning from Barford.
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| © John Lyons |
The Van Heusen/Bilko classic Nancy with the Laughing Face led to Bitter Suite. A blues from the pen of Sam Jones, another Peterson alumnus, that brought the first set to a close with everyone slugging it out. The contrasting, yet complementing guitar styles of Nigel and Lorne, bassist Brown standing tall both physically and musically and Barford providing the drive to get them over the line left me with a feeling of satisfaction and we were only at the halfway point.
Morning Star opened up the second set. Lorne managed to slot a few bars of With a Song in my Heart into his solo. He was seemingly in a quotation mood as during Bluesette he found room for snatches of Take the A Train, Mona Lisa, So Nice, the More I See You and the Surrey with the Fringe on top - all in 3/4 time!
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| © Ken Drew |
I Hear a Rhapsody featured a very melodic bass solo from Brown and some meaningful exchanges between bass and drums. Estate, an unusually slow bossa, before Peterson's Sushi with Barford's final workout signifying the sound of the great amen - there were no lost chords from Lofsky & Price or Price & Lofsky, call it as you will, both were at the top of their game.
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| © Ken Drew |
The consensus amongst the cognoscenti as we bid our reluctant farewells was that this had been one of those rare nights that stay with you until the bell tolls... Move over Barney and Herb, you've got company. Lance
P.S.: Normally photographers are never there when you want them to be there. On this occasion there were more photographers at the Globe than you'd find shooting the catwalk on London Fashion week!
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