A magnificent piece of archive scouring,
Live Instrumentals 1969 was recorded during the month or so that
Affinity vocalist
Linda Hoyle spent recuperating from an operation on her vocal chords, leaving bandmates
Mo Foster, Mike Jupp, Lynton Naiff, and Grant Serpell to fill their time with a month-long residency at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London. Nine of the tracks here, including tumultuous jazz-rock versions of
the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" (a staple of the like-minded
Brian Auger's repertoire around the same time), and "Fever" were recorded there; four more were taken from a period-radio broadcast, and the disc wraps up with the instrumental rampage "On Green Dolphin Street," recorded by the University of Sussex Jazz Trio, from which the original
Affinity ultimately arose. A great-sounding album,
Live Instrumentals is further distinguished by a sleeve that hangs perfectly alongside the band's own debut album. ~ Dave Thompson