For a band whose own career stretched no further than one self-titled album that is worshipped as much for its scarcity as its actual quality,
Affinity has proven quite the shelf-stuffer in recent years. Vocalist
Linda Hoyle's solo album, and the band's attempts to continue on without her, have both seen release, and now the clock turns back to the years before
Affinity was even dreamed of, in the form of drummer
Mo Foster and pianist
Lynton Naiff's earliest collaboration.
Alongside double-bassist
Nick Nicholas -- now a philosophy lecturer in Canada, trivia fans -- the pair formed the succinctly and so accurately named
Jazz Trio, and it's their recordings that make up this set, a clutch of songs recorded in sundry locations around their university base: a rudimentary studio, the debating chamber, and various noisy bars.
It's fairly straightforward stuff; the trio's repertoire was locked into light jazz arrangements of sundry pop and torch classics, and little about
Origins could ever prepare the listener for the full force of the later
Affinity. There is, however, one definite treat on board, as the final track, a reprise of "My Funny Valentine," reunites
Nicholas and
Foster at a 1980 party, then adds
Hoyle's so distinctive vocals to the brew. It isn't brilliant, it isn't especially well-recorded. But it does lend a neat circularity to the collection. ~ Dave Thompson