THURSDAY 26 APRIL 2007

CANCELLED - @The Spice of Life

Due to double-booking misunderstanding there will be no last gig at the Spice of Life.

GIG REVIEW from Lunar Lounge:

Horizon 22 at Loose Lips (333 Mother Bar, Old Street)

I've seen Horizon 22 a number of times over the last year and considered them a good Hammond-driven quartet playing a mixture of covers and originals. During this time, however, I'd never been able to co-ordinate getting to one of their gigs where the "proper" line-up was present.

The "proper" line-up comprises the core of Paul Strange (Hammond) and Martin Slade (Guitar) joined by Andrea Trillo (Drums) and Shura Greenberg (Double Bass). In all previous appearance that I had witnessed, the bass vibes were provided by a traditional guitar and the drums by a 'stand-in' so I was intrigued to see what a difference the changes made to their sound.

It was H22s' first appearance at "Loose Lips", a lovely little weekly Sunday afternoon affair at the now famous 333's lesser known "Mother Bar". The quartet were to perform two sets and as the first set began with an excellent version of the theme from "Bullit" the sunlight was still streaming through the windows. The sunbeams, the Mother Bar's New York Skyline backdrop combined with the famous Lalo Schifrin riff, superbly executed by double bass created an atmosphere as if one was actually at the recording of the score to the Steve McQueen classic.

The set continued at a similar pace with versions of Big John Patten's "Soul Woman" and a Slade/Strange arrangement of another Schiffrin theme - "Enter the Dragon". Despite hearing these personal favourites played very well indeed, the highlight of the first set had to be the H22 originals, most notably "Strut" which, with it's delicate vibes and repetitive bassline, would not have been out of place in the chill-out room of the main venue downstairs.

The first set drew a great crowd and after a well earned break and a few beers, the guys began work on the second, starting with another top version of Roy Budd's theme to "Get Carter" and then leading into a collection of original compositions interspersed with the odd cover version, culminating in the upbeat "Seven 32".

As promised by Strange and Slade, the "proper" line-up really added another dimension to Horizon 22, the double bass adding a Red Snapper-esque hue to the backdrop of perfectly executed cover versions of classic lounge tunes.

The originals, however, are what will put this quartet on the map and hopefully those who were witness to the gig will start to spread the word.

Good things are on the Horizon.

Xoh [23.5.03]