“Afterglow” 

Keith & Lyndsey with New Tricks and other artists —  2011

Reviewer: Franc Sterling.

Both Keith Garratt and Lyndsey Sinclair come from long backgrounds of performing music.

Lyndsey began singing in Rotorua but soon moved to Auckland to perform on stage, radio and TV alongside many top acts. She later worked in Australia and the USA. Keith has worked both in NZ and overseas as a pianist and musical director for stage shows. He has also written a musical which has been staged in Rotorua.

Two very talented people and here they have opened up their duo to accommodate the rhythm section of Peter Green (bass) and Bill Blackbourn (drums) with Barry Smith (solo guitar/banjo). The five piece is known as ‘New Tricks’. Two extra guest musicians, Paul Sanders (trumpet/trombone) and Mike Garner (harmonica) add extra colouring to three of the tracks.

This CD covers some of the great songs from the 20^th Century.  These 13 tracks feature music from Billie Holliday to Mike Batt (The Wombles), Hoagy Carmichael to Billy Field. The Latin feel of ‘Sway’ takes us back to Mexico via the Dean Martin version we heard on our airwaves. ‘Bad Habits’ was another song that saturated radio in 1981, coming out of Australia. This version has trumpet player Paul Sanders soloing up a storm.

The blues is served up with the track ‘Miss Celie’s Blues’, a Quincy Jones composition for the film ‘The Colour Purple’, with Mike Garner on harmonica. Billie Holliday’s moving song from the early 1940s, ‘God Bless the Child’ shows them off in their role as a vocal and piano duo. Tasteful.

The ‘live in the studio’ feel suits these songs and the band understands what is required of them, playing with the required subtlety. This is a perfect snapshot of Lyndsey and Keith.

Recommended:

‘God Bless the Child’, ‘The Closest Thing to Crazy’

Available:                                                                   Info:

www.newtricksafterglow.com/purchase.html        www.newtricksafterglow.com