Back in 1980 when there actually still was a country called Yugoslavia, Georgie Fame was invited there for the first time to sing with a local big band. The bass player from that outfit, Mario Mavrin, turns up on this record of a dozen tunes, Fame explains in the notes to brand new album Lost In a Lover’s Dream released on Fame’s own label Three Line Whip, as does quietly accomplished Slovenian guitarist Primož Grašič who Fame also knows from his visits to the Balkans.
Fame clearly relished playing at the Bosko Petrovic Jazz Club in Zagreb, and this album was recorded not in Croatia but Slovenia earlier this year, clearly a memento of happy days all these years on.
Opening with Amen Corner founder Andy Fairweather-Low’s tongue-in-cheek ‘Wide-Eyed and Legless’, Fame, who only sings on the album, there isn’t an organ in sight Hammond or otherwise and no drums either, is on insightfully tender form on ‘My Foolish Heart’ and customarily wry on ‘Sking Blues.’
There are a number of Fame originals including ‘Say When’, ‘Singing Horn’, ‘How Blue’ and the title track itself, and the abiding impression throughout is of Fame sounding as if he’s enjoying himself. It’s a stress-free set of comfortable but rewarding songs, with Fame singing his heart out displaying tremendous artistry and that tone, that style no one can replicate. It’s also tinged with a little sadness at times especially on the rather beautiful vocal on ‘Singing Horn.’
Fame fans starved of a new album for a little while will love this record I’m sure. Out of the blue it may be, but it’s great to have an album as good as this just showing up unannounced. Stephen Graham
Released on 8 October. Georgie Fame pictured top tours in November. Dates are: The Grand, Clitheroe (7 Nov); The Platform, Morecambe (8 Nov); Buccleugh Arts Centre, Carlisle (9 Nov); R&B Club, Mickleton (10 Nov); Floral Hall, New Brighton (11 Nov); Subscription Rooms, Stroud (13 Nov); Millfield Theatre, Edmonton (14 Nov); Ropetackle, Shoreham by Sea (15 Nov); Capitol, Horsham (16 Nov); Gulbenkian, Canterbury (17 Nov); The Globe, Cardiff (19 Nov); Palace Theatre, Paignton (20 Nov); Electric Palace, Bridport (21 Nov); Cheese and Grain, Frome (22 Nov); and Sturmer Hall, Haverhill (24 Nov).