Review and photos by Craig Eriksson 15.08.2024
On a Thursday school night, Australian Musician paid a visit to Jack Howard & The Long Lost Brothers & a Sister at the homely venue, George Lane in St.Kilda. Jack Howard is best known as the trumpet player for iconic Australian band Hunters & Collectors. He’s responsible for many of the legendary brass arrangements of numerous Hunters’ gems, in fact his sublime trumpet parts on the Hunters’ classic ‘Blind Eye’ are a work of art. Jack is also a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who has played with a host of great bands such as Midnight Oil, You Am I, The Living End, Pete Murray, The Violent Femmes just to name a few. His concept show Epic Brass, playing classic brassy Australian hits is one to catch too if it’s ever playing nearby, as too is his Burt Bacharach Tribute with The Ambassadors of Love.
Tonight, Jack was joined by his ‘brothers’, Nicky Del Rey (guitar/backing vocals), Ed Bates (pedal steel), Rob Walker (bass), Cal McAlpine (drums) and his ‘sister’ Amy Valent Curlis (percussion/backing vocals). They share a long standing connection and you could feel and sense the camaraderie between them all, both musically and personally.
Jack announced tonight, “We are going to play some new songs and some old favourites.” The ensemble was an eclectic mix of wonderful instruments that made for a varied tonal and sensory experience. From Jack with his cool, clear vocals and smooth, velvety trumpet and flugelhorn, to the unmistakable pedal steel and the smorgasbord of percussion instruments played masterfully by Amy (including congas, guiro, cowbell, tambourine, triangle, cabasa, and shakers).
The Long Lost Brothers & a Sister performed 5 new songs for this gig (More Like Him, Dream Too Big, Living Your Best Life, I Can’t Fight and Were You Born To Be Alive). Other favourites we enjoyed were Simple Men, City Lights, Let Me Live, Reason to Believe, Restlessness and the witty Frankenstein. The stage backdrops consisted of footage of various suburbs and beaches of Melbourne and St Kilda, areas where most of the band have lived their colourful lives.
Overall, it was a beautiful intimate show of powerful, soulful horn-driven rock music.
Check out Jack Howard’s Linktree to find out more about his many projects
