The Jazz Link – San Diego, CA

Ed Bickert and Lorne Lofsky, “This is New” Concord Jazz, ***1/4

By Leonard Feather, The Jazz link, San Diego, CA, July 1990

Two prominent Toronto guitarists…Bickert, 57, and Lofsky, 36…join with two of Canada’s best rhythm purveyors, bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Jerry Fuller, for a low key collaboration on tunes mainly written by fellow jazzmen (Wes Montgomery, Cedar Walton, Horace Silver, Steve Swallow). Each has a solo track; Lofsky’s harmonic grace is well displayed in Billy Strayhorn’s “Star Crossed Lovers.” Both men deal ingeniously wth Charlie Parker’s contrapuntal theme “Ah Leu Cha.” A superior sampling of north-of-the-border jazz.