IN CONCERT

I was having a 'conversation' with Andy Didorenko one day, and I said that I had never heard their live album which was recorded in Moscow at the end of 2009. His response was that he was never entirely happy with it as it was hard for the four of them to reproduce the material on stage. There was a lot of instrument switching, arrangements had to be simplified and keyboards were utilised for bass. He finished by saying that he wished that they had an orchestra at their disposal like ELP had in '77, but if I really wanted to hear it then he would send me a copy. Well, if he is disappointed in this I really want to hear something that he is entirely happy with! Lost World Band are Vassili Soloviev (vocal, flute, guitar, keys), Andrii Didorenko (acoustic and electric guitar, violin), Konstantin Yudin (keys) and Veniamin Rozov (drums), and they push the boundaries between prog, jazz and classical so much so that the lines are completely blurred as they trample all over any sort of musical restraints.

When Andy is in full flight on violin then it is as if they are channelling KBB and turning them into something even more dramatic and powerful. "Samum" is a case in point, as while Andy often takes the lead, the reason that it works so well is due to the support with Vassili swapping between flute and guitar, Konstantin providing some incredibly deft pianowork and Veniamin driving it along ferociously from the back. But there are other songs when Vassili is very much the melodic lead and Andy provides support. The strength of these guys is their incredible musicality (remember these guys started off when Vassili and Andy met while undertaking classical studies at a conservatory), their knowledge of musical structure and arrangement, and their downright refusal to conform to any sort of preconceived ideas of what they should be doing.

This is what prog music should be about, musical dexterity and complexity while at the same time capturing the listener so that they have to stay right to the very end. Andy may not be completely happy with this album, but I am. If this doesn't deserve five stars then nothing does. www.lostworldband.com