Affīñīty

Affinity, an English jazz-rock ensemble, issued just a lone album and single across their short span, yet this output, though little known, stands as a vital testament to the psychedelic rock and progressive fusion that numerous similar outfits pursued in the early 1970s. Devotees of rare psychedelic relics continue to prize the group, and while their 1970 self-titled LP constituted their sole contemporary release, several later anthologies have drawn from surviving archival tapes. Cherry Red Records issued a four-disc remastered and expanded edition of that album in 2021, encompassing live recordings and additional obscurities.

The group coalesced over the closing years of the 1960s from a jazz trio of University of Sussex science students—Lynton Naiff on keyboards, Nick Nicholas on upright bass, and Grant Serpell on drums. Mo Foster soon supplanted Nicholas on bass. The lineup reached its definitive shape once guitarist Mike Jupp and vocalist Linda Hoyle joined, the latter’s blues-tinged delivery lending distinct personality to the ensemble’s fusion of jazz virtuosity and psychedelic exploration. Affinity secured a deal with Vertigo for the 1970 self-titled album, which featured bold reinterpretations of material by Bob Dylan and the Everly Brothers along with one track whose brass arrangement was supplied by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. Critics responded favorably and the band maintained a busy performance schedule, yet they disbanded soon after the record appeared and each member pursued separate musical paths. In subsequent decades the group joined the ranks of obscure progressive acts whose albums became collector targets. Their archives yielded unreleased instrumentals, live sets, and further rarities that surfaced across multiple compilations over the years.