Jazz fans have a treat in store this month, as Canadian guitar legend Lorne Lofsky heads to the Apollo Theatre in Newport.
Organised by the IW Jazz Weekend team, Lorne joins the Nigel Price Quartet for an afternoon concert on Sunday 15th November 2026.
According to UK Jazz News, few jazz guitarists sound more different from each other than these two.
Two guitarists, two very different voices
Nigel Price, a regular at the annual Isle of Wight Jazz Weekend, plays with a swinging, bebop-flavoured drive and impeccable control. Lorne Lofsky favours rich, pianistic chord voicings and a virtuoso touch.
David Ingamells is one of the most versatile and inventive drummers in the UK and is always highly in demand. Completing the quartet will be double bassist Jeremy Brown, who is definitely the first call for visiting international stars, meaning his CV is ‘absolutely stunning’.
From school dances to Oscar Peterson
Lorne Lofsky grew up in Toronto and began by playing rock at school dances. Miles Davis’s album Kind of Blue then pulled him towards jazz.
He taught himself the guitar, practising for hours every day. In 1980 Oscar Peterson heard him play with a Toronto band and offered to produce his first album.
A career alongside the greats
From 1983 to 1991, Lorne played in a quartet with fellow guitarist Ed Bickert.
Between 1994 and 1996 he toured the world with Peterson’s own group, from Carnegie Hall to the Montreal Jazz Festival.
He has also recorded with Chet Baker and Joey DeFrancesco. He has taught jazz at York University since the late 1970s.
Nigel Price, one of the hardest-working musicians in British jazz
Nigel Price took an unusual route into music, because he left school and joined the army. He then toured Europe with reggae and funk bands before he turned to jazz.
He spent three years with the James Taylor Quartet and ten years with acid jazz outfit The Filthy Six.
His organ trio won the 2010 Parliamentary Jazz Award for best jazz ensemble, and Nigel won the British Jazz Award for best guitarist in 2016.
He has played London’s Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club hundreds of times. In 2017 he also rescued the Swanage Jazz Festival when it faced closure.
Why you should book
Lorne first returned to tour Britain in 2023, after a gap of around 40 years, and Nigel has brought him back each time since.
Island audiences do not often get the chance to see a guitarist with his pedigree up close. The two guitarists have also recorded a live album together, Live at The Globe, at a Newcastle gig on last year’s tour.
The concert starts at 2.30pm, and you can secure your seats by booking tickets from the Ticket Source website or turn up and pay on the door – £12 each, or £8 under 21s.
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