Sussex-wide dates for George Harrison celebration

The duo comprises Alex Eberhard, front man of the ten-piece All Things Must Pass Orchestra, and Orchestra guitarist Bernd Rest, and a key part of the attraction, Alex says, is just how portable the duo is – compared to the ten-piece.

“I'm hoping it is something that we might expand. The autumn tour was a trial run and it really went very well. It is just so much easier. We don't need a PA. We are totally self-contained in that respect.”

The ten-piece will be playing four dates in June. Before that it's a long run of two-piece dates including Selsey Town Hall, April 19; Crowborough Community Centre on April 26; Ditchling Village Hall on April 27; Grove Theatre, Eastbourne on May 2; Pulborough Village Hall on May 4; Alfriston Village Hall on May 9; The Steyning Centre on May 11; Billingshurst Centre on May 12; and the Pallant Suite for the Festival of Chichester on June 13. Tickets for all shows on www.allthingsmustpass.co.uk.

“It was quite a revelation that George Harrison's songs are so well crafted that they work either way really well. There's so much substance in the lyrics and musically that you can do something really nice with them either with the two-piece or with the whole orchestra. I know that Bernd really enjoys the two-piece. It gives him so much more freedom. He can add colours in a way that he would not be able to do with that ten-piece and he actually thinks some of the songs work better as a duo. It's lovely to explore the quality of what we can do. And with the duo he is enjoying using his baritone guitar which can cover the lower registers. There are no horn lines or harmonies with the keyboards so you can add more colours and it be noticeable in a way that you probably wouldn't be in the big sound of the ten-piece.

“But I just find it so funny that we are two Austrians together doing this! He is the only Austrian musician that I know here in England. I've been here for years and it's so funny that we both end up in the same region playing in the same band together. It's real connection even though we grew up in different parts of Austria but there are still cultural references that we both get. The first time I met him he was still living in London. His wife is a singer-songwriter and her bass player lives in Brighton. I did some jazz gigs with him and he asked me if I would come to London to a school for a workshop he was doing and play drums. I met Bernd there. He was playing guitar. I didn't see him for a few more years after that and then we met again in a recording studio and to my shame I have to admit that I recognised his guitar before I recognised him! It's quite a special Gibson guitar from the 60s that you don't see every day.”

They will be hoping to do another ten-date duo tour in the autumn, making a total of 20 for this year, and then perhaps increase the number even more for next year: “We can play lots of arts centres and village halls and places that don't necessarily have regular concerts and next year it would be nice to go a bit further afield. And it would be nice to play in Austria sometime!”