Phil
Meadows (alto & soprano saxophones), Laura Jurd (trumpet), Elliot Galvin
(piano & Fender Rhodes ), Conor Chaplin
(double bass & electric bass) & Simon Roth (drums)
(Review by Russell)
The pedigree is impeccable. Phil
Meadows, First Class Honours from Leeds College of Music, postgraduate studies
at Trinity Laban and having occupied the lead alto chair in NYJO, the
Lancastrian has, to date, worked with some of the biggest names on the scene
including John Dankworth, Cleo Laine, Tim Garland and Jason Yarde. Engines of Creation marks the
saxophonist’s debut CD release as bandleader and composer.
An assembly of immensely talented
contemporaries feature across seven tunes; Elliott Galvin’s pivotal keyboards, trumpeter
Laura Jurd’s apposite contributions, drummer Simon Roth’s musicality, Conor
Chaplin’s command of upright and electric bass.
Fin opens with Meadows’ startling alto, double bass features and
Roth’s clattering drums point to the tune’s inspiration – Beats and Pieces drummer
Finlay Panter. Elements of the English folk tradition permeate Moving On, co-existing with the sounds of
the twenty first century Leeds inprov scene. Runner, perhaps the stand out track on
the CD, runs and runs; Jurd’s trumpet runs down Roth’s voodoo rhythms, Elliot
Galvin’s Fender Rhodes joins the pursuit, the referencing of electric Miles evident
as Meadows’ raging alto takes as inspiration the animated antics of Tinsel Town’s
Road Runner relocated to the eternally frustrating South Circular, London.
Flamingos opens with a deceptively measured statement only to be
disturbed by gate-crashing Cecil Taylor pianism. The title track unfolds across
a broad canvas revealing many hues drawn by Meadows, Jurd and Galvin. The Dragon of George recalls an encounter
with a truculent barman in a local hostelry. Chaplin’s electric bass runs rings
around him as Meadows’ goading alto vents its spleen. Meadows disclosed that the
genesis of the closing number – Captain
Kirk – evolved from the arcane world of the British jazz club. It features
first rate understated playing from a highly talented group of ‘new generation’
British jazz musicians.
Engines of Creation is
out now on Boom Better Records (BOOM
006).
Russell.
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