CD Review: Mark Pringle – A Moveable Feast

(Review by Russell)

Much has been written about Mark Pringle. All of it positive, all of it justified. The young pianist’s debut CD A Moveable Feast is set for release on September 18 (Pringle Trio can be heard live at Jazz Café this Friday, Sept. 11). Place your order now. A graduate of Birmingham Conservatoire, Pringle has composed and arranged eight pieces for large ensemble. Fusing twenty first century contemporary composition with the freedom inherent in the jazz idiom, A Moveable Feast is an impressive recording. 

Pringle spent time living in Paris. His sojourn in the French capital inspired the writing of original material, as did reading Ernest Hemingway and listening to Olivier Messiaen. A homage to the avant-garde composer opens the CD. A Real Bombshell (the reaction of the Frenchman on first seeing a score by Debussy) begins freely, drummer Euan Palmer’s big groove displaces any hint of dissonance in advance of trumpeter Percy Purseglove’s fiery solo.

Ode To The Trees, Pringle’s response to the Bois de Boulogne, opens with Dan Searjeant and Alicia Gardener-Trejo (the ensemble’s flautists) pointing to the canopy, identifying a chorus of noise up high. The core trio – piano, bass and drums – settle into a subtle swing feel, the orchestra flitting about atop of it.

On more than one occasion Pringle pitches pizzicato strings against woodwind sections to great effect, evinced in Happy Plants (Part1). The composer succeeds in combining often incompatible elements (to some ears) in jazz – brass, reeds and strings. To achieve results as good as on this recording at the age of twenty four is no mean feat.

A slow-drag blues feel with alto to the fore – Hasha’s Theme – is a major highlight of the CD. Subtlety is a recurring aspect; Monk, deceptively simple/complex, so too Pringle. At various points on A Moveable Feast one assumes the composer was ‘out front’ to conduct his ensemble, such are the orchestrations. It would be interesting to a) see Pringle’s charts and b) hear him talk about his methods/process of composing. 
Mark Pringle has received plaudits and awards from tutors and the wider jazz community – it is only a matter of time before he becomes a household name. A Moveable Feast will be released on September 18 on Stoney Lane Records (catalogue no. SLR1954). There is an opportunity to hear Pringle’s music during September. He is taking it on the road to a venue near you. The large ensemble dates have been and gone, however Pringle (piano) and the bass and drums pairing of James Banner and Euan Palmer can be heard in concert at Matt and Phred’s, Manchester tomorrow (Tuesday 8), the delightfully named Butterfly and the Pig, Glasgow (9), the Jazz Bar, Edinburgh (10), Newcastle’s Jazz Café (11) and a few other dates before finishing up in London with a four-date run working as a quintet.

Mark Pringle’s A Moveable Feast comes highly recommended. The recording is on the short list for ‘CD of the Year’ and hearing Pringle live should be a priority.     

Russell.

Mark Pringle (piano), Percy Pursglove (trumpet), Chris Young (alto saxophone), Dan Searjeant (tenor & alto saxophones, flute), Alicia Gardener-Trejo (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone, alto flute), Christine Cornwell (violin), Sarah Farmer (violin), Megan Jowett (viola), Lucy French (cello), Ben Lee (guitar), James Banner (double bass) & Euan Palmer (drums)