Duncan
Eagles (tenor sax); Tomasz Bura (piano, synth); Max Luthert (bass); Zoe Pascal
(drums)
Sometimes, after listening to some Albanian folk/jazz*, you just want to listen to someone blowing. If that’s you, and, if you don’t mind some heavy duty rhythmic support and a drummer who sounds like she’d be happy to run through buildings, then this album is for you. It would probably be best described as post-bop, though, these days that seems to cover a multitude of styles without really saying anything. Suffice to say, it’s energetic with strong melodies and stronger playing by a very tight unit that you would be overjoyed to listen to down at the Globe on a Sunday evening. It would be a great way to end the weekend.
I mainly know of Eagles
from his membership of Partikel and he is featured on an album I recently
reviewed, namely Ignored Advice by
Estraven as well as other albums I own by Samuel Eagles and Ollie Howell. He
also maintains a career as a teacher.
The album opens with
bold, clean sax lines being driven by Pascal’s drums. It’s a call to arms, but
one with a noire-ish edge. Some angular rhythms see piano, bass and drums drop
in and out before Bura embarks on a long solo powered from behind by Pascal’s
drumming. Eagles’ sax elevates the tune. There is none of the weight associated
with being the sole lead instrument in this band and he carries the role
easily.
Elden
is
a piece that builds across its six minutes to a wailing, bellowing,
overpowering sax solo that drowns out the band and is worth the price of
admission on its own. Pascal’s drumming grows from splashes of cymbal to a four
to the floor regular beat before she follows Eagles in some of his wilder
imaginings.
Suburbiton
sees
us in more familiar territory. It’s mid-pace, shuffling rhythm deceives and its
apparent mainstream opening leads into a heavily chordal piano solo and staccato
drumming whilst Luthert holds it all together on the bass. After all the
frantic action, a breathy sax solo over cymbal splashes and regular bass notes
show us how far from the mainstream we’ve travelled in the last 8 minutes before
everything breaks up and down and out again. Surbiton was never like this on The Good Life, what would Margo and
Gerry say? I believe, at times like this we are required to say that we have
been on a journey.
Local
Hero is a delicate duet for bass and sax. Unlike anything
else on the album, it is not out of place and seems to be an opportunity for
the listener to catch their breath.
Severance
takes
us round some oblique corners before Bura plays a lyrical solo backed by
Pascal’s light cymbal wash and occasional bass drum thumps; the two seem to be
pulling the tune in opposite directions with the energy of an argument but the
intelligence of a debate. Eagles’ sax suddenly comes in and draws it all
together again.
I was reminded of Joe
Henderson playing the covers on his State
of The Tenor during Rosebush, another
delicate edge-of-the-seat ballad that has you leaning in so as to capture every
nuance. Bura takes over after a flowing, lyrical solo from Eagles and matches
him whilst Pascal gently covers all of the kit and, as he has done for much of
the album so far, Luthert is the rock on which the others build.
Closer, The Bakehouse, is another hyperactive, multi-rhythmic
blow. Its points all round to those responsible for recording and mixing this
album as the separation and clarity of each instrument is excellent and you can
hear what everyone is doing individually and collectively. The Bakehouse is full of fury and its sudden end leaves you feeling
a little lost and stranded.
There’s a huge amount of
variety and imagination across the album and often within a single tune. There
are no wasted moments and it feels longer than its allotted 46 minutes, but in
a good way. I like this album a lot and I’m going to put it at the end of the
shelf next to Phoenix
by Lakecia Benjamin so I remember it for my end of year lists.
Duncan Eagles’ website, which can be found HERE, is a good example of how to maintain a musician’s website with lots of video and music clips and plenty of info about Eagles and his projects. Narrations is released on 19th May on digital and CD formats. Dave Sayer
* Lost Ships by Elina Duni
and Rob Luft (very good album, despite the dismissive comment above)
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