With the exception of Sonny Rollins and a small number of others, chordless trios can be a pointless indulgence for the players and boredom for the listener. Not so with Echo Fields. With Echo Fields Julian Argüelles can be added to the elite list headed by Sonny Rollins. Whether on soprano or tenor but, particularly on the former, his purity of sound floats in the most mesmeric way over the empathy shown by Grenadier and Rossy both of whom bring their own strengths of creativity to the session.
Argüelles composed all but one of the pieces with dedications to Brian Kellock, Martin France and Dudu Pukwana cited. The one piece that Julian didn't compose although he could have done if he'd been born a hundred years earlier is Nimrod. However, it was Eddie Elgar who got in first with the piece - one of his most-loved works and part of his Enigma Variations. Argüelles puts his own stamp on it whilst still retaining the pastoral mood of the original with some of the most beautiful soprano sax playing I've heard for many a year. If Elgar had been born one hundred years later I rather think he would have approved.
Make no mistake this is one to add to the bucket list and, although the release date isn't until March 27, tomorrow (Jan. 28) is his 60th birthday and he's celebrating it at the 606 in London where I'm sure he'll be performing some of the numbers live. Conor Chaplin and James Maddren will be on bass and drums respectively along with Gwilym Simcock on piano. Sounds like it's gonna be quite a night - you're only 60 once! Lance
Lek-Lock; Leap Year Marvel; Blues For Dudu; Blues For Jess; Nimrod; Such Sweet Madness; The Invisible Thread; The Canary's Song; Beating About the Bush
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