Geoff Eales Trio - Master of the Game

Edition Records: EDN1011

Geoff Eales, piano;
Chris Laurence, bass;
Martin France, drums

This album is constructed from a broad palette of original material from a truly imaginative jazz pianist, who, seeming to have hearkened to every other jazz pianist, but has not given up on listening to himself. Both his writing and his playing are faultlessly inventive, rhythmical and melodic and have inspired a corresponding response from Chris Laurence on double bass and Martin France on drums. Whether played pizzicato or arco, Laurence’s bass is powerfully articulate and harmonious, deeper and richer than velvet, while Martin France’s percussion keeps time in tune to an atomic clock.

Master of the Game is ‘Magister Ludi’ on the album, a luxuriantly spectacular piece of writing and playing, leaning towards the sacred song through the bowed manipulations of the bass. There is a world of difference between this dramatic work and ‘Song for my Mother’ which is by contrast commemorative, this time a song of praise, delivered without embellishment. The eighth and final track on this exquisite album is ‘Sudden Departure’ fittingly entitled and a fitting nod towards one of Geoff’s influences, Bill Evans. Here Evan’s piano attack is seen in a setting cadenced in accord with present-day styling, revitalizing quite.

Altogether this is an outstanding album, all the more so as it is idiosyncratic in a genre which seems to favour collections from among jazz standards or the American song book. Well done Geoff and the trio and Edition Records.

Reviewed by

ken cheetham
March 23rd 2009