Eyeshutight, Dempsey’s, Cardiff, 29/10/2014.

Now working under a condensed band name the trio formerly known as Eyes Shut Tight have been a regular presence on the Jazzmann web pages. Formed in Leeds by bassist and chief composer Paul Baxter in 2010 the trio also features pianist Johnny Tomlinson and drummer Kristoffer Wright, both graduates of Leeds College of Music. The band’s three albums “Evolution” (2010), “The Thaw” (2012) and “Resonance” (2014) document their artistic growth with each album representing a clear progression.

The trio are currently touring in support of the recently released “Resonance”, their strongest effort thus far, and there are clear signs that this album represents something of a breakthrough for the band with almost unanimous critical acclaim, a feature in Jazzwise magazine, and with the group scheduled to appear at the forthcoming EFG London Jazz Festival. 

Although most of the tunes are Baxter’s Eyeshutight are, in fact, highly interactive unit very much in the spirit of the contemporary piano trio. A whole list of contemporary jazz performers have been mentioned as influences on the band among them Keith Jarrett, Phronesis, Avishai Cohen, The Bad Plus, Neil Cowley, Robert Mitchell, Kit Downes and Tom Cawley plus, inevitably, E.S.T, particularly so given Eyes Shut Tight’s initials. More recently parallels have been drawn with emerging talents GoGo Penguin and Mammal Hands.

While it may be fun to play “spot the influence” what became clear tonight in Cardiff is just what an original and inventive outfit Eyeshutight have become. Baxter has stated that the trio’s name stems from its “intuitive group dynamic” and tonight each member was fully attuned to this group aesthetic . Although Baxter is nominally the leader and handled the announcements this was very much a meeting of equals, an ongoing musical conversation with everybody contributing their fair share. There was little conventional jazz soloing, although each instrument sometimes came to the fore, and while jazz was at the heart of the music elements of contemporary rock (Rage Against The Machine and Tool are particular Baxter favourites), hip hop and dance music were evident throughout. In Wright the trio have a drummer who is completely at home with the grooves and broken beats of contemporary dance music and his contribution helped to give the music an unmistakable modern and urban edge. 

In a live situation Eyeshutight like to stretch out and it quickly became clear that improvisation is a very important part of what they do. The bulk of the material played tonight was sourced from the new album with the trio sometimes fusing two tunes together to create lengthy but effective segues.
An excellent example of this was the opening fusion of “Resonance” and “Hit And Hope” which ebbed and flowed in epic fashion, full of incident and dynamic contrast, catchy melodies and strong grooves but with a surprising sense of spaciousness too. Wright used various combinations of sticks, brushes, mallets and bare hands to conjure an astonishing array of sounds and rhythms from his kit as the music shape-shifted and unfolded. Tomlinson’s piano playing was alternately percussive and rhythmic or flowingly lyrical, his left hand frequently an important component in what is already a highly rhythmical unit, the interlocking patterns of bass, drums and piano a constant source of fascination. Tomlinson plays some Rhodes on the album but tonight’s essentially acoustic performance saw him sticking to Dempsey’s splendid Kawai grand but expanding his sound with periodic visits under the lid for effective bouts of strumming, scraping and striking. It’s perhaps not too surprising that Eyeshutight place so much focus on rhythm with a bassist as the nominal leader. Baxter not only anchored the band with his frequently hypnotic grooves but also emerged as a highly proficient soloist with a large tone and an admirable dexterity. His rapport with Wright was apparent throughout the evening, the pair also sharing several moments of musical humour, this is a band that likes mix a little fun in with the technical expertise.

The title of “Addict” refers to the 21st Century obsession with computer screens and electronic gadgetry. Wright’s broken beats and Tomlinson’s darting piano motifs conveyed something of the urgency of contemporary lifestyles with Baxter’s bass solo providing a brief respite before a colourful drum feature delivered over a backdrop of chunky piano chords and muscular bass grooves. 

Wright’s own “T & C”, a dedication to neighbours who had fallen on hard times, closed the first half. This showed a more subtle, sensitive side to the band as it developed from Baxter’s opening bass motif through an impressionistic episode incorporating eerie internal pianistic plucking and strumming and the composer’s ethereal cymbal scrapings. From this a delightful song like melody emerged, na?ve but delicious with Tomlinson’s sparse piano augmented by Wright’s melodic (no other word for it) drumming, his gentle mallet patterns hugely effective. Tomlinson showed an admirable lightness of touch at the piano, he’s a supremely adaptable and versatile player, and Baxter demonstrated similar qualities with a deftly melodious bass solo. This was an absorbing end to a first set that had seen the trio touching all their bases as they drew their listeners into a sound world that was constantly evolving yet sounded thoroughly natural and organic.

The second set began with a segue of two further tunes from the new album as “The Precipice” was teamed with “Transition”. Tomlinson’s sparse, menacing piano chords were made more threatening by Wright’s cymbal approximating the sound of a tolling bell. Baxter made almost subliminal use of FX pedals on his subsequent bass solo which also incorporated wordless vocals and whistling - the latter probably intended as a gesture of defiance in the face of adversity given the nature of the piece. Tomlinson’s solo ranged from spacey abstraction to full on grooving, Wright deployed mallets almost exclusively on his drum feature and Baxter’s mournful arco bass, in duet with Tomlinson, provided the bridge into the soothing, hymnal “Transition”.

Two tunes from “The Thaw” (described, tongue in cheek, by Baxter as “classics”) were paired for the next segue as “Forethought” was fused with the title track. Ushered in by solo piano things unfurled gradually with Wright adding some delightful filigree cymbal work in the early stages before eventually setting up a deeply rhythmic groove. Once more the use of dynamics was essential to the group’s music as they steadily ratcheted up the tension before falling away again to allow for more reflective duo episodes for piano and bass and then piano and hand drums. Out of these dialogues plus a collective near free jazz episode they eventually developed the mightiest groove of the entire evening, heads were nodding manically around Dempsey’s as the trio entered the home stretch,  pausing to smile in recognition as Tomlinson wove a quote from “Sunshine Of Your Love” into his solo as a tribute to the recently departed Jack Bruce. The grooves were so propulsive and hard hitting that Wright, who had been suffering from the effects of a cold, damaged his snare drum.

The deserved encore was therefore a more subdued affair, introduced by spare, gentle solo piano and featuring the rich sound of bowed bass and delicately brushed drums as the trio ended the evening with a beautiful, elegiac miniature, presumably based on “Theism” from “Resonance”.

Having charted their development on these pages I had been particularly keen to see this band and they didn’t disappoint, if anything they exceeded expectations. I was hugely impressed by the way in which they expanded upon the album material in a live situation and the way in which they used space and dynamic contrast to ensure that the music was constantly evolving. The rapport between the three musicians was captivating and drew the listeners fully into their sound world.

They were very well received by the audience of Dempsey’s regulars although, unusually students from the RWCMD seemed to be rather thin on the ground. This was a performance that really deserved a bigger audience. Nevertheless this was an evening of excellent music making from a band that are just getting better and better.

Eyeshutight but earswideopen. 

Eyeshutight are still on tour. Forthcoming dates listed below;

    4 Nov Matt & Phreds, Manchester, 9.30pm
5 Nov Jazz @ The Lescar, Sheffield, 8.30pm
9 Nov 7Arts, Leeds, 1pm
14 Nov Fleece Jazz, Sudbury, 7.30pm
22 Nov The Unitarian Chapel, York, 7.30pm
23 Nov The Forge, Camden, 7.30pm ( London Jazz Festival ).

More information at   http://www.eyeshutight.com