Engines Orchestra & Phil Meadows Group

“Lifecycles”

(Engines Imprint)

Every now and again I shamelessly plunder the archives of my own writings in a process that I like to call “Jazz Will Eat Itself”. Like many of the musicians I cover I don’t like to repeat myself and I sometimes find it more effective to re-cycle previous articles rather than write the same piece again.

During the autumn of 2014 I was forwarded a copy of the album “Lifecycles”, an ambitious project featuring the writing of saxophonist and composer Phil Meadows. Credited to Engines Orchestra + Phil Meadows Group the recording features Meadows’ working quintet in tandem with the twenty strong Engines Orchestra conducted by Matt Roberts.

Conceived as a kind of song cycle the album is a stunningly mature artistic statement from the young saxophonist, a record that is both musically and emotionally satisfying with Meadows’ perceptive lyrics given voice by the excellent singing of Alice Zawadzki. That said the album is primarily an instrumental work and what impresses most is the way that Meadows brings the jazz and classical elements together into an organic sounding and totally convincing musical whole. The way in which the thirteen string players integrate with the jazz musicians is particularly impressive.

Before I got round to reviewing the album I was lucky enough to be able to witness a live performance of much of the music from “Lifecycles” at a sold out show at Kings Place as part of the 2014 EFG London Jazz Festival. The performance was a triumph for Meadows and I have no compunctions about reproducing my review of the event below. The live performance encapsulated all that is good about “Lifecycles” and including it again here, as part of what is nominally an album review, allows me to add the recording to the coveted “Jazzmann Recommends” list.

So here goes, the full account of the 2014 EFG London Jazz Festival performance appears immediately below; 

EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL, DAY NINE, 22/11/2014

PHIL MEADOWS GROUP / ENGINES ORCHESTRA

Some time last year I acquired a second hand copy of “Engines Of Creation”, the début album by the young saxophonist and composer Phil Meadows. Credited to the Phil Meadows Group it featured a quintet of young rising stars with the leader appearing on alto and soprano saxes alongside Laura Jurd (trumpet), Elliot Galvin (piano), Conor Chaplin (acoustic and electric bass) and Simon Roth (drums). It was an astonishingly mature début that featured some excellent writing from Meadows and some fine playing from all the members of the group.

Born in the North of England Meadows studied at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester before moving south and quickly acquiring a burgeoning reputation on the London jazz scene. A frequent award winner he has been been voted “best newcomer” at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards and was also the winner of the 2013 Peter Whittingham Award which, along with support from Arts Council England, helped to finance the recording of “Lifecycles”, an ambitious and totally convincing suite/song cycle that embraces both the jazz and classical traditions. The album features Meadows’ core quintet alongside the twenty strong Engines Orchestra conducted by Matt Roberts and featuring a number musicians who have appeared elsewhere on these web pages in a jazz context. However this is a multi skilled collection of musicians, all of them classically trained but with the ability to perform in a less formal, often improvised setting in an age when the traditional musical barriers are thankfully coming down.

The final Saturday of the Festival found Meadows at a sold out Hall 2 at Kings Place to launch the recently released “Lifecycles”. The Phil Meadows Group took to the stage first to perform three pieces before being joined on stage by the Orchestra for a performance of the greater part of “Lifecycles”.

The Group commenced with “Fin”, a Meadows composition dedicated to Beats & Pieces Big Band and Let Spin drummer Finley Panter who is now resident in Berlin. The composer’s honking solo alto introduced the spiky theme which saw the saxophonist doubling up with Jurd before the first solo from Chaplin on acoustic bass who handed over seamlessly to Galvin at the piano.

Chaplin switched to electric bass for “Runner”, a piece inspired by the traffic gridlock on London’s South Circular Road. His Steve Swallow style groove inspired excellent solos from Meadows, Jurd and Galvin as the Group warmed to their task.

On the morning of the concert members of the jazz loving public had been encouraged to visit Kings Place to participate in the “Audience Commission” whereby ideas suggested by the public were transformed into a composition by Meadows which was to be premi?red at the afternoon concert. Out of this process emerged “From London To Paris By Train”, the melodies and rhythms based of the tune based on that phrase. Even at this stage it was remarkable how “together” the music sounded with Meadows and Jurd stating the theme before the trumpeter’s gauzy solo suggested that we might already have arrived in the French capital. Galvin’s lyrical piano was playing was enhanced by Chaplin’s liquid electric bass and Meadows’ bitter-sweet alto solo gradually grew in intensity to round off a piece that certainly didn’t sound as if it had been written by committee!

It was now time for the Engines Orchestra to take the stage. All were dressed immaculately, the guys in dark suits, the girls in elegant black dresses, it was just like going to a proper classical concert! The five full time jazzers looked positively down at heel by comparison. The Orchestra was conducted by Matt Roberts, a celebrated composer and arranger for jazz big bands and large ensembles whose direction struck a good balance between the formality of classical music and the looseness of jazz. The leader of the orchestra was violinist Emily Davis, an experienced classical player but also a musician willing to embrace the art of improvisation, as we were to see later. 

“Lifecycles” is a study of the individual’s place in society and of their reaction to various events and influences. Emotionally and musically it’s an impressive piece of work and the qualities that make the album such a success were also readily apparent throughout this live performance with the members of the orchestra integrating superbly with the core jazz group.

The suite, ten months in the writing, began with the song “Missing Days” which featured the soaring vocals of Alice Zawadzki on a lyric that reflected on the hectic pace of modern life and our collective tendency to become absorbed in the daily whirl of work and socialising while remaining oblivious to the natural beauty around us. With an urgent solo from Meadows and an arrangement that emphasised the bustle of daily life albeit allied to a strong vocal melody this was a highly effective opening movement.

“Lifecycles” itself also featured an arresting melody, stated first by buoyant orchestral strings, the orchestra then providing the backdrop for Meadows’ solo on soprano sax.

“The Spark” was a freely structured interlude featuring Tori Handsley’s harp, Jurd’s muted trumpet and Zawadzki’s unsettling wordless vocals. On the album it’s little more than a vignette but here Galvin’s audacious passage of unaccompanied Keith Tippett style piano led into “Intoxicated Delirium” which featured a blazing Jurd trumpet solo. With the strings deploying both pizzicato and arco techniques and with the brass players in pugnacious form this was a rousing piece that was crowned by the attack of Meadows’ incisive soprano solo.

“Remembrance” and “Celebration” were thematically linked, Meadows dedicating the performances to the memory of nineteen year old Tomorrow’s Warriors saxophonist David Turay who had been found dead just a few days earlier.

“Remembrance”  opened with the sound of Meadows’ soprano sax over harp and droning strings and featured a convincing improvised dialogue between orchestra leader Davis and cellist Gregor Riddell. In a performance that made effective use of dynamics the sound of the full ensemble subsequently erupted in a manner akin to sunlight bursting through dark clouds with Zawadzki’s evocatively soaring vocals bringing the piece to a rousing climax.

“Celebration” incorporated an angry free jazz outburst and a torrential and tumultuous Cecil Taylor like solo from the brilliant Galvin before eventually settling into a more obviously celebratory mood via Chaplin’s electric bass groove and Jurd’s ebullient trumpet solo. Jurd also contributed flaring trumpet to the brief “Strife Of Life”.

Meadows had a lot of “thank yous” to announce before the final movement. These included expressions of gratitude to Clive & Suzanne from the Peter Whittingham Foundation, the Arts Council and the album’s executive producer Alex J Watson.

The closing “Twice The Man” was written during Meadows’ recovery from a diabetes related illness, shades here of drummer and composer Ollie Howell’s “Sutures and Stitches” project. Zawadzki sang Meadows’ words with grace and conviction in a performance that acted as a kind of valedictory. Instrumental solos came from Chaplin on acoustic bass, Jurd on trumpet over a backdrop of pizzicato strings and Meadows himself on triumphantly soaring soprano sax.

Playing in front of a full house and with many family and friends in the audience this concert represented a triumph for Meadows who acquitted himself superbly in both the small group and orchestral settings. The playing of the entire ensemble was superb throughout and the blending of jazz and classical elements was totally convincing, evidence of Meadows’ maturity as a musician, composer and arranger - although he did acknowledge the help of Roberts, Tim Garland and others with Garland having fulfilled the role of “Studio MD” on the album. 

“Lifecycles”, the album is highly recommended, a thoroughly convincing synthesis of jazz and classical influences and a highly intelligent and emotionally involving piece of work. It deserves to sell well and to enhance Meadows’ reputation as one of the brightest young talents on the UK music scene. I wasn’t sure if the mix of classical and jazz would work but it succeeded brilliantly and this performance turned out to be one of the highlights of the festival week.

It’s also worth pointing out that it is not the intention for the Engines Orchestra to work with Meadows exclusively. They are to continue as a stand alone entity and there are plans for them to co-operate with other jazz musicians and composers in the future.

The album includes two short pieces not announced at the London performance. The wispy and ethereal “Euphoria” features Meadows’ feathery soprano sax above a backdrop of ghostly, almost subliminal strings,  piano innards, the trill of Tori Handsley’s harp and the gentle rustle of percussion.

“Prelude” features the almost tambura like drone of the strings and a dialogue between solo violin (presumably Emily Davis) and solo cello, on record probably principal cellist Zosia Jagodzinska.
Reading again the above live review it would appear that these pieces were in fact coupled with the following “Remembrance” meaning that the entire album was actually played in full. 

The full line up on the “Lifecycles” recording is;

PHIL MEADOWS GROUP;

Phil Meadows -  alto & soprano sax, composer
Laura Jurd - trumpet
Elliot Galvin - piano
Conor Chaplin - acoustic & electric bass
Simon Roth -  drums, percussion

ENGINES ORCHESTRA

Conductor - Matt Roberts

Trumpet - James Davison

French Horn - Eddie Morgan

Bass Trombone - James Buckle

Woodwinds;
Jennah Smart (flute)
Rob Cope (clarinet, flute)
Gennie Joy (b.clarinet, clarinet)

Harp - Tori Handsley

1st Violins - Emily Davis (principal), Tom Aldren, Katherine Waller, Alice Zawadzki (plus vocals)

2nd Violins - Minn Majoe (principal), Kirsty Lovie, Claire Sledd, Connie Chatwin

Violas - Matt Maguire (principal), Joe Fisher, George White

Cellos - Zosia Jagodzinska (principal), Gregor Riddell

 

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