Mark Perry & Duncan Eagles Quintet

“Road Ahead”

(F-ire Presents F-IRECD 65)

The trumpet and tenor sax pairing of Mark Perry and Duncan Eagles was recently heard to particularly good effect on “Sutures And Stitches”, the excellent new album from drummer and composer Ollie Howell, a recording reviewed elsewhere on this site.

Ex NYJO member Perry has gathered a number of awards and leads his own all star quintet, plays as a sideman in bands led by saxophonists Josh Ison and Lucas Dodd, and is a member of the Tomorrow’s Warriors Jazz Orchestra.

Eagles is best known for his leadership of the brilliant saxophone trio Partikel, whose two excellent albums “Partikel” and “Cohesion” have both been reviewed on this site. The trio is also a formidable live act and there is also coverage of shows at the 2011 Brecon Jazz Festival and a 2012 gig at Much Wenlock. I was so impressed that I also went to see them as a “punter” in Shrewsbury.
Partikel emerged out of the popular workshops and jam sessions that Eagles has been leading for the last four years at the Hideaway Jazz Club in Streatham and Eagles has also worked with pianists Jason Rebello and Benet McLean, drummers Gary Husband and Mark Mondesir and bassist Janek Gwizdala.

Perry and Eagles move in similar musical circles and one gets the impression that there was a certain air of inevitability with regards to them getting a group together. The core quintet features the talents of pianist Sam Leak, a member of Perry’s own quintet and also the leader of his own band Aquarium. Max Luthert, Eagles’ colleague in Partikel is on double bass and the versatile Chris Nickolls occupies the drum chair. The album also features telling guest contributions from the UK’s leading jazz flautist Gareth Lockrane and from male vocalist Ola Onabule whose wordless vocals add depth and colour to the arrangements. The programme consists of ten original pieces with the writing credits divided equally between Eagles and Perry. The style has it’s roots in bebop and hard bop but with a contemporary twist, a development characterised by the use of Onabule’s vocals. The composers site the British musicians Tim Garland, Andy Sheppard and Perfect Houseplants as sources of inspiration with American influence coming from trumpeters Terence Blanchard and Christian Scott and saxophonists Logan Richardson and Walter Smith III. 

The album opens Perry’s Flip of a Coin”, the mournful trumpet intro giving way to a seductive and propulsive groove topped off by a lush blend of horns and Onabule’s wordless vocals. Like much of the group’s music the piece may have its roots in the bop era but there are plenty of more contemporary influences at work here too. Perry takes the first solo, a fluent and confident opening statement. He’s followed by Eagles on tenor, a typically beguiling mix of the tough and the tender.

Eagles’ multi faceted “Chord Game” mixes bebop phrasing and rock rhythms and features an absorbing solo from Leak alongside the composer’s tenor and Perry’s trumpet, the two horn men exchanging phrases in exhilarating fashion. 

Also by Eagles “Shawty” is more akin to a ballad with tender tenor, and smooth (but not bland) trumpet and with Onabules’s vocal almost a croon. Perry’s “Forever” takes the process a stage further, a lengthy excursion into undisputed ballad territory with lyrical but gently incisive solos from Eagles and Perry with Onabule’s vocals providing a lush, exotic sounding backdrop. 

Eagles’ playful Barter’s Band enlivens proceedings again with Lockrane joining the front line and taking the first solo, a light and airy flight of fancy for the flute. He’s followed by Leak at the piano and Perry on bright and breezy trumpet before Eagles and Nickolls exchange ideas.

Also by Eagles the lovely “Wray Common” is more reflective in tone with some delightful textures featuring a blend of trumpet, tenor saxophone and voice plus a beautifully lyrical and melodic solo from bassist Luthert.

Perry’s “G.T.” offers evidence of the “more muscular rock influence” referenced in the sleeve notes. The deep grooves of Luthert and Nickolls underpin the dark hued, increasingly impassioned exchanges between Perry and Eagles, these finally resolved by Nickolls’ subsequent drum feature.

Eagles’ title track begins with solo trumpet, a kind of jazz “Last Post” before settling into something more reflective and lyrical with Leak’s flowingly expansive piano leading off the solos. Eagles is initially in ruminative mood but becomes less inhibited as his well constructed solo unfolds.

The album concludes with two pieces from the pen of Perry. “One Last Kiss” features Onabule’s voice but isn’t quite the ballad the title implies. With Leak’s playfully percussive piano and Lockrane’s frothy flute the mood is one of celebration rather than regret.

Throughout the album the blend of horns and voice implies a sense of grandeur and no more so than on the closing “Remember”, an eight minute epic which features the full septet . Alternately grandiose and lyrical the piece features excellent solos from Leak, Perry and Lockrane.

“Road Ahead” is an impressive recording and the standard of the musicianship is impeccable throughout. In addition to this there’s a commendable ambition to make the album more than a just routine bebop inspired date and the compositions and arrangements show admirable scope with inventive use being made of Onabule’s vocals. I’ll readily admit that the singing isn’t always quite my cup of tea but I do admire the group’s determination to expand their sound and the range of colours and textures they create is never less than interesting.

“Road Ahead” will be officially released on December 2nd 2013. In the meantime I’m looking forward to seeing the quintet perform this music live at the album launch date at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho at 1.00 pm on Sunday 17th November . The event forms part of the 2013 London Jazz Festival and will also feature a performance by guitarist Leo Appleyard’s quintet. Eagles and Luthert will perform with both bands. It is hoped that a more comprehensive UK tour will take place during 2014.

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