Dave Jones

“Unfinished Sentences”

(Self Released DJT011)

Dave Jones – piano, Fender Rhodes
with;
Nick Hill – trumpet & flugelhorn, Mike Harris, Herbie Flowers – bass, John Piper, Dave Trigwell, Robin Jones – drums, Les Cirkel, Barrie Nathan – percussion

The Jazzmann doesn’t usually cover archive releases, preferring instead to focus on and new and original music.

However I’m prepared to make an exception for the Welsh pianist and composer Dave Jones, a regular presence on these web pages and a highly talented soloist and writer with a string of excellent recordings to his credit, the majority of them reviewed elsewhere on this site.

“Unfinished Sentences” is a collection of previously unreleased material that Jones recorded during the 1990s, a period when he was based in London and performed regularly in the capital, the wider South East and East Anglia.

The majority of the music to be heard on the album was recorded at a session at Gateway Studios in Kingston upon Thames in 1999, with one further track being a demo documented at the Stables in Wavendon in 1994, but more on that later. 

Jones liner notes explain the scenario behind the appearance of this previously unheard music at such a late date;
“In 2008 the Gateway School of Recording dissolved. It was originally based at Kingston University, where I was a part time Masters student between 1998 and 2000. The rights to the recordings made by its ground breaking student label Vivid Records went back to the artists. I was one of those Vivid Recordings artists, signed up within weeks of arriving, and before I knew it I was selecting material and music for what was intended to be my second jazz album. The original Gateway Studio, now known as the Visconti Studio, had a wonderful large wooden live room, something to which I hadn’t previously had access, and a very fine grand piano. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered but wasn’t commercially released at the time, the new ground breaking student record label venture was perhaps too far ahead of its time to function commercially”.

Jones goes on to recount that in 2021 he made contact with Keith Wilson, a member of the Vivid team who had been one of the engineers on the proposed album. Wilson was able to locate all of the original recordings, making possible the eventual release of this previously unissued material.

Jones explains that he has used all but one of the original Gateway tracks for this newly mastered album, the omitted piece replaced by a 2004 demo recording of the tune “Lone Star” documented by engineer Nigel Neill at The Stables, Wavendon in November 1994. The demo featured the trio of Dave Jones, bassist Mick Harris and drummer Robin Jones, plus guest trumpeter Nick Hill. It acted as a precursor to Jones’ début album release “Have You Met Mr. Jones?”, which was released by Parrot Productions in 1996.

The line up on “Unfinished Sentences” features the musicians with whom Jones had been working on the London and Home Counties jazz circuit. As he notes several of them are no longer with us, namely John Piper, Mike Harris, Robin Jones and Dave Trigwell.

The album packaging includes a further essay by the saxophonist and author Simon Spillett, who pays further tributes to the fallen and also describes the music itself. The musicians he was working with were in the main older and more experienced than the student Jones and he learnt much from them, particularly on the live gig circuit.

Spillett describes this album as a “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” and the music as “a quintessential mix of ambition and deference, re-harmonisation going hand in hand with respect, whatever the vibe”.

Jones’ major influences at the time were McCoy Tyner and Kenny Kirkland, both of whom remain touchstones for him to this day. “Unfinished Sentences” primarily features material by others, there is only one original Jones, although he was to develop into a prolific composer following his move back to South Wales. The outside material on the album includes pieces by pianists Tyner, Tadd Dameron, Bobby Timmons and Hampton Hawes in addition to compositions by trumpeters Kenny Dorham and Freddie Hubbard.

The album commences with “Ladybird”, composed by pianist and bandleader Tadd Dameron. This features the core quartet of Jones, Hill, Harris and Piper augmented by twin percussionists Cirkel and Nathan. It’s these two who introduce the performance, helping to give it a Latin-esque feel. The piece features a fluent solo from the lyrical, Chet Baker influenced trumpeter Nick Hill. Jones follows, already a highly accomplished piano soloist. Spillett describes Jones playing on the album as being in “bursting, cork out of the bottle form”, and he clearly relished the opportunity of being given access to the Gateway’s grand piano.

The group is pared down to a trio for Hampton Hawes “Coolin’ The Blues”, with ace session bassist Herbie Flowers, of “Walk on the Wild Side” fame, coming in alongside drummer Dave Trigwell. These two combine to provide the necessary propulsion for more pianistic effervescence from the leader - Jones is positively fizzing here. Trigwell is a busy and energetic presence and gets to enjoy his own drum feature.

Kenny Dorham’s “Blue Bossa” sees Harris and Piper returning to the fold alongside percussionists Cirkel and Nathan. Hill sits out, which rather surprised me given that this is a tune written by a trumpeter. His absence creates more space for Jones who brings a Tyner-esque intensity to this highly energetic performance, driven by the febrile rhythms of the two percussionists.

There’s a change in mood as we reach back further in time for “Lone Star”, a tune credited to “Anon.” It’s easy to see why Jones decided to include this beautiful ballad performance, which features the blind musician Nick Hill at his most lyrical, Baker-esque best. Jones displays similar qualities on piano, while the usually exuberant Robin Jones is the epitome of restrained good taste, wielding the brushes with great sensitivity throughout. The faithful Mick Harris completes the quartet on bass.

Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower” has become a familiar modern standard and finds Jones adopting something of a ‘fusion’ sound as he switches to Fender Rhodes. Hill fills the Hubbard role with a flowing trumpet solo, followed by Jones, equally inventive on Rhodes as on the acoustic piano. Trigwell and Flowers offer subtly energetic support, with the drummer again a particularly distinctive presence. The shout of joy at the close encapsulates the nature of the performance.

Piper returns to the drum stool and Harris to the bass for Bobby Timmons’ “Moanin’”, Hill’s trumpeting may be less fiery than that of Lee Morgan but his contribution still works well on a performance driven by the Blakey-esque power of the late Piper. The drummer sadly died shortly after these sessions, “it was one of his last recordings, possibly THE last”, speculates Jones. Propelled by Piper and Harris Jones delivers an effervescent piano solo, while Harris steps briefly out of the shadows on the bass.

The Jones original “Three On Four” features Hill, plus the Flowers / Trigwell rhythm section. It’s the second piece to feature Jones on Rhodes, nodding again to Freddie Hubbard’s CTI period. Jones shares the solos with Hill’s mellifluous trumpet (or possibly flugel). Flowers’ subtly propulsive bass and Trigwell’s crisp drumming keep things moving along nicely.

The familiar standard “Loverman” (Ramirez / Sherman) is taken at a more rapid pace than usual and is also given an infusion of Latin-esque exoticism thanks to the presence of Cirkel and Nathan alongside Harris and Piper. Hill’s horn floats, then soars, above the percolating rhythms while Jones brings a real Latin feel to his barnstorming acoustic piano solo. There’s also a brief drum and percussion ‘battle’ as the extended group continue to keep the pot bubbling.

The album concludes with a homage to Jones’ pianistic hero McCoy Tyner. It highlights the gentler side of Tyner’s musical personality as Jones delivers a beautiful solo piano performance of Tyner’s “Search For Peace”.

Much of the material may be very familiar but the sheer quality of these performances explains why Jones wished to make them public so many years after the event. “Unfinished Sentences” reveals that Jones was already a mature and highly accomplished musician at this time and his playing is well served by all the other musicians on the album. The fact that we have lost so many of these adds an extra degree of poignancy to the release. The sound quality is excellent throughout, with credit due to Donal Whelan who re-mastered the album at Hafod Mastering in June 2021.

Jones’ many fans in Wales and beyond will wish to hear this release, particularly those who have enjoyed his later recordings and, of course, his numerous live performances over the years. The pianist breathes new life into his chosen material and it still sounds gloriously alive all these years later. Varied and vivacious, there is so much to enjoy here.

 

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