Julian Arguelles

“Echo Fields”

(Escapade Records)

Julian Arguelles – soprano & tenor saxophones, Larry Grenadier – double bass, Jorge Rossy – drums

Released in March 2026 on his own Escapade Records imprint “Echo Fields” is the latest recording from the British saxophonist Julian Arguelles, who is now based in Austria where, he holds a teaching post at the Institute of Jazz in Graz.

 Since first coming to prominence in the late 1980s as a member of the seminal Loose Tubes saxophonist and composer Julian Arguelles has enjoyed a stellar solo career and has arguably been the most consistently interesting musician to have emerged from that great British musical institution

Arguelles’ début recording as a leader was released in 1991 and announced the arrival of a major new presence on the British jazz scene. “Phaedrus” was a quartet album that revealed Arguelles’ huge talent as a writer with pianist John Taylor, drummer Martin France and bassist Mick Hutton helping to give voice to his multi-faceted compositions.

He didn’t return to this instrumental format until 2014 and the release of the excellent “Circularity”, which featured Taylor, France and star bassist Dave Holland. This was never a line up that was likely to become a regular working band but with his passion for the quartet format renewed Arguelles set about about forming a new group featuring some of the UK’s top up and coming musicians. The new quartet was called Tetra and featured Kit Downes on piano, Sam Lasserson on double bass and James Maddren on drums, this line up releasing the albums “Tetra” (2015) and “Tonadas” (2018), for which Ivo Neame replaced Downes at the piano.

Julian has recorded in a variety of instrumental settings from duo (with brother Steve) to big band and in the 1990s led an international octet that recorded two superb albums, “Skull View” (1997) and “Escapade” (1999). They feature Julian’s rich, colourful, multi-faceted writing and his compositions are particularly satisfying in terms of colour and texture, the octet functioning as kind of ‘mini jazz orchestra’”.

The pianist in the Arguelles octet was the Portuguese musician Mario Laginha, who linked up again with Arguelles and the Norwegian drummer / percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken to release the albums “Setembro” (2017) and “Atlantico” (2020) on Edition Records.

In addition to his work as a leader Arguelles has also been an in demand sideman, working with such luminaries as pianists John Taylor, Django Bates and Carla Bley, trumpeters Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther, saxophonist Andy Sheppard and guitarist Samo Salamon. He has also played, written and arranged for various big bands, both in the UK and internationally.

Arguelles’ 2025 release “Doublespeak” was essentially a solo recording with Arguelles multi-tracking himself on a variety of reeds, keyboards and percussion in addition to recruiting a little extra rhythmic support as required with Norbakken, Steve Arguelles and the late, great Martin France all contributing at various points. My review of this album, from which much of the above biographical details have been sourced, can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/julian-arguelles-doublespeak

Arguelles’ latest release finds him heading a stellar international trio featuring the American bassist Larry Grenadier and the Catalan drummer Jorge Rossy.  These two have worked regularly together and are arguably best known for their lengthy association with the American pianist and composer Brad Mehldau. Grenadier has also worked extensively with guitarist Pat Metheny and was also a member of the collective trio Fly, alongside saxophonist Mark Turner and drummer Jeff Ballard. Meanwhile Rossy is also a talented vibraphonist and pianist who heads his own groups, often leading from the vibes.

There is a precedent for Arguelles appearing in the classic ‘saxophone trio’ format. In 2006 he led another international trio featuring the American musicians Michael Formanek (double bass) and Tom Rainey (drums), releasing the album “Partita” on Basho Records. This release, which came early on in The Jazzmann’s writing career, is reviewed here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/partita

I also enjoyed a live performance by the Arguelles trio at the Midlands Arts Centre at around the same time. On that occasion Arguelles and Rainey were joined by bassist John Hebert. The show was a double bill with another Anglo-American ensemble as the rhythm team of Rainey and Hebert also performed as part of a quartet led by the British pianist Liam Noble and also featuring British guitarist Phil Robson. In the context of this group Hebert was depping for Drew Gress, who had appeared on the quartet’s album “Romance Among the Fishes”, which was also released on Basho Records. My review of this live double bill can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/liam-noble-quartet-julian-arguelles-trio

Turning now to this latest release, which commences with “Lek-Lock”, Arguelles’ tribute to the late Scottish pianist Brian Kellock, (1962-2025), although I believe Kellock was still alive when the tune was actually written. Ushered in by the all star bass and drum team this piece features Arguelles on soprano, his horn of choice for many of the pieces on this album. He dances lithely and inventively above the busily skittering grooves generated by Grenadier and Rossy and there’s the feeling that this homage to Kellock is far more celebration than wake. There’s an essential joyousness about the music making that all three musicians buy into.

“Leap Year Marvel” commemorates the life of the late Martin France (1964 – 2024), former Loose Tubes drummer and Arguelles’ partner on so many other projects. Here Arguelles switches to tenor and solos with his customary inventiveness, his playing simultaneously subtly exploratory and highly melodic. Behind the kit Rossy delivers a brilliant performance, full of delightful small detail and rich in terms of imagination. Again it’s a fitting homage to a brilliant musician, and for Arguelles a personal friend.

Arguelles turned sixty just before the album’s release and perhaps it was the sense of ‘time passing’ in the lead up to the recording that persuaded him to dedicate so many of these tunes to the memory of others. “Blues for Dudu” honours the South African born saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, (1938-90), a musician who was a huge influence on Loose Tubes. Again Arguelles features on tenor, soloing fluently and expansively above an undulating bass and drum groove that seems to owe as much to Ornette Coleman as South Africa. On one of the albums lengthiest tracks Grenadier is featured as a bass soloist for the first time, expertly combining melody with muscle. The ever inventive Rossy is also featured with a series of colourful drum breaks.

“Piece for Jess” is a beautiful elegy that commences with the sounds of just saxophone and double bass. Rossy subsequently provides tasteful drum commentary, embellishing the music with his skills as a colourist. It’s a piece that unfolds slowly and delicately, one can sense the musicians taking their time and listening intently to one another. Grenadier’s bass comes to the fore at one juncture, but his dexterity is very much at the service of the music.

The only non-original piece is an Arguelles arrangement of “Nimrod”, from Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations”. Elgar (1857 – 1934) dedicated the overall work to “my friends pictured within” and Arguelles uses this same dedication for “Echo Fields”, a tip of the hat that some listeners might not pick up on. The trio treat the famous theme with respect, but still very much make it their own via a series of their own variations, expressed through the medium of soprano saxophone, double bass (Grenadier features briefly as a soloist) and brushed drums.

“Such Sweet Madness” sees Arguelles continuing on soprano and sketching darting melodic lines above a lightly bustling bass and drum groove. Once again there’s an essential joyousness about the music, and as my fellow reviewer Jon Turney, writing for UK Jazz News, points out Arguelles never ‘screams’ or ‘shouts’ through his horn. The fluent eloquence of his playing, so skilfully honed over the years, precludes the need for all that. He probes intelligently but without straining, and in Grenadier and Rossy he has partners who exhibit similar gifts. The always excellent Grenadier is featured as a soloist here. Meanwhile I’ve always regarded Rossi as the perfect drummer for Mehldau’s trios.

Arguelles remains on soprano for “Invisible Thread”, spinning gently yearning melodic lines above a languid bass and brushed drum undertow. Grenadier’s double bass solo combines melody with a deep resonance.

“The Canary’s Song” sees Arguelles reverting to tenor for a more lively offering that harks back to the bebop era, while filtering it through a Coleman-esque prism. Rapid bass lines and crisp, busy, sharply detailed drumming underpin Arguelles’ tastefully loquacious sax soloing as the trio build up an impressive head of steam, but without resorting to bluster. Arguelles drops out temporarily to allow Grenadier and Rossy the opportunity to enjoy a good natured bass and drum dialogue, before eventually returning to finish with a flourish.

The album concludes with Arguelles on tenor for “Beating About the Bush”, a pleasantly rambling excursion with a loping groove that provides the basis for the leader’s fluently discursive sax soloing. Grenadier is also featured as a soloist and delivers perhaps his best feature of the set. The always inventive Rossi functions as the perfect rhythmic foil throughout.

“Echo Field” is a most worthy addition to the Julian Arguelles canon, a body of work that includes some quite exceptional albums. For British jazz listeners the Loose Tubes legend will never die but Arguelles’ solo career is also a thing of beauty and wonder. By my reckoning this is his seventeenth album as a leader or co-leader and he’s never made a bad one, his levels of quality control have remained consistent throughout his career.

“Echo Fields” is as good as anything that Arguelles has recorded. Often pastoral and reflective in tone it places a strong emphasis on melody. This is a mature record from an artist who is still at the peak of his creative powers. The all star rhythm team of Grenadier and Rossy make substantial contributions to the success of the recording but ultimately the triumph is Arguelles’, the composer of the majority of the tunes and the principal soloist in this exposed trio setting. At sixty Julian Arguelles is playing better than ever, and there will surely be even more great music to come from him.

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