Tim Boniface

“Psalter; Themes For Peace”

(Audio-B ABCD5033)

Tim Boniface – alto & soprano saxophones, James Pearson – piano, Malcolm Creese – double bass, Jon Ormston – drums, percussion

In addition to his work as a jazz musician saxophonist, pianist and composer Tim Boniface is also an ordained priest and is the chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge, where he also acts as the artistic director of Girton Jazz, an organisation that presents public concerts and student workshops at the College.

His latest jazz album “Psalter; Themes For Peace” is his third work to combine jazz with Christian themes and follows “The Eight Words” (2016), a jazz suite based on the sayings of Jesus, and “The Infant; A Jazz Suite For Christmas” (2019). Both of these recordings featured a quartet comprised of Boniface on saxophones, Phil Merriman on piano, Ed Babar on bass and Jon Ormston at the drums.

For this latest project only Boniface and Ormston remain with James Pearson taking over at the piano and Malcolm Creese on double bass. Pearson is the Musician in Residence at Girton and also the Artistic Director of Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. He is a hugely versatile pianist capable of playing across a variety of jazz styles. Creese is perhaps best known for his membership of the much loved ‘chamber jazz’ trio Acoustic Triangle, alongside pianist Gwilym Simcock and reeds player Tim Garland. This line up recorded a number of well received albums and performed regularly in sacred spaces, perhaps making Creese the perfect fit for Boniface’s latest project. The new album appears on Creese’s own Audio-B record label.

Boniface’s third jazz suite is based on six ancient texts on peace from the Hebrew book of Psalms with each movement exploring different interpretations of the word ‘peace’. The work was first composed for a special concert at St. Alban’s Cathedral in January 2024. It was subsequently recorded at Girton a year later, in January 2025.

Boniface says of the work;
“The aim of Psalter is to embrace the fluidity and mystery of how music and meaning are related, to get beyond simplistic notions of peace and explore its multiple social, political and spiritual dimensions through composition and improvisation in the mainstream jazz tradition. I deliberately chose texts that would lead to six very different pieces of music - some restful and hopeful, and others more like a cry of protest or objection to injustice. The improvised response of each musician to each short text as well as the composition itself is central to the character of the work, and the recording aims to capture that process of discovering and expressing something together. The suite in many ways stays within the broad harmonic and rhythmic world of mainstream jazz, finding in that soundscape a set of expansive possibilities for exploring peace together.”  
 
He continues;
“Despite using texts as its inspiration, Psalter is  not an attempt to seal an authoritative ‘meaning’ through the music, not least because music does not function like language. What’s more interesting where text and music are concerned is the resemblance between the way jazz musicians improvise and the way communities of faith relate to their sacred texts. ‘Meaning’ in this sense is often established communally, is flexible and developing, and is shaped both by a text’s traditional context and the historical moment in which it is explored… much like the way a performance of a jazz standard may take shape and be very different each time even when performed by the same musicians. The primary aim of Psalter is to offer music for reflecting on peace, inspired by powerful texts from the composer’s own tradition. For those listeners familiar with the texts themselves, the music might also offer a new aesthetic setting in which to consider those texts pieces - but the work is very much intended to be accessible beyond any particular tradition, and indeed can be listened to without reference to the texts at all.”

The album features the six movements of the “Psalter” suite plus one additional composition which is presented as a ‘bonus track’. The names of the compositions have been extracted from the texts so we are presented with some pretty length tune titles, reminiscent at times of the heady days of sixties psychedelia and seventies prog rock. 

To be fair the title of the first movement is pretty straightforward, “The Blessing Of Peace”, which interprets peace as being something “strong and richly beautiful”. It opens with the trio of piano, bass and drums, with the leader’s sax subsequently added. This may be a form of sacred music but it’s also unmistakably jazz, brisk and swinging and rooted in the bebop / mainstream tradition. Boniface takes the first solo, propelled by a supportive and empathic rhythm section, with Ormston’s crisp drumming a particularly distinctive component. Pearson takes over at the piano with a sparkling solo before Boniface stretches out some more, with Ormston continuing to play a key role at the kit. An upbeat, swinging, and attention grabbing start.

As its title might suggest “In Peace I Will Lie Down And Sleep” is a more relaxed and contemplative offering, in keeping with its definition of peace as “rest”. A thoughtful and lyrical solo piano introduction eventually evolves into Boniface’s theme statement, his sax supported by piano, bass and delicately brushed drums. Boniface’s gentle explorations lead to a delightfully melodic bass solo from Creese and a flowingly lyrical piano solo from Pearson. The leader’s warm toned tenor sax then takes over, his gently unfolding solo reaching a low key climax before returning to the earlier mood of contemplation.

“Do Not Hold Your Peace at My Tears” is one of the album’s more forceful tracks and addresses the subject of peace as “something we speak while ignoring injustice and suffering”. An unaccompanied sax introduction serves as both lament and clarion call, with Boniface’s tone simultaneously mournful and incisive. He’s joined in dialogue by Ormston’s drums as the music edges closer to a free jazz sound, with Boniface’s sax sound increasingly angry and garrulous. The addition of piano and bass steers the music back into more conventional jazz territory but the sense of anger and alienation remains. Pearson’s piano solo   is variously melodic and percussive and Boniface later returns to solo some more, his tone fluent but urgent. Ormston subsequently takes the lead with a dynamic drum feature before the main theme eventually returns. Ultimately this is music that won’t frighten the horses TOO much, but the message behind it remains obvious.

The introduction to “Righteousness and Peace Have Kissed Each Other” hints briefly at the ‘spiritual jazz’ of John Coltrane and others but quickly metamorphoses into a more conventional brand of jazz swing, with Creese’s propulsive bass lines and Ormston’s brisk brush and stick work providing the necessary impetus for the soloing of Boniface and Pearson. Creese and Ormston also enjoy a lively bass and brushed dialogue, their conversation tastefully underscored by Pearson.

“Peace On Their Lips: Malice In Their Hearts” approaches peace as “something that can be deceptive”. Combining modality with conventional swing it features impressive solos from both Boniface and Pearson, allied to similarly accomplished rhythmic contributions from Creese and Ormston.

The final movement of the suite is the elegiac “Seek Peace and Pursue It”, which addresses peace as “something to be sought after”. Led by the composer’s beguiling sax melody it’s an appropriately gentle and lyrical group performance, with Creese providing another beautifully melodic double bass solo.

On my copy of the CD the final piece “Kingdom Song”, which first appeared as part of Boniface’s 2026 work “The Eight Words”, appears as a bonus track. It continues the gentle and elegiac mood of the previous piece and commences with a lyrical passage of unaccompanied piano from Pearson. The piece has an almost hymnal quality to it and subsequently features the sound of big, warm toned tenor sax, double bass and lightly brushed drums. There’s a further piano solo from Pearson and from the leader on tenor on a piece that is occasionally reminiscent of the music of Abdullah Ibrahim.

Described as “a six part mainstream jazz suite” “Psalter” delivers on its promise and is an impressive piece of work distinguished by intelligent writing and excellent playing, with all four musicians impressing with their contributions. The quality of the music is enhanced by Creese’s production, which maintains the traditionally high standards set by his Audio-B imprint.

The Christian theme informs the music but is not overtly dominant. Above all the music of “Psalter” is excellent contemporary mainstream jazz performed by a first class quartet.

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