Samuel Eagles Quartet, MF Jazz, The Open Hearth Pub, Griffithstown, Pontypool, 28/11/2014.

MF Jazz is a series of Friday night jazz events staged by drummer and promoter Martin Fisher at the Open Hearth, a Good Beer Guide listed pub set in a delightful canal side location in the village of Griffithstown near Pontypool. Some events feature local musicians, others feature top class guest soloists such as saxophonists Art Themen, Karen Sharpe and Alan Barnes and playing with a highly competent local rhythm section that normally includes either Paul Sawtell or Craig Milverton on piano, Ashley John Long on double bass and the vastly experienced Fisher at the drums. Performances take place in the basement bar of the pub, a long narrow room with good acoustics and a genuine “jazz club” atmosphere.

Occasionally MF Jazz hosts touring bands such as tonight’s visitors, a young London based quartet led by alto saxophonist and composer Samuel Eagles. The quartet were touring in support of their début album, “Next Beginning”, which was released in November 2014 on the F-ire Presents label.

If the name Eagles sounds familiar it’s probably through Samuel’s older brother Duncan Eagles, leader of the acclaimed trio Partikel, a highly contemporary ensemble with two albums already under its belt. Duncan also co-leads a quintet with trumpeter Mark Perry and has also racked up a number of prestigious sideman appearances.

Where Duncan focusses on tenor sax Samuel prefers to concentrate on the alto with both brothers also doubling on soprano. Both are also skilled composers as evidenced by Duncan’s writing for both Partikel and the Perry/Eagles Quintet and by the excellent set of originals by Samuel that grace “Next Beginning”.

Joining Samuel in his quartet are young lions Ralph Wyld on vibraphone and Fergus Ireland on double bass with Partikel drummer Eric Ford bringing an older and more experienced presence to the group. 

“Next Beginning” comprises of eight lengthy Eagles originals but it represented a smart move by the young quartet to get a provincial jazz club’s audience on their side by playing a standard for their opening number. Their version of Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo” saw Eagles leading off the solos with a marathon effort that saw him exhibiting an astonishing degree of fluency and technique for one so young. Charlie Parker was an obvious influence and it was clear that Eagles had also learnt well from tutors that have included Jean Toussaint, Russell Van Den Berg and Mornington Lockett. 

This was the second time that I’d seen Ralph Wyld in the space of a week having witnessed his London Jazz Festival performance with trumpeter Yazz Ahmed’s Family Hafla sextet at The Vortex the previous Sunday. In Ahmed’s group the tight arrangements and the concentration of solo opportunities for a twin front line featuring Ahmed’s trumpet and George Crowley’s bass clarinet had limited Wyld’s soloing opportunities although he did make a substantial contribution to the overall success of the performance. Here in the pared down setting of a quartet he was allowed much more freedom and relished the opportunity to stretch out, his four mallet solo here rivalling that of the leader for intelligence and fluency. It’s incredible to think that Wyld is still a final year student at the Royal Academy of Music, he’s already gigging and recording frequently and looks set to follow Jim Hart and Lewis Wright as the UK’s next great young vibes soloist.

In an opening number that was designed to introduce the voices of the band there were also features from Ireland on the bass, another highly competent young musician whose name is being seen more and more frequently, and the ever imaginative Ford at the drums, a player who brings vibrancy and colour to whatever musical situation he finds himself in.

The original “We Were Meant To Be” was sourced from the album, introduced by a brief dialogue between sax and drums and a piece characterised by mercurial bebop style melodic motifs and sudden harmonic shifts. Solos here came from Wyld at the vibes and Eagles on alto sax.

“Remembering Myself” opens the quartet’s album and features the distinctive sound of Ford’s foot operated cowbell, something that also helps to characterise Partikel’s sound. Eagles’ opening solo invoked a certain wistfulness and we also heard from Ireland on double bass and Wyld on vibes, the latter skating airily above Ford and Ireland’s odd meter grooves.

The complex head of “My Instigation” led to solos by Wyld on vibes and Eagles on alto, the leader beginning quietly over a backdrop of shimmering vibes and cymbal splashes before digging in and increasing the energy levels as the bass and drum rhythms became more insistent, this process culminating in a spectacular closing drum feature from the ebullient Ford. 

The highly melodic “Smells Like Summer” closed the first half, Eagles switching to soprano to deliver the hooky theme and subsequent solo, Wyld following him on vibes as Ireland And Ford offered, nimble lightly swinging support.

“The Place I Live” opened in classic free-wheeling sax trio mode, the opening theme seeming to make a fleeting allusion to “Meet The Flintstones”. Eagles took the first solo propelled by muscular bass and Ford’s busy, colourful drumming. When Wyld finally joined the party he made up for lost time by delivering a quite dazzling solo, arguably his best of the night.

“50 Pound Friendship” sounds like an anglicised Bad Plus title but was in fact a more reflective piece featuring thoughtful solos from Eagles and Wyld and a drum accompaniment that mainly involved the use of brushes and mallets.

Ushered in by Ford’s drums “Outsider” subtly and gradually raised the energy levels again with solos from the dexterous Ireland at the bass and Eagles on pure toned alto. The piece ended as it began with Ford at the drums, a feature only marginally less explosive than the solo he had delivered at the end of “My Instigation” in the first half.

The “Next Beginning” album ends with the title track and the quartet also chose it to conclude their show here, Ireland’s bass introducing the piece before combining with Ford to create a lithe springy groove that fuelled solos from Eagles on alto and Wyld at the vibes. Ireland himself delivered a bass solo of considerable agility and fluency before a final drum flourish from Ford supported by Eagles’ insistent sax vamp.

There was no encore as most of the group had to travel back to London and in any case they had delivered a good value for money show , playing every track from heir album (albeit in a different order to the record) plus the Sonny Rollins tune that had begun the evening. They received a good reception from an audience that clearly appreciated hearing two sets of largely original music from a precociously talented young group. Expect to hear a lot more from these highly skilled youngsters, both individually and collectively

The album “New Beginning” is strongly recommended, a set of original tunes with their origins in the bebop tradition but fully attuned to more contemporary developments and delivered by a group of startling young talents. The album was recorded to the highest technical standards at Derek Nash’s Clowns Pocket Studio with the proprietor’s engineering and production skills helping to create the kind of pinpoint mix we have come to expect from him. 

Thanks to Samuel, Ralph, Fergus and Eric plus Martin Fisher for taking the time to chat to me afterwards before making the long haul back to London.

At the time of writing the Samuel Eagles Quartet have one date left on their current tour. They play the Bull’s Head in Barnes, London on the evening of Thursday 18th December 2014.

The next MF Jazz date will be the following night, 19th December when saxophonist Karen Sharp visits the Open Hearth leading a quartet featuring pianist Craig Milverton plus Martin Fisher (drums) and Ashley John Long (bass).

 

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