The previous collaboration between percussionist / vibraphonist Martin Pyne and pianist David Beebee, Ripples, was a shimmering delight; the Rhodes and vibes merging into something fresh and unexpected.
Having decided to record again, they chose to invite saxophonist Josephine Davies to add further texture and different impulses to their duo set up and that wise decision has thrown further light onto an already gleaming path. A surreptitious dream of sound, improvised and recorded live, Espial‘s album highlights shared visions yet as seen from three perspectives, tied together in a natural whole.
The vibes and electric piano hang in the air like sweet, subtle aromas with the gentle sound of the beaters on the keys being sometimes the only way to differentiate. They linger and sounds merge, creating something warm yet just out of reach. The effected sax is languorous, wafting like smoke and when merged with the vibes and piano, they manage to create an atmosphere that is rather blissful. Suffused with space, the pieces undulate around us, creating a cocoon, but one where each thread is visible, different strands vibrating at different levels.The saxophone is generally busier than the vibes and piano, with the latter at times so gentle that you feel sleep is not far off. In fact, some of the pieces have that late-night jazz feel, but one where everybody has left and the barman moves around the room at his own rhythm, straightening up as summer sunlight threatens to steal through the window. The use of the balafon with its wooden structure gives a hidden mountainous atmosphere. It evokes monk-like solitude way up in pine-scented heights, breathing fresh clear air while the sax hints at something just beyond the threshold. Each piece inhabits a very different place, yet the basic ingredients are the same. How they have managed this is part of the beauty of the album.
Some of the pieces have a shimmer of movement light as gauze, while others move like a cat that doesn’t know it is being watched. In other places, a light tapping evokes an electrical pole caught in the wind, while the sax at one point acts like a kite caught high in a tree and as the wind increases so it whips more frantically. The subtlety and interaction is just a delight, with a gesture from one instrument making its way into company and changing its feel, depending on how it is received by the other two. It feels like three friends walking a coastal path; sometimes one walks alone while the other two rush on ahead; and then one of those stops to smell something and the other tow reconvene, but the freedom to follow their own idea of the path is always there. In one piece, the wonderful ache of melancholy sax is tempered by the chime and bustle of piano. At one point I couldn’t help but think they were deconstructing the theme to the Pink Panther, seeing what could be made of the constituent parts, then wandering with those parts into something wilder, losing sight of the initial premise, a vibrancy giving way to a skeletal framework that is as fine and light as a mouse, memories of sound that open into a joyous joust, the three in unison combining to make a headlong rush.I was listening to the radio and they were talking about the cheese rolling and the idea of running as fast as you can downhill until you reach the bottom and land in a dizzy heap is perfectly encapsulated by the final track here. Momentum to stasis in the blink of an eye.
Apparently the nature of each track informed its title and as a bit of fun on your first listen, don’t read the titles; just listen and see what they evoke in your mind and then compare that with the title. You might be surprised how close you come.-Mr Olivetti-
