Piano-less trio delivers discreetly elegiac melodies alongside their stinging grooves.
Some jazz musicians argue that a horn-led trio, sans piano, is a tricky proposition because there are no chords to map their improvisations. Others relish the added room for harmonic manoeuvre, which they see as a greater test, an exercise in risk rather than reliable formulae. On a practical note, the instruments in a trio are heard very clearly, and the absence of a keyboard can actually make the music a tad more concentrated and resonant. Partikel, comprising drummer Eric Ford, double bassist Max Luthert and tenor-soprano saxophonist Duncan Eagles, a London-based combo who debuted with an eponymous release in 2010, provide a convincing case for arguments two and three in this debate.
Bolstered by an excellent mix from Tyler McDiarmid, the trio packs a hefty punch over a dozen relatively short pieces that are freighted with sufficient changes and dynamics to satisfy those in search of compositional richness, yet retain a dance-like sensibility to suggest that the players have imbibed some of the trance-like riffing prevalent in folk music, be it Caribbean or North African. The Restless Child is a case in point. Swaying between what feels like 6 and 7/8, the piece unfurls one fraught bluesy theme after another, before deftly altering emotional tack in the coda. Dark shades turn to brightness as the band slides into a swinging reggae calypso that is given extra thrust by the sharply clipped cowbells supplementing Ford’s snare and kick. Indeed, percussion reveals itself to a be a central component of the ensemble sound, practically turning the trio into a quartet by way of an added barrage of notes that frequently superimposes a staggered, off the beat feel, during which Eagles and Luthert loop their lines muscularly.
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Bron: BBC Music