This is a difficult disc to characterise, and I expect that
staff at the few remaining emporia actually devoted to selling
CDs will need to seek guidance: is it classical, crossover,
folk, jazz, light, or a cross-pollinator of some, or indeed
all, of the above? Perhaps it will help to know that Andy Findon
and Dave Lee are both members of Michael Nyman’s band and that
Geoff Eales is a highly respected jazz pianist. Together the
initials of their surnames spell out the trio ELF, which formulation
is becoming something of a cliché in powerhouse piano-bass-drum
jazz trios; see EST etc. Calling yourself ELF also suggests
a bout of the Hobbits, or something, which I’m sure is not the
intention.
The repertoire takes in traditional material, Lloyd Webber,
a Nyman song, three compositions by Eales - including an Elf
Dance, somewhat inevitably, I suppose - and jazz standards.
They’re grouped together amusingly under headings such as ‘Folk
in a Boat’ for the traditional material and ‘Doing Bird’ for
the trio of avian-related jazz titles. Clearly these are not
sour-faced practitioners.
The motor of the disc is the long sequence of themes from Lloyd
Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, here called Phantasia.
It’s arranged by Geoff Alexander and heard in this trio reduction
by Paul Bateman. By coincidence I was watching a ‘making of’
retrospective of the original work the week before I listened
to this 26 minute outing for piano, horn and flute, so the themes
were already lodged. It would have been nice, though not essential,
for each separately tracked cut to have been identified in the
booklet. I enjoyed this ingenious piece of work, from Eales’s
tinkling piano introduction [track 9] which is full of suspense;
also the commanding playing of Dave Lee and Findon’s blandishments.
The folk arrangements include a rather spare piano introduction
to When the Boat Comes In over which the flute pirouettes
and the horn mulls. It ends pessimistically, segueing into Brigg
Fair where the counterpoint with Scarborough Fair
is adeptly realised. Molly on the Shore brings out the
fife or penny-whistler manqué in Findon, whose flute playing
evokes these instruments whilst Lee plays the straight man throughout,
harmonically speaking. I enjoyed Ian Hughes’s Reflections,
the title track, very much. It comes from a 1996 TV film, and
is a worthy salute to the late composer.
Another lovely song is Nyman’s If, followed immediately
by that rather funky Elf Dance, albeit one containing
a fair share of wistful elements too. Eales’s Song for my
Mother was written for his jazz trio and though it explicitly
evokes Horace Silver in its title, this combination of instruments
re-imagines it in a new and richly textured way. We also hear
Chick Corea’s Spain and that bird-related trio of classic
jazz themes by Joe Zawinul, George Shearing and Charlie Parker,
all genially arranged; Lullaby of Birdland is the best
of the bunch.
So, whatever genre this disc occupies - and it traverses repertoire
and different forms without embarrassment - the proof is in
the playing, which is typically outstanding. Sympathetic, receptive
listeners will enjoy it – the jazz, the pastoralisms, the show
tunes, the traditional songs, the originals, and indeed the
whole ethos of un-pigeonholed musicians working hard and enjoying
themselves.
Jonathan Woolf
ELF Trio - Dave Lee (horn); Geoff Eales (piano); Andy Findon (flute)
