Artist: Geoff Eales

Date of Release:

Catalogue no: SRDC 11-2

Label: Basho Records

Price: £7.50

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After twenty years as one of London's top session pianists, arrangers and composers, the inspirational Geoff Eales has rediscovered his passion for improvised music in recent years. With three highly acclaimed albums to his name ("Mountains of Fire", "Red Letter Days" and "Facing the Muse") showcasing his formidable trio, Geoff has decided to throw caution to the wind and go completely solo for his debut album for Basho Records - "SYNERGY" (SRCD 11-2). In "Synergy", Geoff fearlessly tears down musical barriers with the breadth of his vision. A truly genre-busting album, it draws from a rich variety of sources including gospel, blues, rock, Latin, Messiaen, Bach and Debussy, but the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. This eclectic CD includes highly personal takes on well-loved standards as well as some moving performances on his own powerful compositions.

Reviews

01/02/2005 Kenny Mathieson, Jazzwise

“Pianist Geoff Eales is one of those muisicians who quietly gets on with the job of serving up classy and inventive jazz interpretations without attracting a great deal of fuss. This is his first disc of solo piano recordings, and is well up to the standard he has set in the three trio discs he has issued since 1999. His early classical training surfaces in a natural and unforced fashion in his playing, and his experience over two decades as a much sought after session musician is always in evidence, both in his technical accomplishment and his wide-ranging command of idioms and styles. His expressive and beautifully executed interpretations of standards such as “My Romance” or “All The Things You Are” are complemented by several of his own compositions. It’s the kind of record that could easily get passed over in the glare or brasher projects, and that would be a shame.”

16/01/2005 Dave Gelly, The Observer

"The world of commercial music simply couldn't function without phenomenally accomplished musicians like Geoff Eales. Without knowing it, you will have heard his keyboard playing on TV themes, film soundtracks, advertising jingles and so on. Fortunately, he has started to record some of his own music and this is his first solo effort. To say that it covers a lot of ground is putting it mildly. From the delicate tracery of 'No More Tears' to 'Funkin' at Greasy Jo's', Eales conducts a kind of guided tour of pianistic moods and styles. A fascinating hour's music."