{"id":8349,"date":"2017-04-27T23:20:21","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T06:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=8349"},"modified":"2017-04-27T23:20:21","modified_gmt":"2017-04-28T06:20:21","slug":"recent-listening-phelan-burgoyne-trio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2017\/04\/recent-listening-phelan-burgoyne-trio\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Listening: Phelan Burgoyne Trio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phelan Burgoyne<\/strong> Trio, Quiet Unquiet<\/a> (Pumpkin Records)<\/p>\n

Drummer Burgoyne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trio may seem now and then to be floating toward somnolence, but the tidal urgencies and complexities of his drumming are unlikely to encourage napping. The ingenuity and intellectual rigor of guitarist Rob Luft and alto saxophonist \"\"Martin Speake are equally responsible for keeping the listener\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attention. Burgoyne and Luft were Speake\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s students at London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Royal Academy of Music. Now the professor is a sideman in his former student\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s little band, which is increasingly prominent in British music. Moderate sonic manipulation occasionally enhances the music, as in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Midnight Train to Malm\u00c3\u00b6.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d If you are not aware of the digital molding, it seems natural—and isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that the idea? Luft and Speake achieve keening intensity on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Purple Z.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Burgoyne fashions a cymbal-fest before the piece slowly subsides into a thoughtful echo. The first third of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Green T\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is an exercise in reflection for Luft\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guitar and Burgoyne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cymbals before Speake soars, then darts, in a solo whose passion takes his alto well into the altissimo range. The eight pieces in the album, all composed by Burgoyne, include two short tracks titled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Quiet Unquiet I\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and Quiet Unquiet II\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that demonstrate the melodic quality of his solo technique. The musicality and appeal of this little band seem likely to keep bringing them attention. <\/p>\n

In a demonstration of their stylistic flexibility, here is the Burgoyne trio at the Royal Academy in 2015 with the 20th century Vienesse composer Alban Berg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Schliesse Mir Die Augen Beide.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n