ED JONES - Bending Your Ear
Photo by Lloyd Spencer
London based saxophonist, Ed Jones, has been a mainstay of the UK scene for more than twenty-five years. He has forged a distinctive sound on both tenor and soprano saxophones, and embraced diverse musical situations from straight ahead and hard hitting jazz to free improvisation along with crossover projects with Incognito and US3, and also ventured into R&B with such legendary artists as Bootsy Collins, Chaka Khan Tina Turner.
With a significant discography under his own name, Jones formed his current quartet with Ross Stanley on piano, Riaan Vosloo on bass and drummer Tim Giles back in 2011, but has waited until now to release their first recording, For Your Ears Only. With the quartet currently touring the UK, Jazz Views took the opportunity to catch up with Ed and talk to him about his latest release.
Can you tell us about your new album?
It took a long time to make, not to record it, that took less than a day. What you hear is years of playing, writing, gigging, reflection, revising, learning and developing our sound. Most of the music that you hear on the album are first takes. We tried to make the recording session a document of how we play live,that isn’t easy to achieve sometimes in the studio. The studio is a much more complex environment than a gig. So we tried to approach it like a gig and just play. We were all in the same room and there wasn’t a lot of screening off. We didn’t use headphones which was great. There wasn’t too much listening back and over analysing when we recorded, and I think that helped a lot. I'm really happy that we captured some of the spirit and essence of our live performances. The location helped as Fish Factory is a studio that all of us knew well and felt comfortable playing in. Ben Lamdin the engineer and co producer there helped enormously. The title came about when I sent the monitor mixes to a close friend of mine to check out and in the email I wrote 'For Your Ears Only'. It seemed to fit the sound of the music perfectly. It literally means something that is a secret that cannot be expressed explicitly in writing.
The Quartet has been together for nearly seven years. How do you feel the music has developed over this time?
There was group chemistry in the sound right from the first gig. It was clear that we listened and responded to each otter in a very natural way. When we first started gigging we played a mix of standards, Wayne Shorter tunes and originals. Gradually as the group sound developed I stated to bring in more original material specifically written for the group and Riaan Vosloo (Double Bass) also bought in his own tunes and Ross Stanley (Piano) also brought in some arrangements of lesser played standards. Tim Giles (Drums) is an absolute master in improvising different grooves that both change and support the nature of the material. Everybody contributes through suggesting material to play. Some gigs we might play just my tunes, or a mix. It's not really a set thing. In a soundcheck someone in the group might suggest a tune and suddenly its in the set. We might play a whole set of standards and then play a second set of originals or the other way around. Some gigs it’s all original material but Its not a fixed thing at all. I guess I’m the one who filters all of this and decides what the tunes are ultimately going to be in the set list, but it’s a very active group process that goes into those decisions. There is an intensity in how we listen to each other and allow the music to develop quite freely and a commitment to improvising so that there isn’t a set way of playing the material.
With a significant discography under his own name, Jones formed his current quartet with Ross Stanley on piano, Riaan Vosloo on bass and drummer Tim Giles back in 2011, but has waited until now to release their first recording, For Your Ears Only. With the quartet currently touring the UK, Jazz Views took the opportunity to catch up with Ed and talk to him about his latest release.
Can you tell us about your new album?
It took a long time to make, not to record it, that took less than a day. What you hear is years of playing, writing, gigging, reflection, revising, learning and developing our sound. Most of the music that you hear on the album are first takes. We tried to make the recording session a document of how we play live,that isn’t easy to achieve sometimes in the studio. The studio is a much more complex environment than a gig. So we tried to approach it like a gig and just play. We were all in the same room and there wasn’t a lot of screening off. We didn’t use headphones which was great. There wasn’t too much listening back and over analysing when we recorded, and I think that helped a lot. I'm really happy that we captured some of the spirit and essence of our live performances. The location helped as Fish Factory is a studio that all of us knew well and felt comfortable playing in. Ben Lamdin the engineer and co producer there helped enormously. The title came about when I sent the monitor mixes to a close friend of mine to check out and in the email I wrote 'For Your Ears Only'. It seemed to fit the sound of the music perfectly. It literally means something that is a secret that cannot be expressed explicitly in writing.
The Quartet has been together for nearly seven years. How do you feel the music has developed over this time?
There was group chemistry in the sound right from the first gig. It was clear that we listened and responded to each otter in a very natural way. When we first started gigging we played a mix of standards, Wayne Shorter tunes and originals. Gradually as the group sound developed I stated to bring in more original material specifically written for the group and Riaan Vosloo (Double Bass) also bought in his own tunes and Ross Stanley (Piano) also brought in some arrangements of lesser played standards. Tim Giles (Drums) is an absolute master in improvising different grooves that both change and support the nature of the material. Everybody contributes through suggesting material to play. Some gigs we might play just my tunes, or a mix. It's not really a set thing. In a soundcheck someone in the group might suggest a tune and suddenly its in the set. We might play a whole set of standards and then play a second set of originals or the other way around. Some gigs it’s all original material but Its not a fixed thing at all. I guess I’m the one who filters all of this and decides what the tunes are ultimately going to be in the set list, but it’s a very active group process that goes into those decisions. There is an intensity in how we listen to each other and allow the music to develop quite freely and a commitment to improvising so that there isn’t a set way of playing the material.
It must be a great advantage, although sometime difficult, to keep a stable personnel for the quartet, enabling you to build that special rapport so essential in music that has a lot of improvisation?
It is difficult, everyone in the group is busy playing lots of different music .Inevitably at different times I have had to bring in other musicians when dates clash. That's just business as usual for a bandleader.Recently the pianist Mathew Bourne depped for Ross Stanley for a couple of gigs ,and that was great as he learnt all the material and then applied his unique voice to it which was amazing. I think we have got to the point where we might not have gigged for a while,then when we do, it feels like we just take off from where we left it the last time we played. Right now it’s great to have a long tour of 15 dates with the same line up on each date this spring as we can play together on a nightly basis. We have just finished a run of five nights in a row which feels amazing .There is no substitute for this kind of intense performance schedule in terms of developing the music.
The longest track on the album is 'Marielyst' at just under the thirteen minute mark. The piece has a wonderful structure and feel to it as it progresses, did you Indend to write a long melodic piece as a centrepiece or has the composition developed over time?
I wrote and recorded that piece for the first Killer Shrimp album back in 2006 so it’s been around a while, although we play it very differently from that band. It didn’t start life as how it sounds now. We have definitely expanded it out and stretched its shape. When I first wrote it was just a simple tune which for some reason reminded me of the time I used to visit a place called Marielyst in Denmark. I staying out in the forest close to the sea which in winter was often frozen over.When the quartet started playing it I began telling some of those stories as an introduction before we commenced. A lot of the drama in the piece is definitely mirrors some of the stories of those times.
The only piece not written by yourself is 'Solstice' by Riaan, a truly beautiful piece that you seem to relish playing (love your sound on this, by the way...superb tenor playing!). Is this a tune you play together live or written for the album?
Thank you. I do love playing this piece as you say it’s very beautiful. Riaan wrote and recorded this quite a while ago for another project of his. We found a way to expand it after a while so it has a much different shape to when we first started to play it. We don’t discuss this expansion process much as a group and it’s not a set approach, it's just about letting the tune go where it feels it wants to go each time we play. It's a ballad that goes to a lot of different places before coming home.
It is difficult, everyone in the group is busy playing lots of different music .Inevitably at different times I have had to bring in other musicians when dates clash. That's just business as usual for a bandleader.Recently the pianist Mathew Bourne depped for Ross Stanley for a couple of gigs ,and that was great as he learnt all the material and then applied his unique voice to it which was amazing. I think we have got to the point where we might not have gigged for a while,then when we do, it feels like we just take off from where we left it the last time we played. Right now it’s great to have a long tour of 15 dates with the same line up on each date this spring as we can play together on a nightly basis. We have just finished a run of five nights in a row which feels amazing .There is no substitute for this kind of intense performance schedule in terms of developing the music.
The longest track on the album is 'Marielyst' at just under the thirteen minute mark. The piece has a wonderful structure and feel to it as it progresses, did you Indend to write a long melodic piece as a centrepiece or has the composition developed over time?
I wrote and recorded that piece for the first Killer Shrimp album back in 2006 so it’s been around a while, although we play it very differently from that band. It didn’t start life as how it sounds now. We have definitely expanded it out and stretched its shape. When I first wrote it was just a simple tune which for some reason reminded me of the time I used to visit a place called Marielyst in Denmark. I staying out in the forest close to the sea which in winter was often frozen over.When the quartet started playing it I began telling some of those stories as an introduction before we commenced. A lot of the drama in the piece is definitely mirrors some of the stories of those times.
The only piece not written by yourself is 'Solstice' by Riaan, a truly beautiful piece that you seem to relish playing (love your sound on this, by the way...superb tenor playing!). Is this a tune you play together live or written for the album?
Thank you. I do love playing this piece as you say it’s very beautiful. Riaan wrote and recorded this quite a while ago for another project of his. We found a way to expand it after a while so it has a much different shape to when we first started to play it. We don’t discuss this expansion process much as a group and it’s not a set approach, it's just about letting the tune go where it feels it wants to go each time we play. It's a ballad that goes to a lot of different places before coming home.
Another wonderful piece is the closer, 'Ebb And Flow' that is captivating from the beginning right to the climax that build up throughout the piece? It sounds very free, but one can hear a definite structure. Was this a conscious decision or has the iece developed through live performance?
I'm glad that comes across as I wrote this piece with the idea of having a mixture of written material and free improvisation. So some of what you hear is written, for example the first piano entry the rest of us are playing free. Different instruments cue the sections through playing the written material so it’s completely different each time we perform. It's a writing approach that I'd like to explore much further in the future. We recorded two takes of 'Ebb and Flow' for the album and it was really difficult to choose between them .
One track, 'Starbright (For Wayne Shorter)' is co-composed with with, and features vocalist Brigitte Beraha. This sounds like it could (and should) be part of an ongong project. Do you have plans to record more music with Brigitte?
Brigitte is one of my favourite musicians and I’d love to work with her again I hope we can do it again soon. When I wrote the piece originally I had a provisional title for it which was 'Starbright' as I could hear Wayne Shorter’s sound in there somewhere and had just finished reading his biography in which he talks about the influence of astrology in his music. I don’t know why but I started to hear lyrics in the
I'm glad that comes across as I wrote this piece with the idea of having a mixture of written material and free improvisation. So some of what you hear is written, for example the first piano entry the rest of us are playing free. Different instruments cue the sections through playing the written material so it’s completely different each time we perform. It's a writing approach that I'd like to explore much further in the future. We recorded two takes of 'Ebb and Flow' for the album and it was really difficult to choose between them .
One track, 'Starbright (For Wayne Shorter)' is co-composed with with, and features vocalist Brigitte Beraha. This sounds like it could (and should) be part of an ongong project. Do you have plans to record more music with Brigitte?
Brigitte is one of my favourite musicians and I’d love to work with her again I hope we can do it again soon. When I wrote the piece originally I had a provisional title for it which was 'Starbright' as I could hear Wayne Shorter’s sound in there somewhere and had just finished reading his biography in which he talks about the influence of astrology in his music. I don’t know why but I started to hear lyrics in the