SAMUEL EAGLES - Pursuing His Next Beginning
Every now and again a CD arrives for review
from a new name that just screams out to be played. Often why it catches the
attention is not always immediately apparent, but you just know that you have
to listen to it, and such was the case with Next Beginning by the Samuel Eagles
Quartet. A few minutes into the opening track, ‘Remembering Myself’ I was
hooked, and despite the late hour the decision was made to defer turning in for
the night and to listen to “just one more track”.
The accompanying press release gave some background information along with a glowing testament from mentor, tenor saxophonist Jean Toussaint that piqued the interest still further; but neither spoke as clearly or with as much authority as the voice I was hearing through the alto saxophone of Samuel Eagles.
By the end of the album it was obvious that an interview was called for if only to find out more about the man behind the horn, and to try to find some answers as to why this debut release was such a compelling listen.
The accompanying press release gave some background information along with a glowing testament from mentor, tenor saxophonist Jean Toussaint that piqued the interest still further; but neither spoke as clearly or with as much authority as the voice I was hearing through the alto saxophone of Samuel Eagles.
By the end of the album it was obvious that an interview was called for if only to find out more about the man behind the horn, and to try to find some answers as to why this debut release was such a compelling listen.
Knowing very
little about the London born and bred Eagles, the obvious place to start was at
the beginning, and I found the young altoist to be an eager interviewee. “My
musical journey started when my parents introduced me to the piano aged seven”
explains Samuel. “We already had an
upright piano because my brother was already taking lessons, so that was a
great advantage. My lessons were mainly
classical based, working through the grades that I am grateful for. I started playing the alto saxophone just
before secondary school. I chose the
saxophone because I had spent many years listening to my brother, Duncan,
performing with various bands and seeing everything he was doing, it was quite
inspiring. At my secondary school there
was a great music teacher who loved jazz.
There were so many bands to get involved with and even room to form my
own small band with full support from the music teacher at the time who wanted
nothing but the best for us.”
So with a lively curriculum for music at school, why did you decide to follow the more precarious path that jazz may lead, as opposed to pursuing other musical genres? After a pause, the saxophonist continues, “I guess some of my answer to this is in the previous question. Also it is down to my brother once again. He would buy all these great jazz albums ranging from David Sanborn to John Coltrane, so I was listening to a lot of music at a young age. I loved funk, fusion and soul music in particular. I think this was an important pathway for me to become deeper into jazz as it was easier to understand and appreciate at that age of 12/13. School was also important, the music teacher at the time would always organise school trips to see jazz gigs. We also went to see musicians such as Soweto Kinch and David Sanborn.”
So this exposure at a exposure to gigging and touring at such a young age obviously had a big impact on you along with valuable experience playing in front of an audience? “Yes definitely, at school we would do many gigs with the big band. We rehearsed every week and gigged regularly, in some periods once per week. We would perform anywhere from pubs, elderly care homes, school fairs to theatre charity events, town centres. The big band would also tour internationally. I only went on one tour which was to Prague. This gave me my dream of seeing the world whilst performing. Prague was just amazing, walking around and seeing all it had to offer as well as doing many gigs.” Warming to his subject, Eagles continues enthusiastically, “Whilst at school my brother set up a band called the Jazz Funk Collective which was a 10 piece Jazz fusion band made up of the guys I went to school with. You have most probably heard of bassist Max Luthert (of Partikel fame) and Leo Appleyard (guitar), they were also in this band and in the bands later days Louie Palmer (drums), although I wasn’t at school with him. We played all original music and also did many gigs such as The Bulls Head in Barnes. We even toured the whole of Ireland playing in jazz clubs including The Blue Note, Galway Jazz club etc. I also toured part of Germany and Italy including the Barga Jazz festival with a youth band I was in. Those were some of the best experiences of my life.”
With such opportunities to study and play on a regular basis must have been of enormous benefit, but what about influences. Who have you been listening to? “My biggest musical influence would have to be Kenny Garrett. I have loved his music since I started playing the saxophone and I still love it now. Also Jean Toussaint, I used to go to his place and talk about music and he would show me musical ideas and transcriptions. He gave me a lot of confidence at a time when I really needed it, having someone like him believe in you can make all the difference at any stage of life. After being so transfixed with Kenny Garrett for a number of years I am branching out a bit more. I listen to Greg Osbey, Steve Coleman, Mark Turner, Jean Toussaint, Walter Smith III, Marcus Strickland, Logan Richardson and many more. As well as listening to the current musicians I am always checking out what came before such as Charlie Parker, Rollins, Monk, I love John Coltrane, his obsessive nature and trying to understand why he was like that. Influences are important to me but I strongly believe in sounding like myself and not like any of my influences.”
So with a lively curriculum for music at school, why did you decide to follow the more precarious path that jazz may lead, as opposed to pursuing other musical genres? After a pause, the saxophonist continues, “I guess some of my answer to this is in the previous question. Also it is down to my brother once again. He would buy all these great jazz albums ranging from David Sanborn to John Coltrane, so I was listening to a lot of music at a young age. I loved funk, fusion and soul music in particular. I think this was an important pathway for me to become deeper into jazz as it was easier to understand and appreciate at that age of 12/13. School was also important, the music teacher at the time would always organise school trips to see jazz gigs. We also went to see musicians such as Soweto Kinch and David Sanborn.”
So this exposure at a exposure to gigging and touring at such a young age obviously had a big impact on you along with valuable experience playing in front of an audience? “Yes definitely, at school we would do many gigs with the big band. We rehearsed every week and gigged regularly, in some periods once per week. We would perform anywhere from pubs, elderly care homes, school fairs to theatre charity events, town centres. The big band would also tour internationally. I only went on one tour which was to Prague. This gave me my dream of seeing the world whilst performing. Prague was just amazing, walking around and seeing all it had to offer as well as doing many gigs.” Warming to his subject, Eagles continues enthusiastically, “Whilst at school my brother set up a band called the Jazz Funk Collective which was a 10 piece Jazz fusion band made up of the guys I went to school with. You have most probably heard of bassist Max Luthert (of Partikel fame) and Leo Appleyard (guitar), they were also in this band and in the bands later days Louie Palmer (drums), although I wasn’t at school with him. We played all original music and also did many gigs such as The Bulls Head in Barnes. We even toured the whole of Ireland playing in jazz clubs including The Blue Note, Galway Jazz club etc. I also toured part of Germany and Italy including the Barga Jazz festival with a youth band I was in. Those were some of the best experiences of my life.”
With such opportunities to study and play on a regular basis must have been of enormous benefit, but what about influences. Who have you been listening to? “My biggest musical influence would have to be Kenny Garrett. I have loved his music since I started playing the saxophone and I still love it now. Also Jean Toussaint, I used to go to his place and talk about music and he would show me musical ideas and transcriptions. He gave me a lot of confidence at a time when I really needed it, having someone like him believe in you can make all the difference at any stage of life. After being so transfixed with Kenny Garrett for a number of years I am branching out a bit more. I listen to Greg Osbey, Steve Coleman, Mark Turner, Jean Toussaint, Walter Smith III, Marcus Strickland, Logan Richardson and many more. As well as listening to the current musicians I am always checking out what came before such as Charlie Parker, Rollins, Monk, I love John Coltrane, his obsessive nature and trying to understand why he was like that. Influences are important to me but I strongly believe in sounding like myself and not like any of my influences.”
Inevitably,
and quite rightly are conversation turned to Eagles debut album, Next Beginning so why the unusual
instrumentation? “The instrumentation for this album is mainly due to some
Logan Richardson albums I have been listening to. I love the overall sound of his band on these
recordings and especially how he has written for vibraphone, it’s almost like a
lucid dream come to life. I knew I
wanted to write for vibraphone and it’s a fact that there aren’t many vibes
players in London so I was stuck.
Luckily Ralph was recommended to me, we organised some plays, both of us
were happy and we never looked back.
Ferg and I went to Trinity together for four years so there was already
a relationship there. I have always been
in awe of Ferg’s playing and I thought now is the time to really collaborate
with him. Eric and I have known each
other for nearly 10 years, playing together at local jam sessions, hanging out
and gigging together. Eric has the
energy and accuracy like you hear in great American bands and he also has
extensively studied many rhythmic art forms from all over the world so he was
the choice for me. I’m so grateful for
the band I have, each of their performances are always better than the last and
it keeps me on my toes working hard and bettering myself.”
Another thorny issue for many musicians is that once they have put together a band together and developed a group sound is finding the opportunities to get the music heard, so what about finding an audience for your music? Are there many places to play, or do you find that gigs and venues are in increasingly short supply? “I think if the music is good enough and you are able to market yourself effectively then the audience will come to you” says Samuel. “In my experience I think young up and coming bands are getting more opportunity to perform. Things like Young and Serious, Junior departments at The Academy and Trinity, Jazz festivals with gig slots especially for younger bands. Also there are some great promoters like Paul Pace who love to help young bands and give them opportunities. Most venues I feel are pretty open to new modern music which is great but at the same time there are quite a lot of venues who want to play it safe and book the guys they have been booking for years and years so there isn’t really much of a look in sometimes.”
Another thorny issue for many musicians is that once they have put together a band together and developed a group sound is finding the opportunities to get the music heard, so what about finding an audience for your music? Are there many places to play, or do you find that gigs and venues are in increasingly short supply? “I think if the music is good enough and you are able to market yourself effectively then the audience will come to you” says Samuel. “In my experience I think young up and coming bands are getting more opportunity to perform. Things like Young and Serious, Junior departments at The Academy and Trinity, Jazz festivals with gig slots especially for younger bands. Also there are some great promoters like Paul Pace who love to help young bands and give them opportunities. Most venues I feel are pretty open to new modern music which is great but at the same time there are quite a lot of venues who want to play it safe and book the guys they have been booking for years and years so there isn’t really much of a look in sometimes.”
Eagles is also one of the new generation of young musicians
that are coming through the education system as opposed to some of the older
players that did their learning on the job, so how do he think jazz education
is preparing young players for life as working musician? “As a working musician
trying to survive in society by earning enough money I would say jazz education
is great. You learn some jazz history,
meet some other musicians in the same boat as you and you get a certificate
after four years which opens up a load of teaching work, function gigs and
contacts, it looks good. Musically In my
opinion and experience it’s 50/50. There
are a lot of things you have to do in order to get your degree, time which can
be spent more productively. I met Ferg
and Jean Toussaint at Trinity College, and they have had an extremely positive
impact on my life and what I’m doing now which I’m so grateful for. It can be hard at times but if you go to
music college, you just have to remain positive and take away the good things.”
Apart from your current quartet, what other projects are you currently involved in? “I also play in and manage a band called ‘Emeka Elendu Presents – Kalakuta. Emeka Elendu is the lead vocalist, he used to be in Fela Kuti’s band for a number of years when he was younger and now he is making a come back. We play Afro Beat music in a new, modern and innovative way and we are looking to release an album in 2015.
I am also a member of a band called Nomad Soul Collective, which I am very excited about. Henry Lawrey is the composer and piano player in the band and every time he brings a new tune to rehearsals I get so inspired. We have released our debut EP Forever and we are currently looking for a label. You can check out our music at https://soundcloud.com/nomad-soul-collective.”
Apart from your current quartet, what other projects are you currently involved in? “I also play in and manage a band called ‘Emeka Elendu Presents – Kalakuta. Emeka Elendu is the lead vocalist, he used to be in Fela Kuti’s band for a number of years when he was younger and now he is making a come back. We play Afro Beat music in a new, modern and innovative way and we are looking to release an album in 2015.
I am also a member of a band called Nomad Soul Collective, which I am very excited about. Henry Lawrey is the composer and piano player in the band and every time he brings a new tune to rehearsals I get so inspired. We have released our debut EP Forever and we are currently looking for a label. You can check out our music at https://soundcloud.com/nomad-soul-collective.”
Of the future, Ealgles is positive and optimistic, “I’m
already thinking about the next album.
What can I do differently, concept, instrumentation, art work etcetra. I’m going to spend some time shedding,
studying and gigging first though, always striving to be better and always
ready to make the most of what comes my way, which could be anything!”
For more information visit www.samueleagles.co.uk
Click on the album cover to read our review of Next Beginning by the Samuel Eagles Quartet.
For more information visit www.samueleagles.co.uk
Click on the album cover to read our review of Next Beginning by the Samuel Eagles Quartet.
