Espial: The Act Of Noticing
24th May 2024
Espial release new album The Act Of Noticing on May 24th 2024, with DISCUS MUSIC
The Act Of Noticing is an invitation to enter a sound world rich in sonic imagery, evocative atmosphere, and finely wrought detail. This album takes listeners on a journey, at one moment guiding them through changing musical landscapes at high speed, at another inviting them to simply stop and stare.
Espial emerged from a discussion between David Beebee and myself about how to develop and extend the musical language we had established on our duo album for Discus, “Ripples”. David felt that expanding the group to a trio would be a good idea, and suggested inviting Josephine. Our first session playing together worked very well and so this new ensemble was born.
The music on the album is almost entirely improvised. Listening back to the takes, there seemed to be a very evocative, organic quality to the pieces which informed the titling decisions. Just one piece, “… fresh snowfall at dawn”, used pre-composed material as a basis for improvisation. Everything else is entirely spontaneous. Everything is played live, with no overdubs.
Espial is an archaic word meaning “the act of noticing”, which seemed hugely appropriate and appealing as the name for an improvising group.
Josephine Davies - tenor and soprano saxophones
David Beebee - electric piano / effects
Martin Pyne - vibraphone / balafon / percussion
BIOGRAPHIES
Winner of the 2019 Parliamentary Award ‘Jazz Instrumentalist of the year’, Josephine Davies is a musical artist at the forefront of the UK contemporary music scene. Her current main artistic project is Satori – a sax/bass/drums trio with an emphasis on extended and collaborative improvisation. It is a project that combines her seeking of freedom of expression with an interest in Japanese philosophy and lifestyle. As well as Satori she now leads her own big band ‘The Enso Ensemble’. She is known for her melodic focus, versatility and unique style which has been described as “consistently inventive” (Jazzwise Magazine), “strong and authoritative” (The JazzMann) and “with winning immediacy” (MOJO Magazine).
David Beebee is a pianist , bass player, and composer. He leads his own trio, and a quartet playing his own music featuring saxophonist Julian Nicholas, drummer Eric Ford and bassist Jakub Cywinski. He plays in the trio Small Blue , with Marianne Windham and Martin Pyne , who have just released an album The Stealthy Moon, and he recently performed on singer Imogen Ryall’s highly acclaimed new album “Charles Mingus / Joni Mitchell Songbook” released on Rubicon Jazz. In addition to his work as a musician David is a highly accomplished recording engineer, and runs his own studio, Beeboss Studio, in Seaford on the South Coast of England.
Martin Pyne is a versatile musician, playing vibraphone, drums, and a range of other percussion. His own music ranges from free improvisation to relatively straight-ahead jazz, and takes in influences from jazz, world music, Americana, and the avant-garde. He leads a quartet, the trio Small Blue, and performs solo. He has an ongoing song writing partnership with singer Laura Zakian, and records and performs with Martin Archer and Charlotte Keeffe in the group Hi Res Heart. He also works regularly with leading silent film accompanist Stephen Horne. By far the greatest part of Martin’s professional time is spent working with contemporary dance. Martin’s solo album, Spirits Of Absent Dancers, was named by writer Richard Williams in The Guardian, as once of his top albums of 2020.