“Unquiet Quiet” by The Phelan Burgoyne Trio (Pumpkin Records 010)
Martin Speake – saxophone
Rob Luft – guitar.
Unquiet Quiet is the anticipated debut recording by British drummer and composer Phelan Burgoyne (1994). The album features legendary saxophonist Martin Speake and rising star guitarist Rob Luft. The trio have been close collaborators since early 2014 when Burgoyne and Luft were both students at the Royal Academy of Music in London where Speake is a professor. The recording was made in the space of a single, cold February afternoon in a small, acoustically beautiful studio on the south coast of England. Comprising of predominantly first takes, the music is heavily improvised and sculpted around the nucleus of Burgoyne’s strong, sketch-like melodies, inspired by particular characters, landscapes and memories. At just under thirty-four minutes long, the recording can be interpreted as a miniature sonic triptych in three parts, punctuated by two fleeting solo percussion interludes. From the cryptic “Imubasam” to the ardent and brooding “Afterthought” the recording features Speake as his most rhapsodic, against the backdrop of Luft’s warm, glowing harmonies and Burgoyne’s abstract rubato drumming. Unquiet Quiet captures a raw and intuitive performance from the Phelan Burgoyne Trio and stands as an amalgamation of the last two years of collaboration, growth and searching together.