Vasilis Xenopoulos Paul Edis Quartet: Feels Like Home

The various meanings of home are the themes behind Feels Like Home—somewhere to belong to, a place to rejoin loved ones, a birthplace. This is the second album from Vasilis Xenopoulos and Paul Edis. They began playing together 20 years ago, when they both relocated to London to study. It follows on from A Narrow Escape (Paul Edis Music, 2016).

Leading Greek saxophonist Xenopoulos is a flag-waver for straight-ahead jazz and can be found as co-leader of the leading UK ensemble Five-Way Split as well as collaborating with musicians from Cyprus and Greece. He graduated with honours from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and has been working with Edis for 20 years. Edis is an innovative pianist who has worked with Alan Barnes, Jim Mullen and Tim Garland. He also leads his own sextet and works as an educator for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and the National Youth Jazz Collective. They are joined by bassist Adam King (Jo Harrop, Dave O’Higgins) and drummer Joel Barford (Nigel Price, Trish Clowes) to form the Vasilis Xenopoulos Paul Edis Quartet.

There is an involuntary sound of relaxation that many of us make; it might come when we finally sit down at the end of a long day or when we first taste the drink we've been looking forward to. Listening to the opening bars of "Going Home" captures that feeling. It envelopes one in warmth and relaxation. Composed by Antonin Dvorak, it may be recognisable to some as the Largo from his Symphony No. 9 (also known as the New World Symphony). A tape recording of it was even taken on Apollo 11 by Neil Armstrong. In the UK, the theme became familiar when used by Ridley Scott in an advert for Hovis Bread. In this version, the quartet borrows from Stanley Turrentine's arrangement of the tune from his album Hustlin' (Blue Note, 1964). Xenopoulos' tenor sax is warm-toned and welcoming. There is a gospel inflection in Edis' piano solo and King and Barford make the track gently swing.

There are five compositions from Edis. The relaxed feeling continues into "The Coast" with inventive piano and sax solos as the light Latin rhythms increase in pace. Xenopoulos takes up the soprano sax for the melancholy "Lockdown London" and brings echoes of John Coltrane from his early '60s quartet. Barford's lively drums bustle and spark as Edis' fine piano work captures the empty London feel. The reflective and satisfying late-night feel of "Coming Home To You" brings perfectly judged bass work from King before Edis moves into a bluesy piano solo. Another track with a late-night feel is the ballad "From Something To Somewhere," with Xenopoulos, Edis and King all contributing solos. Xenopoulos switches to flute for the light-stepping "Mikey's Samba"; Barford takes advantage of the rhythms with his drum solo.

Xenopoulos' "Memories of Home" is the first of his two compositions. The hint of melancholy in his sax melody, coupled with Edis' adroit piano exploration, exhibits how well these two play together, often employing a delayed echo of what the other has played. Drum rolls usher in the hard bop of "Get Off My Lawn." King and Barford underpin the fine sax and piano runs as the quartet neatly interlock.

Always melodic with strong grooves, this is an album that is grounded in the jazz tradition. The quartet brings the theme of home to light with their inspired playing. There is a subtle ease to Edis' playing and his compositions are creative and thoughtful. Xenopoulos glides through the registers, offering warm, rhythmic and even tones. This is an engaging and entertaining album and those who are partial to contemporary straight-ahead jazz should find much here to admire.

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