Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Dominic J Marshall Trio: Spirit Speech

6

Dominic J Marshall Trio: Spirit Speech

By

View read count
Dominic J Marshall Trio: Spirit Speech
Dominic J Marshall has clearly absorbed a lot of influences in his 24 years. The pianist, born in Scotland and now resident in Amsterdam, brings many of them to Spirit Speech, the third album by his trio. Hip-hop, jazz, classical, folk: it's a disparate bunch and while it isn't exactly chalk and cheese there's still a risk that mixing them all together could create something unpalatable. Marshall neatly sidesteps the risk. Spirit Speech is proud of its influences but never overwhelmed by them: the result is refreshing and innovative.

Marshall's ability to mix his influences was apparent on his second album, Icaros (F-IRE Label, 2012). Hip-hop and electronica seem to be especially dear to his heart. His releases as a solo artist—such as Good And Bad Dreams (Self Produced, 2013)—reveal a writer/musician with a fine line in atmospheric electronic grooves. In the context of an acoustic trio—he's joined by Tobias Nijboer on bass and Jamie Peet on drums—Marshall puts more emphasis on his jazz roots, but it's the addition of these more contemporary influences that give his music its freshness.

The tunes on Spirit Speech are all Marshall originals. The trio shifts with apparent ease through the languid, late-night, ballad style of "Unflinchingly" to the graceful beauty of "Austin Peralta" (presumably a tribute to the young pianist who died in 2012, aged 22) and on towards the faster pace of "Enter The Void." In between there's the gentle swing of "Srividaya's Cells," "Justin"'s percussive punch and the lyrical phrasing of "Sleepwalking." There's a quiet confidence about this music and these performances, a maturity that belies Marshall's relative youth. It all bodes well for the future of the trio.

Track Listing

Austin Peralta; Book Of Machines; Unflinchingly; Srividya's Cells; Tiwanaku; Sleepwalking; Bud; Justin; I'm Sorry; N=This Very Duo; Enter The Void.

Personnel

Dominic J Marshall: piano; Tobias Nijboer: double bass; Jamie Peet: drums.

Album information

Title: Spirit Speech | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Origin Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.