Secret Sessions: Fragile Eagle (UBU0054)

Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce its collaboration with sax titan Paul Booth on a new project series, Secret Sessions. The first album in the series, ‘Fragile Eagle’, was released in digital format on Friday, 14th February 2020.

 Paul Booth is a highly accomplished tenor sax player, well known for his work with many contemporary artists, including Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, The Eagles and Santana.

 Paul has curated a new project, ‘Secret Sessions’, which is an outlet for new music that is created, played and ultimately recorded by grouping like-minded artists and friends together. It works like this…Paul carefully selects a range of highly talented musicians who turn up to the recording studio, only knowing the instrumentation of the music but not knowing who they will be recording with. The result is a dynamic cocktail of spontaneous, exciting and highly rewarding music.

 As Paul explains it, “Back in January 2019, a time of year when I tend to reflect on the previous year and how I would like to make changes in the new year, it dawned on me that the balance of making music for music’s sake against being paid to play music wasn’t where I’d like it to be. This is naturally the normal way for most musicians and I’m fine with that dynamic, for the most part. However, I wanted to make more of an effort to play new music with the vast array of outstanding talent I have been privileged to work with and become friends with over the last 25 years. So many times as side men we say, ‘hey man, we should get together and play sometime’ and then, it never happens for a variety of ‘life’ reasons.

“I decided for my own personal development as a musician and composer that I needed to do something about this, so I went ahead a booked a day in a local studio first then went ahead and sent out an email to a long list pitching this idea: 

’I’m really into making more music this year with my all-time favourite UK based musicians around….you lot!!! The idea is to explore playing more improvised music and document this with a recording. We then decide what do with it later and who’s name it goes out under etc.’

“I also added that I was willing to invest in each of the sessions by paying the studio costs upfront until we know what we have and how we want to move forward. As I mentioned already, this was a chance for me to play with and learn from these master musicians, shedding their music, practicing in the lead up to the session and also getting to write for the specific musicians involved. 

“The response was staggering and proved just how passionate everyone is about making new music. The humorous fact is I could have created a big band for that very first session but sadly I had to cut things down to something more manageable, this being the project’s maiden voyage. I sifted through the people available and picked a six-piece utilising trumpet/trombone/tenor sax/piano/acoustic bass/drums. It dawned on me that, on booking the individuals, it could be fun to keep them in the dark about who they were going to be recording with on the day…and ‘Secret Sessions’ was born. The only information they had was instrumentation, to aid them in their arrangements and what time and where they needed to be. The result is our first creation, ‘Fragile Eagle’, and we are absolutely delighted with the debut. 

“On a personal note I feel privileged and thankful that Martin Hummel (Ubuntu) and Paul Pace (Spice of Life) jumped onboard this project with such fire and enthusiasm. This means a lot to each of these sessions as there is an outlet not only for our recorded music but also to play live.”

‘Fragile Eagle’ is the first release in the ‘Secret Sessions’ series and was recorded in 2019. The band consists of:

 Steve Fishwick - trumpet/flugelhorn 

Trevor Mires - trombone/bass trumpet 

Paul Booth - tenor sax

Tom Cawley - piano 

Oli Hayhurst - bass

Dave Ingamells - drums 

 ‘Fragile Eagle’ will be available in digital streaming and download formats as of Friday, 14th February.

 The band will be performing a limited number of live performances, beginning with London’s Spice of Life on Wednesday, 19th February.

 Paul Pace, Promoter of Spice of Life, shared his thoughts, saying, “Experiencing an exceptional musician such as Paul at close quarters in an intimate space and within a high-calibre ensemble has for me been one of the most invigorating musical experiences of the past 15 or so years. For this ongoing project, Paul has gathered a collective of top musicians who happen to be close friends and in happy collaboration with the now well-established jazz/world music label Ubuntu, bring something quite fresh and exciting to the scene via the ‘Secret Sessions’ series. It will certainly be the real deal – come and be part of this soul-enriching journey!"

 Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, sums up the project by saying, “The Secret Sessions project series encapsulates what great jazz is all about. First class musicians, brought together in a studio to let it rip with energy and flair. There’s no place to hide on the recording, which brought out the best in their playing. Paul Booth did a brilliant job with making this happen. Spice of life’s Paul Pace granted the project an ongoing platform to share the live music. We expect many more successful sessions to come.”