Gerard Presencer - Platypus - BBC Music Magazine

Gerard Presencer's recording debut as a leader is very impressive. He's a virtuoso trumpeter but plays flugelhorn throughout this recording with four of the younger virtuosi from the London jazz scene. Here the normal grammar and syntax of jazz are permanently in evidence, the rhythm section of Cleyndert and Stacey is magnificent, and there are are fine solos from the leader, pianist Rebello and guitarist Parricelli. Presencer, who wrote seven of the pieces, already seems an accomplished composer and even his rearrangement of the eighth and last piece, Bobby Timmons' Moanin' (retitled Still Moanin') is a highly imaginative, almost cubist deconstruction of the original. Presencer never forces his solos - he's prepared to wait, but has plenty in reserve. All the performances are excellent, but Afterthought, with its moody resonances, passionate flugelhorn and eloquent guitar, is a gem.