Geoff Eales
“Master of the Game”
www.geoffeales.com

British pianist Geoff Eales has put forth an absolutely beautiful trio album with, “Master of the Game”.  I hadn’t heard of Eales before receiving this CD for consideration, but he immediately recalled the more sensitive side of Brad Mehldau’s playing to my ears.  Eales’ compositions are well crafted and quite beautiful.  I did find myself waiting for the band to really take off, but the vibe is fairly subdued throughout this recording (and I don’t mind!  It was my owns expectation of what I most commonly hear and, to be honest, it’s refreshing to hear players of this caliber keep the lid on a bit and focus more on the musical statement than showing us all what they can do physically).  If you’re one who has the patience for a beautiful slow to mid-tempo trio album and don’t need the NY freneticism to keep you intrigued, this is an album well worth considering!