Samuel Eagles’ Spirit - Ask, Seek, Knock review: transcendence is the objective here

Inspired by the spiritual jazz of John Coltrane, who died 50 years ago last month, and buoyed by philosophies both Buddhist and Christian, London-based alto saxophonist and composer Samuel Eagles delivers eight prismatic originals.

Transcendence is the objective here, with tracks such as the briskly melodic opener Eternity in My Soul, the serene and centred Changed, Changing Still and the funky title piece all the more distinctive for an instrumental line-up featuring two saxes, piano, drums, double bass and Ralph Wyld’s shimmering vibraphone.

Eagles’s former mentor, the Grammy-winning US jazz saxophone giant Jean Toussaint, makes his presence felt on two compositions including the 10-minute Hear My Voice, his inventive solos finding echoes in Eagles’s lyrical mood-hopping.

A work, then, that pulses with meaning, taking the active listener deeper and higher.