Gripper is a most able guide through it all, bringing well-rounded compositions that twist and evolve with curiosity and joy, reflecting the many ideas he took from his trip down the West Coast
MultiRingoRecords: MR0001
Eddie Gripper (piano); Clem Saynor (double bass); Patrick Barrett-Donlon (drums)
Recorded 29/30 April 2025 at Fieldgate Studio, Cardiff
Eddie Gripper’s impressive debut trio album ‘Home’ (Ubuntu Music, 2023) was a meditation on family and personal circumstances, many of which at the time were challenging but proved a source of great creativity. For his new album and a return to the trio format, Gripper has looked further afield for inspiration, much further.
‘Americana’ is inspired by an epic six-week hitchhiking journey with a childhood friend down the west coast of North America, from Prudhoe Bay, the most northerly town in Alaska, 400 km north of the Arctic Circle, to Los Angeles – a journey of over 8,000 km. Always open to the creative possibilities, Gripper carried a pad of manuscript paper and along the way sketched out more that 30 musical fragments which form the basis of this album.
Musically, this is again very much a personal journey which takes in Gripper’s impressions of people, places and moments in time, juxtaposing neatly with the romantic imagery captured so effectively by John Welsh’s artwork on the cover. “I saw incredible things and met extraordinary people” says Gripper, “but couldn’t shake the sense that, beneath its generous optimism, America remains deeply flawed.” Throughout, it is not literal translations of the journey that we hear, but a sense of being in new places, triggering emotions and memories, that is so thoughtfully captured on this album; more vivid than any snapshot.
Gripper is a most able guide through it all, bringing well-rounded compositions that twist and evolve with curiosity and joy, reflecting the many ideas he took from his trip down the West Coast. And he is a guide that you really want to spend time with, where repeat listenings reveal additional details that draw you in, and all delivered with an elegant touch and phrasing able to lift the heart. Clem Saynor (double bass) and Patrick Barrett-Donlon (drums) complete this assured trio’s sound, skilfully fleshing-out Gripper’s vision.
The opener ‘Third Beach’, named after the Vancouver beach visited by Gripper after travelling through the Alaskan and Canadian wilderness, conveys a feeling of relief through a light-touched smiling melody that fair skips along with Gripper’s delightful phrasing and Saynor’s bass solo. It feels as though the sun was shining brightly on that day in Vancouver.
‘So Long Oregon’ tells of a near-missed reunion with a close friend and has a slower and emotionally weightier feel with Gripper’s swirling keys underlined by Saynor’s bow work. As the piece twists and turns, a more positive theme emerges making this one of the album’s highlights. ‘Dana’, named after the second highest peak in Yosemite National Park, is similarly rewarding, where a soft and relentless promenading baseline supports a developing anthem that gets more and more expansive.
In contrast, ‘One for the Road’, a beautiful and moving elergy to lost parents never far from the travellers’ minds, is played as a solo piano piece that doesn’t let you go and is a reminder of Gripper’s impressive range. As is ‘Ocean’s Avenue’, which recalls a cycling trip along a Santa Monica beachfront road while listening to the music of Oscar Peterson. The Peterson sound filters into the composition which delivers a classy West Coast vibe with Gripper’s cleanly caressed wandering keys sounding over a deep warm bass, cymbal taps and room for Barrett-Donlon’s extended drum solo that fits right in. And just when you think it is all over, they find time for another welcome lap.
‘Terminus’ was written in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) where the travellers spent 24 hours because of flight cancellations. With a slowly stated intro, you can almost reach out and touch the melancholy with a sense of time slowing down. But this is another twisty piece and as things look up, both in tempo and mood, the track develops as another album highlight. The album concludes with an enchanting reading of Paul Simon’s bitter sweet anthem ‘American Tune’, providing a a fitting last word on the travellers’ impressions of the journey.
This is a highly enjoyable album inspired by an epic journey rich in memories. Gripper will be touring the UK this summer through to mid-July 2026. Catch him if you can.
