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Fourth Function featuring The Phil Ware Trio: Happy Ever After

By Ian Patterson
November 30, 2021
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Fourth Function featuring The Phil Ware Trio: Happy Ever After

Fourth Function is the vehicle of Dublin vocalist/composer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, broadcaster and educator,

Eamonn Lenihan

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Eamonn Lenihan. Backed by one of Ireland's finest rhythm sections in the form of bassist

Dave Redmond

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Redmond,

Kevin Brady

drums
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Kevin Brady and pianist

" data-original-title="" title="">Phil Ware, this five-song EP is a showcase for Lenihan's thought-provoking lyric songwriting and hip arrangements. Failing well to occupy any specific genre, Happy Ever After straddles shoe-gazing pop and chamber jazz—as if Earl Okin had smooched his way into the

Modern Jazz Quartet

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">Modern Jazz Quartet.

The stellar rhythm section, which individually and collectively has collaborated with the likes of

Larry Coryell

guitar
1943 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Coryell,

Bill Carrothers

piano
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Carrothers,

Peter Bernstein

guitar
b.1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Bernstein,

Norma Winstone

vocals
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Norma Winstone,

Seamus Blake

saxophone
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Seamus Blake and

Ian Shaw

vocals
b.1962

" data-original-title="" title="">Ian Shaw, plays second fiddle to Lenihan throughout, serving best the interests of the music. Brady sticks to brushes for the most part, while Redmond's earthy bass shines forth beautifully from the spare arrangements. Ware, a consummate pianist, comps deftly throughout, with the only solo, a belter at that, from guest trumpeter

Danny Healy

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Danny Healy.

"Falls and Ridges" is a clever slice of observational poetry, while the gently swinging "Happy Ever After," built on Redmond's ostinato and Ware's elegant chords, features fine playing from Healy—of Galway's Black Magic Big Band—with Lenihan in supportive mode on tenor saxophone. Piano and bass unite in a catchy motif that courses through "Waiting Here Forever," an intimate, diary-like confessional whose dark undertones contrast with the peppy groove of the music. An instrumental version, with softly cascading vibraphone, faint strands of acoustic guitar and flute, and bolder synthesized lines, points to where this music might have gone—and could still go—in a more expansive setting.

Sadly, in 2020, Phil Ware suffered an incapacitating stroke at the age of just 48, caused by a ruptured aneurism. The much-loved and admired English pianist and educator, who has been an integral figure on the Irish jazz scene in the past two decades, is facing a challenging road ahead. Happy Ever After is free to download. An official fund, The Fund for Phil, has been set up to support him in his rehabilitation.

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Track Listing

Falls and Ridges; Happy Ever After (Radio Edit); Happy Ever After; Waiting Here Forever: Waiting Here Forever (Instrumental version).

Personnel

Phil Ware

piano

Dave Redmond

bass

Danny Healy

trumpet

Eamonn Lenihan

vocals

Kevin Brady

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Eamonn Lenihan: tenor saxophone, vibraphone, acoustic guitar, keyboards.

Album information

Title: Happy Ever After | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: No Better Man

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