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John Donegan - The Irish Sextet: Shadows Linger

By Ian Patterson
January 11, 2023
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John Donegan - The Irish Sextet: Shadows Linger

Shadows Linger is the seventh album from veteran Irish pianist John Donegan, whose dedication to jazz dates back to the '70s when he played on the scenes of his native Cork and later Dublin, before moving across the pond to England. While in Dublin, Donegan worked with the Irish legends guitarist

Louis Stewart

guitar
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Stewart and drummer John Wadham as well as tenor saxophonist Dick Buckley, whose saxophone-playing sons

Richie Buckley

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Richie Buckley and

Michael Buckley

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Michael Buckley feature here in a potent front-line which also boasts trumpeter

Linley Hamilton

trumpet
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Linley Hamilton. Drummer

John Daly

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">John Daly and Dublin-based American bassist

Dan Bodwell

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Dan Bodwell round out a sextet of considerable experience and talent.

These ten Donegan originals are grounded firmly in the bebop and hard bop traditions, so much so that several of the tunes—notably the hard-boppish "Raffy's Blues" and the handsome ballad "I Will tell You Once More (That I Love You)"—seem to have the feel of familiar classics. Donegan's slightly ragged yet joyfully flowing

Bud Powell

piano
1924 - 1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Bud Powell-inspired lines also hint at an older school language of early blues and stride pianists; think

Cannonball Adderley

saxophone
1928 - 1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Cannonball Adderley's '60s combos at their rampant and soulful best, spiced with a healthy dose of nascent bebop, and you may begin to get the picture.

Beginning with the lively and exceptionally catchy "Shake it Up," the compositions follow a head-solos-head course, though the emotion and panache in the sextet's playing means that, despite the formula, the music never flags, even on slower fare such as the brushes-steered title track or the lovely,

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk-esque ballad "Kit's Way." The front line is in outstanding form throughout, trading solo after top drawer solo, which makes picking out highlights somewhat superfluous. Donegan too, is in exuberant form, revelling in a number of tumbling solos, with shades of

Wynton Kelly

piano
1931 - 1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Wynton Kelly infusing his bluesiest forays.

Several tracks carry a Latin feel, particularly in Daly and Bodwell's tango-esque rhythms on "Sole Shuffle"—where the bassist basks briefly in the spotlight with a typically understated yet lyrical solo—and on "SNS (Saturday Night Samba)" with its jaunty, feel-good vibe. Daly, a key figure in the Limerick jazz scene for forty years, steals protagonism with a couple of meaty solos of his own but, for the most part, drives the music with tasteful gusto, in conjunction with the ever-sympathetic Bodwell.

Donegan and his sextet members do not set out to reinvent the wheel with Shadows Linger, which is just as well, because in sticking to what they know and love, they have delivered a memorable straight ahead album of vintage calibre.

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Track Listing

Shake It Up; Shadows Linger; Raffy��s Blues; Sole Shuffle; Got a Spring in my Step; Kit��s Way; SNS (Saturday Night Samba); Jump In Quick; I Will Tell You Once More (That I Love You); Once There��s Love.

Personnel

John Donegan

piano

Michael Buckley

saxophone

Richie Buckley

saxophone

Linley Hamilton

trumpet

John Daly

drums

Dan Bodwell

bass

Additional Instrumentation

Michael Buckley: alto and soprano saxophone; Richie Buckley: tenor and soprano saxophone; Linley Hamilton: trumpet and flugelhorn.

Album information

Title: Shadows Linger | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Jayde Records

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