There's nowhere to hide when you go it alone as a musician. But Geoff Eales has nothing to fear from the exposed nature of a solo performance, recorded in a single day in the form of unedited single takes. Eales has a protean talent: recent releases have seen him moving between classic European piano trio music (Master of the Game), full-on group fusion (Shifting Sands) and a globe-encompassing piano-flute duet (The Dancing Flute). But Invocation has Eales stripping things back to basics, at least in terms of instrumentation, and exploring the sources of his inspiration via 12 restlessly imaginative solo improvisations. ‘Boogie Train’ is an energetic slice of gospel-woogie, ‘One Step from the Edge’ takes its lead from Charlie Parker's ‘Scrapple from the Apple’, ‘Back to the Root’ is a blues that moves deftly between funk and swing, while ‘Dancing River’ and ‘In The Abbey’, both inspired by memories of Wales, show the master at his lyrical, impressionistic best.