Jazz

Five-Way Split
Modus Operandi
FSW Records FSW02 (CD and LP)

Following 2023’s All The Way, this illustrious London-based collective proves again just how well a classic quintet lineup can keep the hard-bop flag flying. Trumpeter Quentin Collins, who’s led many notable groups and also toured for years with Kyle Eastwood, is at his best on flugelhorn here. He has a perfect front-line partner in tenor saxophonist Vasilis Xenopoulos, who graduated from Berklee before building a successful UK career. With inventive, varied but always joyously swinging support from pianist Rob Barron, bassist Matyas Hofecker and drummer Matt Home, they revel in original themes that celebrate the idiom yet come to life for now, harmonising beautifully and soloing passionately. SH

Sound Quality: 90%

Jasper Høiby’s 3 Elements
Conversations Of Hope
Edition Records EDN1295; LP: EDNLP1295

Both Earthness and Like Water featured Noah Stoneman and Luca Caruso, but this third album in the Danish bassist’s 3 Elements series was recorded in Spain, with two Spanish musicians forming a new trio. The drummer is Naíma Acuña, who propels the music with her signature cymbal crashes. Pianist Xavi Torres, who graduated in piano jazz in Barcelona and later studied in Amsterdam, was heard on Høiby’s Fellow Creatures album We Must Fight. His striking harmonic concept and superb rhythmic command really bring something new and fresh to Høiby’s music which, with all its intensity and complexity, offers a sense of calm and, yes, hope. SH

Sound Quality: 85%

Gregory Hutchinson
Kind Of Now – The Pulse Of Miles Davis
Warner Music 5026854173122; LP: 5026854173139

Timed to hit the centenary [see also HD Downloads, HFN May ’26], this tribute from ex-Roy Hargrove drummer Hutchinson and an enthusiastic all-star band is not, he says, about trying to recreate Miles, ‘It’s about continuing the conversation’. Avoiding the more obvious titles, ten selections cover the phases of Davis’ career, from the 1948 experiment in be-bop counterpoint ‘Ah-Leu-Cha’ to ‘Black Comedy’ (Miles In The Sky) and ‘Feio’ (Bitches Brew). Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire has a key role while guitarists Jakob Bro and Emmanuel Michael plug in for the electric era. And they’ll send new listeners in search of those amazing original recordings. SH

Sound Quality: 80%

Walter Smith III
Twio Vol 2
Blue Note 8813796; LP: 8813797

From one of today’s great tenor saxophonists, a companion to the 2018 album that we now have to call ‘Vol 1’. But this is a different Twio, with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Kendrick Scott in place of Harish Raghavan and Eric Harland. There are bass and sax guests again too, but instead of Christian McBride and Joshua Redman we hear Ron Carter on five tracks, while Branford Marsalis duets effectively with Smith on two. Enjoying the freedom of the stripped-down lineup, Smith picks songs that are standards but not the usual ones, from the opening ‘My Ideal’ to Ellington’s ‘Isfahan’, and he’s as melodic and immediate as ever. SH

Sound Quality: 85%