Jazz

Fergus McCreadie
The Shieling
Edition Records EDN1285; LP: EDNLP1285

The Scottish pianist’s unique blending of traditional music with jazz goes from strength to strength. McCreadie and his trio recorded this album over three days in a cottage in the Hebrides, and with them as producer was trumpeter and composer Laura Jurd, who’s just re-emerged from a family career break with her own folk-infused Rites & Revelations. The opening ‘Wayfinder’ starts mysteriously, the harmonium-like drone of a shruti box hinting at the sound of the pipes, then blossoms magically into a joyful dance. Delightful evocations follow, from the twittering of ‘Sparrowsong’ to the swirling arpeggio figure that conjures the weather outside a ‘Windshelter’. Beautiful and inspiring. SH

Sound Quality: 90%

Mark Kavuma & The Banger Factory
Back To The Beginning
Banger Factory Records BF010

For the London collective headed by trumpeter Mark Kavuma, the beginning came in 2015 with a residency in the Brixton music pub celebrated in ‘Prince Of Wales’, one of many engaging, danceable tracks here. As on Magnum Opus, the band includes saxophonists Theo Erskine, Ruben Fox and the great Brian ‘Mussinghi’ Edwards. Recorded once again in Erskine’s studio and mastered at Gearbox, the sound is enjoyably ‘vintage’ rather than ‘audiophile’. While the music is less varied (no vocals this time) it’s more focused and finished, with unity and a purpose – to give us a good time. SH

Sound Quality: 85%

Gareth Lockrane Big Band
Box Of Tricks
Whirlwind Recordings WR 4839; LP: WR 4839LP (two discs)

The UK’s top jazz flautist formed his Big Band in 2008, but he’s so fully occupied with other projects, teaching and writing film scores, that this is only its second album. Though it seems rather a late follow-up to 2017’s Fistfight At The Barndance, the 20-strong lineup still includes Steve Fishwick and Henry Collins (trumpets), Mark Nightingale and Trevor Mires (trombones), Sam Mayne (alto sax) and Ross Stanley (organ), with the Royal Academy’s Nick Smart conducting. Lockrane delights in writing complex and challenging pieces, mainly fast and furious, and yet these brilliant musicians were able to record the whole album in a single day. Amazing. SH

Sound Quality: 85%

Tom Ollendorff
Where In The World
Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT 719

Graduating from the Royal Welsh College in 2015 the virtuoso guitarist made his first album in 2021, but for the follow-up Open House his trio became a quartet with guest saxophonist Ben Wendel. This time, again with bassist Conor Chaplin but now with drummer James Maddren, he’s collaborating happily with another US star, pianist Aaron Parks. Perhaps things don’t flow the same way – ‘Three Bridges’ here is frenetic, lacking the fluid ease it had with Wendel – but the two have a fabulous rapport, notably on the sparkling ‘Last Leap’. And despite a close-miked piano sound, it’s lovely to hear Parks sounding so fine and unfettered, as Ollendorff flies. SH

Sound Quality: 80%