THROUGH HER EYES (www.danbarentt.com.au) 7.5/10 Given that it is memorial to his mother, a remarkable optimism pervades this opus from singer/trombonist Dan Barnett. Or perhaps it is stoicism alchemised into optimism in the very act of making the music. It was recorded live in a private home, which can sometimes make for a minor level […]

WE ARE ALL (Edition/Planet) 8/10 Following an underwhelming big-band collaboration, We Are All sets Phronesis back on course in the quest to miniaturise and yet intensify a piano/bass/drums trio’s interaction. It’s not just that bassist Jasper Hoiby, pianist Ivo Neame and drummer Anton Eger are dazzlingly original instrumentalists, it’s that they’ve collectively pushed the format’s […]

LONDON LIVE (ARC) 8/10 No, I hadn’t heard of Jeff Siegel, either, but the American drummer leads a storming band. This live album was recorded on the last date of a European tour, so the quartet was well primed. Alas the gig was in London on the night of a tube strike, so the audience […]