Album reviews

The legendary trumpeter Louis Dowdeswell has brought his playing and bandleading to a new high with ‘Out of Print’. Even if you don’t know the originals - and I suspect that everyone would recognise at least half of these classic works - then you are going to love the big band/brass orchestra combination of arrangements that stand alone as modern approaches to classical music. Throughout the album, Dowdeswell’s own trumpet shines through, often taking the lead before sharing

Lyrical subtlety and rhythmic complexity

A wistful atmosphere

Where jazz and Nordic folk meet

Double cello delights

Influences and musical references aplenty

There is something beautifully simplistic about the voice and piano combination on Dan Whitehouse’s ‘Only Love’ album, which is out now. Singer-songwriter Dan Whitehouse has joined with pianist David O’Brien to create a collection of deeply thoughtful and thought-provoking songs built on a unique set of circumstances that reflect how complicated lives can often be. Whitehouse is open about the realities of long-distance fatherhood and says: "I think of our relationship as a b

Less is definitely more

A voice-driven collection of ancient and modern

Best enjoyed on repeat and on loud

Inspiration and invention

Global landscapes from a Danish trio

Folk-like combines with electronic

Jo Harrop goes full-on soul

Tranquillity and peace

Inspired by snapshots

Recorded live at Love Supreme

Boundless and ethereal

Bringing film music home

‘Impure Imagination’ begins with the impossibly brief and beautiful ‘The Paper House’ and this sets the tone for an album that gives rise to Al Swainger’s Pointless Beauty project: each of the 11 tracks takes us in a different musical direction. Pointless Beauty is Al Swainger (bass, synths, guitar and piano), Jon Clark (drums), George Cooper (piano and Rhodes), Mike Outram (electric guitar) and Gary Alesbrook (flugelhorn and muted trumpet). Each track is composed by Swainger