Zak Scerri: ‘In Case I Don’t See You’

Zak Scerri delivers ‘In Case I Don’t See You’, the guitarist's first album since moving to London from Australia and his compositions bring out the best in a couple of fine stalwarts of the UK jazz scene.

With eight tracks almost documenting the journey that has bought Scerri from Australia, Ross Anderson (bass) and Billy Pod (drums) help him blast his way firmly into London with brilliant writing and execution.

A particular favourite is the title track, which takes inspiration from a line in The Truman Show (“In case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night.”) Scerri sets the groove before developing the melody and heading for solo sections and the temperature drops towards a stellar solo conclusion.

Scerri’s jazz chops are shown across In Case I Don’t See You, but perhaps the finest example of this trio’s excellence is on Another Door. We see all sides of Scerri’s guitar (as well as Anderson’s bass and Pod’s drums) across all the tunes, but there is something playful yet profound track.

Roach ends the album, with an almost rock energy that shows Scerri’s guitar versatility, a far cry from the whimsical yet complex Coming Down earlier in the collection.

’In Case I Don’t See You’ from Zak Scerri is out on 8 May