As the piano trio spotlight veers between the eminently marketable talents of Esbj?rn Svensson and Brad Mehldau, let’s salute one of Britain’s small band of authentically international jazz stars, the Manchester-born John Taylor.
Here’s another album of finely wrought trio music with an A-list rhythm section of bassist Palle Danielsson and Martin France, drums. The mood is mostly contemplative - a yearning I Loves You Porgy, a bluesy take on the unlikely choice of In the Bleak Midwinter but there is also satisfyingly knotty invention from all three players on The Woodcocks. After the fine Angel of the Presence album in 2006, Taylor, 65, is busy enjoying a renaissance.
(CamJazz)