NOT YET IN THE SHOPS. ONLY AVAILABLE HERE!!!!

incl Robert Glasper, William Parker, Ron Blake, Leo Parker, Llan Xang, Jason Yarde and the bloomdaddies as well as a specially-recorded track by Julie Sassoon.

3 of the best of their type collaborate. Performing at the Vortex in May!
"As anyone who heard her extraordinary Vortex gig with violinist Mark Feldman will already know, Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier is a stunningly original player, able to conjure everything from the most delicate and tender to the most crashing and thunderous sounds from her instrument; she also possesses wonderfully sensitive ears, instantly accommodating the needs of her partners, so that genuine dialogues (or in this case three-way musical conversations) always result from her collaborations.

Here, she is joined by two equally masterful and sensitive free improvisers, US saxophonist Ellery Eskelin (last heard at the club in a trio with Andrea Parkins and Jim Black) and French cellist Vincent Courtois, so such conversations move easily and apparently organically between intense but beautifully balanced duo and trio passages ('equilibrium reigns', as sleevenote writer Philippe Méziat has it), notable not only for the subtlety of their dynamic variation, but also for the imaginative power of their performers' interaction.

The textural variety of the trio is what immediately strikes the listener, Courvoisier's big, almost elemental sounds tellingly contrasted both with Courtois's bowed sonorousness and propulsive plucking and with Eskelin's attractively bleary saxophone lines, but overall, it is the spontaneous control exercised by all three players, of texture, volume and � most important � of mood, that really impresses on this rich and varied album." (Chris Parker, vortexjazz.co.uk)

His full Camjazz catalogue is available at our shop or if you email me [email protected]

"'[John Taylor] at his most private and reflective' is what sleevenote writer John Fordham promises, and this is precisely what is delivered on this, the great Mancunian pianist's second CAM Jazz solo album.

The twelve pieces on it (all by Taylor except Kenny Wheeler's 'Fedora') include four seasonally based compositions, interspersed with cuts bearing self-explanatory titles such as 'Frolics', 'Eulogy', 'Foil' and 'Duetto' (the last two overdubbed duets with celesta).

The album as a whole, although at some moments intense and thoughtful, at others sparkling and joyous, is immediately identifiable as Taylor's work throughout, imbued as it is with his trademark mix of robust vigour and pastoral lyricism (he's on record as admiring composers such as John Ireland and Arnold Bax).

Unlike many pianists on solo projects, Taylor largely eschews the freedom the form allows: indeed, in May 1996, interviewed before a solo recital at the Bath Festival, he said: 'I don't do enough solo work to be confident in terms of inspiration for improvising.

I have to have some sort of guidelines, and mostly I work with the song form. I try to pace myself, relax, let the music come in a comfortable way, without forcing it.' Phases is a wonderful testament to the efficacy of this approach, and comes strongly recommended."(Chris Parker, vortexjazz.co.uk)

"The title comes the opening line of Don Maclean's 'Vincent', the fifth track on this duo album, which sees pianist Liam Noble and drummer Paul Clarvis (here operating on a stripped-down kit, mostly with brushes) address everything from jazz and ragtime classics (Duke Ellington/Barney Bigard's 'Mood Indigo', Scott Joplin's 'Maple Leaf Rag') and standards ('The Shadow of Your Smile', 'Whispering', 'Embraceable You') to rock and folk tunes (Paul Simon's 'So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright', Gillian Welch's 'Dear Someone').

Rather than performing a discreetly accompanying role, Clarvis plays an equal part in proceedings, his alternately softly pattering and louder, more assertive percussion drawing the ear just as much as Noble's characteristically pithy, highly original, imaginative takes on the tunes.

Highlights include the joyous rag and the jauntily memorable Moondog composition, 'Paris', which ends the album, but whether they're playing more restrained pieces such as the burnished Ellington opener or the lovely Simon tune or rollicking through 'Whispering', Clarvis and Noble demonstrate a clear rapport, and the result is a unusual, thoroughly unpretentious, informal album." (Chris Parker, vortexjazz.co.uk)

Performing at Vortex, 14 April